Resources for E-Learning Community Development
E-Learning Community Development - Selected References and Resources A school is conceivable in which there should be a spirit of companionship and shared activity. "Democracy and Education" John Dewey, 1916 In the last few decades there has been a growing interest in the concept of 'learning community'. There seem to be three transformative goals driving this interest in learning in community: Transformative Goal - Learning is Social Activity First, the idea of learning in community is in part a revival of John Dewey's theory of education as a social activity of serious intent and joyful human association - learning in a spirit of companship and shared activity. Dewey believed that learning as a social activity - we might say the social construction of learning in community - is esssential for effective educational practice, as well as essential for the development of citizens for a demoncratic society. Transformative Goal - Learning is Integrated Second, interest in learning community is recognition that the typical fragmented curriculum and practice of learning must be more integrated to meet the challenges of a real world that is increasingly becomming a complex and dynamic tangle of interwoven interrelatedness. Fragmented learning no longer seems adequate to the interrelated challenges of work and life in the 21st century. Transforamtive Goal - Learning is E-Enabled Third, the emerging electronic computer mediated communication technologies of the Internet have great potential for supporting community relationships beneficial to learning in both face-to-face and e-learning contexts. electronic portfolios of learning accomplishments are one excellent example of e-community to support learning. Learners in e-learning programs face the special challenges of geographic isolation, requiring special attention to create a supporting social community for learning. The Learning Community Development initiative at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is an exploration of ways to support the learner through a learning community. The touchstone of the effort is helping learners succeed through learning community. This initiative began with an e-Learning Community Development workshop in December 2002: To explore the uses of e-portfolio to enhance learning; to develop an overarching vision of the potentials of learning community; and to initiate a learning community pilot program in nursing education. As preparation to participate in the Learning Community Development initiative the following selected list of references and resources are suggested for your attention. You will discover a variety of models of learning community, which are variations on the three themes identified above. The list of references and resources is deliberately limited to minimize the potential for information overload, since so much has been written recently on learning communities. References and Resources · Alverno College Digital Diagnostic Portfolio – This is a particularly important resource, since it will prepare you for the presentation of Alverno College at the Learning Community Development workshop. Learners establish an electronic portfolio of selected key learning performances, which become the focus of learning assessment and faculty coaching on the progress and development of the learner. Learning is focused on the eight core Alverno Abilities, which guide learning throughout the curriculum. Digital Diagnostic Portfolio http://ddp.alverno.edu/ Alverno Abilities http://www.alverno.edu/for_educators/ability_curriculum.html · Electronic Portfolios at American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) – This resource provides several important information sources on electronic portfolios and learning community. A very good overview book is published by AAHE, entitled Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices for Students, Faculty and Institutions. There is a database of links to several examples of electronic portfolios for learning. In addition, the Institutional Portfolio Project shows how portfolios can further academic quality and document institutional performance for the purposes of accreditation. Electronic Portfolios Main Site http://aahe.ital.utexas.edu/electronicportfolios/index.html Portfolio Clearinghouse http://sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtomprof/postings/251.html Institutional Portfolio Project http://www.iport.iupui.edu/newiport/iport/ http://www.imir.iupui.edu/portfolio/ [Indiana University] · Learning Community Commons – This is a very comprehensive and extensive resource for the initiative known as the National Learning Communities Project. The main site provides an excellent introduction to learning communities. An extensive bibliography is available on a range of areas related to learning community. The article by Parker Palmer highlights a key driving purpose for learning community is the need for an integrative education to ‘reweave the culture of disconnection’. The article by Patrick Hill presents the rationale for learning community as ‘responding to a whole cluster of fundamental ills besetting higher education today’. National Learning Communities Project Main Site http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/project.asp?pid=73 Bibliography of Learning Community http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/resources/LC/LCBibliography.shtm Learning Communities: Reweaving the Culture of Disconnection – Parker Palmer http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/natlc/pdf/spring2000a.pdf Rationale for Learning Communities – Patrick Hill http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/resources/upload/rationale1.pdf · Maricopa Learning Community – This site provides a summary of a variety of learning community models. Maricopa Main Site http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ilc/ Learning Community Models http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ilc/models.html · National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) – This is a resource involved with various electronically enabled learning enabled initiatives, which are active learner centered. The initiative is associated with EDUCAUSE. NLII Main Site http://www.educause.edu/nlii E-Portfolios http://www.educause.edu/keythemes/E-Portfolios/5524 Virtual Communities http://www.educause.edu/VirtualCommunities/576 · Communities of Practice – Etienne Wenger is a consultant who has been a champion of the concept of ‘communities of practice’, a virtual teamwork community strategy, which is similar in some ways to the concept of ‘learning community’. Cultivating Communities of Practice, by Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott and William M. Snyder, presents experience with this concept in knowledge-based organizations. Main Site http://www.ewenger.com/ · Ecologos – Allen Jaisle is President and Principal Consultant of Ecologos, a higher education consultancy practice focused on ‘learning and leading in community’. Ecologos is assisting the Learning Community Development initiative at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Concept papers on learning community, e-learning, integrative perspective on higher education, cultural and intellectual paradigm shift from fragmented Modern Worldview to integrated Ecological Worldview, and the development of 21st century thinking habits will be published at this site on an ongoing basis. Allen Jaisle’s experience in e-learning, as Associate Dean of an e-learning university, includes: learning community development; curriculum integration; learning strategy innovation; challenge-based and team-based course development; and accreditation of management, leadership and information technology degree programs. Main Site http://www.ecologos.us/ * * *
| 
