Using Technology to Shape and Support Learning Communities
Although research and student opinion survey results (such as the campus student technology survey conducted in 2004) suggest that the use of computer-mediated communication and publishing tools may change the ways in which students interact with instructors, their peers, and course content, less well understood is how such tools can be used to create learning communities. At the next TEL seminar, the panelists will discuss how technology might be used to facilitate the community-building process, from conducting needs analyses, to planning activities, to assessing student work.
Seminar
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
402 Walter Library
East Bank, Twin Cities campus
See the UMConnect Meeting recording of the seminar (please note: the student performances Becca Gercken-Hawkins showed were in the public domain and she had student permission to share them).
Brad Belbas, a senior educational technology consultant at the DMC, will moderate a discussion among the following panelists:
- C. Cryss Brunner, Department of Educational Policy and Administration, College of Education and Human Development, Twin Cities campus;
- Leonard Ferrington, Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Twin Cities campus;
- Becca Gercken-Hawkins, English Discipline, Division of Humanities, Morris campus; and
- Na'im Madyun, General College, Twin Cities campus.
The panelists currently are working on technology-enhanced learning community projects (see Campus Projects below) and will discuss topics such as the following:
- the difference between interactivity and interaction;
- strategies for building communities of learners and/or practitioners online;
- strategies for assessing the quality of participants' interactions during online activities;
- the challenge of maintaining community (e.g., the advantages and disadvantages of letting communities fade away after a term or of building lasting communities); and
- target outcomes (e.g., creating shared/common experiences; creating communities of practice that encompass University and outside participants; providing channels for peer review and support).
For information about the other fall seminars, see the fall 2005 schedule.
Campus Projects
The panelists are currently working on the related 2005 TEL Grant Program projects:
Brunner, C. Cryss, and Na’im Madyun. "Experiential Simulations (ES): Migration, Stabilization, and Software Development for Teaching and Learning" 2005 Technology-Enhanced Learning Grant Program proposal. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2005. http://dmc.umn.edu/grants/2005/brunner.pdf.
Ferrington Jr., Leonard C. "Volunteer Stream Monitoring Interactive Verification Program (VSM-IVP)" 2005 Technology-Enhanced Learning Grant Program proposal. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2005. http://dmc.umn.edu/grants/2005/ferrington.pdf.
Gercken-Hawkins, Becca, Gretchen Minton, and Janet Schrunk Ericksen. "Web Forums for Advanced English Courses at the University of Minnesota, Morris" 2005 Technology-Enhanced Learning Grant Program proposal. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2005. http://dmc.umn.edu/grants/2005/gercken.pdf.
Bibliography
The following resources may help you prepare for the TEL seminar.
Community and Online Learning
Brown, R. E. "The Process of Community-Building in Distance Learning Classes." Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 5, no. 2 (2001): 18–35.
The purpose of this study was to develop a theory about how communities are formed in adult computer-mediated asynchronous distance learning classes. The author describes causal and intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences.
Rovai, A. "Building Sense of Community at a Distance." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 3, no. 1 (April 2002). http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/rovai.html.
This article challenges the belief that a strong sense of community is limited to learners in traditional classrooms and proposes that those in virtual classrooms have the potential to sustain a sense of community at comparable levels. Drawing on research literature, Rovai takes on the issue of how best to design and conduct an online course that fosters a sense of community among learners who are physically separated from each other and describes course design principles that facilitate dialogue and decrease psychological distance.
Zhao, C. M., and G. D. Kuh. "Adding Value: Learning Communities and Student Engagement." Research in Higher Education 45, no. 2 (2004): 115–138.
This study examines the relationships between the participation of first-year and senior students at 365 institutions in learning communities and their engagement in a range of educationally purposeful activities. The findings indicate that participating in a learning community is positively linked to engagement as well as to student self-reported outcomes and overall satisfaction with college.
Interaction and Interactivity
Robleyer, M. D., and W. R. Wienkcke. "Design and Use of a Rubric to Assess and Encourage Interactive Qualities in Distance Courses." The American Journal of Distance Education 17, no. 2, (2003): 77–98.
In this article the authors describe how findings from theory and research were used to develop a rubric for assessing interactive qualities in distance courses. They present the rubric along with data from formative uses of it in distance learning courses. Current and anticipated applications of the rubric include use by students as part of postcourse evaluations and by researchers and instructors to examine the role of interaction in enhancing achievement and student satisfaction in distance learning courses.
Wagner, E. D. "Interactivity: From Agents to Outcomes." New Directions for Teaching and Learning 71 (1997): 19–26.
In distance education, the terms interactivity and interaction are often used synonymously. This article provides a conceptual framework, which distinguishes interactivity as attributes of technological systems and interaction as behaviors through which individual or groups influence each other. The author identifies and describes twelve types of interactions that focus on specific learning-related outcomes and inform instructional design.
