Online learning community
Encyclopedia
An online learning community is a public or private destination on the Internet
that addresses the learning needs of its members by facilitating peer-to-peer learning. Through social network
ing and computer-mediated communication
, people work as a community to achieve a shared learning objective. Learning objectives may be proposed by the community owner or may arise out of discussions between participants that reflect personal interests. In an online learning community, people share knowledge via textual discussion (synchronous or asynchronous), audio, video, or other Internet-supported mediums. Blogs blend personal journaling with social networking to create environments with opportunities for reflection.
Much literature promotes online learning communities
as environments conducive to communities of practice as described by Etienne Wenger
. eTwinning
is a European online community operated by European schoolnet
comprising more than 50,000 registered teachers.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
that addresses the learning needs of its members by facilitating peer-to-peer learning. Through social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
ing and computer-mediated communication
Computer-mediated communication
Computer-mediated communication is defined as any communicative transaction that occurs through the use of two or more networked computers...
, people work as a community to achieve a shared learning objective. Learning objectives may be proposed by the community owner or may arise out of discussions between participants that reflect personal interests. In an online learning community, people share knowledge via textual discussion (synchronous or asynchronous), audio, video, or other Internet-supported mediums. Blogs blend personal journaling with social networking to create environments with opportunities for reflection.
Much literature promotes online learning communities
Learning community
A learning community is a group of people who share common emotions, values or beliefs, are actively engaged in learning together from each other, and by habituation. Such communities have become the template for a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education...
as environments conducive to communities of practice as described by Etienne Wenger
Etienne Wenger
Etienne C. Wenger is an educational theorist and practitioner, best known for his formulation of the theory of situated cognition and his more recent work in the field of communities of practice....
. eTwinning
ETwinning
The eTwinning project aims to encourage European schools to collaborate using Information and Communication Technologies .-Formation:The project was born under the European Union's e-Learning programme and is now part of the Lifelong Learning Programme.-Operation:The main concept behind eTwinning...
is a European online community operated by European schoolnet
European schoolnet
European Schoolnet or EUN is a network of 31 Ministries of Education in Europe and beyond. EUN was created more than 10 years ago with the aim to bring about innovation in teaching and learning to its key stakeholders, these being Ministries of Education, schools, teachers and researchers.- Policy,...
comprising more than 50,000 registered teachers.
Categories of online learning communities
Types of online learning communities include e-learning communities (groups interact and connect solely via technology) and blended learning communities (groups utilize face-to-face meetings as well as online meetings). Based on Riel and Pollin (2004), intentional online learning communities may be categorized as knowledge-based, practice-based, and task-based. Online learning communities may focus on personal aspects, process, or technology. They may use technology and tools in many categories:- synchronous (such as instant messagingInstant messagingInstant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
) - asynchronous (such as message boards and Internet forumInternet forumAn Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s) - blogs (such as Blogger (service)Blogger (service)Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
) - course management (such as , DokeosDokeosDokeos is a company dedicated to open source Learning Management Systems. Its main product is a SCORM-compliant open source learning suite used by multinational companies, federal administrations and universities....
, eFrontEFront (eLearning software)eFront is an open source eLearning platform ....
, ClarolineClarolineClaroline is a collaborative eLearning and eWorking platform released under the GPL Open Source license. It allows hundreds of organizations worldwide ranging from universities to schools and from companies to associations to create and administer courses and collaboration spaces over the web...
, MoodleMoodleMoodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
, ChamiloChamiloChamilo is an open-source e-learning and content management system, aimed at improving access to education and knowledge globally...
or LectureshareLectureshareLectureShare is a free web-based Course Management System .LectureShare is an e-learning platform which allows instructors to post course material to students....
) - collaborative (such as wikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
s) - social networking (such as Del.icio.usDel.icio.usDelicious is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site was founded by Joshua Schachter in 2003 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005, and by the end of 2008, the service claimed more than 5.3 million users and 180 million unique bookmarked URLs...
and FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
) - social learning
See also
- Community language learningCommunity language learningCommunity language learning is an approach in which students work together to develop what aspects of a language they would like to learn...
- Community of practiceCommunity of practiceA community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
- Massive open online courseMassive open online courseIn the field of open education, one of the latest trends is that of open courses, called MOOCs . Such courses are founded on the theory of connectivism and an open pedagogy based on networked learning. Typically, participation in a MOOC is free; however, some MOOCs may charge a fee in the form of...
- Virtual educationVirtual educationVirtual education refers to instruction in a learning environment where teacher and student are separated by time or space, or both, and the teacher provides course content through the use of methods such as course management applications, multimedia resources, the internet, and videoconferencing...