Community+and+Collaboration

**Session 2 Community and Collaboration Discussion Summary**
Below are some key points from our Session 2 discussion about community and collaboration. Feel free to add to the list!


 * Benefits of community and collaboration:**
 * Provides opportunities for reflection and feedback
 * Helps to hold others accountable
 * Allows each other to see the human side of online learning
 * Accomplish shared goals
 * Promote camaraderie
 * Allow participants to feel comfortable communicating openly and asking questions
 * Promotes a positive environment conducive for learning
 * Support constructive inquiry; challenge others' ideas
 * Big tasks can be more manageable; each person can have tasks and roles, utilizing other group members' strengths
 * Promote engagement with materials; active, not passive learning
 * Once a safe community is built, participants become more comfortable responding to others, questioning, and even disagreeing with other members of the community.
 * Peer-to-peer interactions have tremendous value
 * Don’t underestimate the power of teaming and collaborative group work


 * Some additional ideas and key points in the discussion:**
 * Be accountable for your own active learning process, as well as the learning process of others, by contributing ideas and perspectives frequently to discussions
 * Learners will see the value when they have a positive learning experience
 * It is important for the facilitator to use probing questions to guide the discussion
 * Introverts may have an easier time online because of reflection and processing thoughts vs. extroverts
 * It's important to have a strong facilitator to drive the community
 * An informal get-to-know activity helps to build that sense of community early on in a course
 * Making real-world connections helps to construct knowledge
 * Honesty, trust, openness are key to a successful community
 * Knowledge is constructed thru peer interaction, group discussions and feedback from the instructor
 * Successful communities are formed around issues of identity and shared values.
 * Instruction and learning that takes place in an online forum is directly related to the communication and interaction
 * Time management is one of the most difficult aspects of online learning
 * Avoid using tools for the “sake of it”; Draw explicit connections, and/or keep it relevant for learners
 * Being active and responsive are essential to a successful community
 * Learn from both good and bad experiences, and then apply what works for you in your setting or initiative
 * To be successful – you must enter the online classroom, post frequently to the discussion forums; otherwise, your instructor will have no way of knowing if you are participating, reading or working on course material
 * Collaborative learning and reflective practice are important elements that must be present in online learning