Week 3 - Post 3 - Virtual Learning Communities

            My first several attempts to download the e-book Virtual Learning Communities by Richard Schwier were unsuccessful. I started to feel the panic and frustration that students might feel who are unable to complete their work due to inability to access the correct technology. I was eventually able to download the book once I asked a few questions and put myself into the mindset that I am in fact capable of figuring out a glitch with technology. This experience made me think of the importance of teaching students how to handle similar situations. While at first we might be patient and understanding of students’ difficulty with technology, as teachers we will also need to see that students are using tools to help themselves. This is a large part of setting up a successful virtual learning community structure. Students could brainstorm as a group what do to if they run into difficulties. Some ideas generated might include: contact a friend for support, email the teacher, research instructions on Google, and not waiting until the night before an assignment is due. I think it is important to also share these tips with parents to ensure they are supportive of these critical thinking skills.

            In chapter one, ‘Learning Communities? Metaphors and Myths of Learning Networks”, Schwier explores the idea of “community” and how it applies to online learning. He defines a community as “collections of people who are bound together for some reason, and that reason defines the boundary of the community”. He defines a learning community as “a group of individuals gathered with the intention of learning”. Schwier makes the point that it can be easy to idealize both terrestrial and virtual communities and that we have to recognize communication technologies will influence how groups learn together. I agree that not every community can be successful. The physical or virtual environment first needs to be created appropriately and members of the community have to be willing and active participants. Students will need instruction on how to be positive members of the learning community as this will not be intuitive to everyone. I think this falls under the category of digital citizenship which I believe is one of the most important concepts that should be taught early on.

            In chapter two, “Common Features of Online Learning Communities: What is so Special Here?”, Schwier discovers learning communities are everywhere. His belief is “in order to be successful an educator needs to exude a profound respect for and trust in learners to collectively make good decisions for themselves about their learning”. This quote really resonates with me. I think the teacher needs to feel confident in his/her students’ capabilities to take ownership over their learning for education to be successful. Schwier makes another valid point that many learning environments do not require a community of learners. I think this is also important to remember as we become excited to use technology in our classrooms. It is one model for instruction but it should not become the only model. Schwier also believes that creating a community “is not a matter of laying out a set of rules and providing structure; it is an act of supporting the natural development of relationships”. Working in a Montessori classroom, I see the benefit of this everyday. By supporting a child’s natural development, we are ultimately providing them with what they need, when they need it. This can be extended to all levels of learning and seems to make sense for a virtual learning community.