Elearning Online Communities

Elearning Online Communities Communities being a platform where like-minded people can gather and interact is a perfect complement to elearning online. Sharing ideas and experiences with people who have the same goals and background promotes a healthy learning virtual environment. In a survey conducted by The MASIE Center for the Learning Decisions Interactive Newlsetter in 2000, it shows that about 2,000 education professionals believe that online communities was listed at the top 3 most important aspect of elearning online. Trainees, students, and employees can benefit from online learning communities for a variety of reasons. Mentorship is one where students can learn from experienced professionals about a specific subject matter. Most of the time, a community is not included in the content or curriculum of an online course but through the diligence and willingness to learn by students and with the help of the lecturers, they build their own community through private forums or email groups. Why should elearning developers consider building communities with their online courses? According to Peter Henschel in his article, Understanding and Winning the Never-Ending Search for Talent: The Manager's Core Work in the New Economy, from LineZINE in 2001, approximately 70% of core knowledge needed by employees to succeed is not learned through formal education. This means that what they should know they would learn from practical experience, mentors, and interactions with other co-workers. Learning communities can provide mentoring and sharing of experiences even after the formal elearning online course is over. Online communities also create networking opportunities that are valuable in any workplace. It is also another platform of communication where information is easily disseminated to employees and members of the organization. New policies, schedules, standard operating procedures, etc. can be discussed at length and not just simply announced. Innovations in Internet technology allows for more comprehensive approach to building online communities. Creating web environment for elearning online communities for example could include audio visual content for a more personal touch. The very basic approach is to create an email group where members are registered and one email can reach every member. However email groups have a lot of limits, too. Forming exclusive forums is a more effective way to reach members of the community. Discussions are archived for people who don’t regularly check the forums and there can be a real time interaction when members are online at the same time. In building an online community, aside from technology, creators should consider the content and flow of the interactions. From the beginning, administrators should clearly define the goals and objectives of the online community. Rules, policies and scope should be established so members have a clear picture of what the whole community is about. Topics that are not relevant should be discouraged, rude and obscene comments should immediately be removed. Constant monitoring is necessary so the online community would not degenerate to a meaningless web environment where people can just rant out anything that comes to mind. Fostering a sense of community means that members will be respectful to one another despite disagreements. --- end --