Online Community Design Issues: If Only We Had Full Control
Scott D. Dupuis
California State University East Bay
Introduction
Online education has moved to the mainstream of higher education and may surpass all other course delivery methods in quality in the near future (Neuhauser, 2004). Although there are many factors that add quality to online education, one important vehicle of communication is online communities. A community of learners collaborate to solve a problem, express a point, or just to discuss an interesting story. Many teachers are new to online education and may be unfamiliar with the process of creating, maintaining, and nurturing of a community in their online course. In this article I will present a process and some characteristics that will help to incorporate an online community into a course. I will also introduce a Learning Management System created by Salish Kootenai College.
Technical Aspects
Technology choices must ensure that users will be able to participate with the equipment they own, and that the software is intuitive, straightforward, and pleasant to use (Preece, 2000). Online course delivery software usually provides an area for community involvement. Blackboard has threaded discussion and group areas for example. The software should be consistent for the user. If a user makes a mistake, correcting it should be simple and the process needs to be the same in every area of the course. The display of information should be the same on every page. Navigation buttons should always be in the same place. Discouragement from the user can come from unexpected surprises do to inconsistencies. Online students want to focus on the course, not how to get around in it. Community involvement is directly effected by technical frustrations.
Community Purpose
E-learning should be first and foremost about creating a social space that must be managed for the teaching and learning needs of the particular group of people inhabiting that space (Gilroy, 2001). Before a community is formed, an instructor needs to define a purpose for the social interaction. The instructor must provide clear objectives for the students. Depending on the type of community, the student or the instructor may decide what role will be played or expected. Beginning online students can be given examples of what is expected of them, while veteran onliners only need a nudge in the right direction. Knowing your target audience will help with design issues such as usability, evaluation, and support.
Discussion Guidelines
Charlotte Neuhauser, Madonna University, posted an article in The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 2004. She provides some guidelines for creating interactive discussions to help students feel part of a community.
Provide questions or activities that promote debate, various points of view, and sharing of past experiences.
Avoid questions where there is one correct answer that can be garnered from the textbook.
Plan ahead how often the instructor will intervene to drive the discussions direction.
Determine the management style the instructor will use to encourage and produce the desired type of discussion and outcomes.
Following Neuhausers guidelines can promote community involvement that can affect student retention and learning. The ultimate goal is when the discussion threads are built on learning relationships. These relationships create the foundation of an online community.
Building from Scratch
In 2003, Salish Kootenai College (SKC) located in the heart of the Flathead Indian Reservation of Montana, made a decision to build a Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver their online courses. SKCs Mission Statement is to provide quality postsecondary educational opportunities for Native Americans locally and from throughout the United States. By development of an LMS, SKC could reach a broader target audience using a tribally owned system, not only for SKC, but for other Tribal colleges to use in their mission. Pathway was introduced as an online platform the fall of 2003. Countless revisions and updates have been made because of the continuous feedback from instructors and students. The migration from the previous delivery system to Pathway has helped because of the increasing number of instructors using Pathway. Because of positive feedback, Pathway will introduce a new discussion area design in the Fall 2005. Some of the new features will include:
Red flag icon represents a message not yet read.
Paperclip icon represents the message has an attachment.
A lock icon represents a message that only that particular author and the instructor can read. Other students will not even see the message.
A check box will be present for student responses that they would like to lock.
Conclusion
Pathway was developed to address issues of technology, control of design, and cost. Pathway has created flexibility on how, when, and what can be changed after input from the people who use it. The instructors have the ability to gather student feedback, involve other instructors for input, and asses themselves what changes need to be made for community maturity. SKC online instructors can promote online community involvement using their own design. Native American students can have all issues addressed; technical support, retention, resources, interaction problems, by Tribal college services. Being able to control how an online community is created in a course by means of presentation and planning is an invaluable advantage that SKC has endured and prospered.
References
Preece, J. & Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2003) Online Communities. In J. Jacko and A. Sears, A, (Eds.) Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Publishers. Mahwah: NJ.
Schneider, D., Paraskevi, S., & Frete, C. (2002) Proceedings of the 3rd Congress on Information and Communication in Education, Rhodes, Community, Content and Collaboration Management Systems in Education: A new chance for socio-constructivist scenarios? TECFA, University of Geneva
Edelstein, S., & Edwards, J., (2002) If You Build It, They Will Come: Building Learning Communities Through Threaded Discussions, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, Number 1, Spring 2002
Neuhauser, C., (2004) The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, Vol 3, Number 1, Summer 2004, A Maturity Model: Does It Provide A Path For Online Course Design? Madonna University.