Networking 2004 Online - Great Resource - Online Community Toolkit

Jan Hatton presented a very interesting presentation at the recent Networking 2004 'Sheep Breeders get online'.

Jan shared some great resources including an online community toolkit. This toolkit is a link page to many articles which are a correlation of research findings and papers from Nancy White from Full Circle. Some of the many articles you can find here include -

Virtual Communities: What and Why?
Types of Online Community
How Some Folks Have Tried to Describe Community
Dictionary of Online Interaction Terms (Updated August 2002)
Tom Coleman Poem - some thoughts on connecting with words
Virtual Communities: Thinking About Purpose
Community Builders' Purpose Checklist
Community Application Tool
Conference and Topic Structures
Community Member Roles and Types
Die Community, ihre Mitglieder und Strukturen - German version
Networks, Groups and Catalysts: The Sweet Spot for Forming Online Learning Communities

Networking 2004 - Mentoring Online Learning Communities by Judy Fawcett

Judy Fawcett from Torrens Valley Tafe presented three online learning communities
- Child Care Learning Community
- Youth Work Online Learning Community
- Aged Care/Lifestyle and Leisure Online Learning Community.
These online communities are very successful and Judy and the team from Torrens Valley Tafe is to be congratulated.

Judy passed on the following in regard to her experience in setting up these CoPo's

1/ If all participants are involved (big or small)in the ongoing development of the site then that is their reason for wanting to continue to access it - equal participation and ownership - the site must continue to change in response to the members of your Online CoP

2. Ease of Access comes through practice and participants get lots of practice if they are involved in its continuing development, seeing and doing - I'm not a big fan of logins - we have had to created guest logins to provide access for all but original members have authoring rights - this doesn't stop others suggesting content/changes - in fact it is welcomed.

3. We spent a lot of time getting our front pages right - bright, colourful, appealing and reflective of the Industries we serve. Feedback suggests they are easy to navigate.

4. As a facilitator in online discussions I like to take a back seat once things have started and let everyone 'go for it' - the lively dialogue I feel comes more from the participants and I like to share facilitation amongst the whole group 5.Online games are fun, make up your own - in fact FUN (and relevance)is a key if you want your CoP to continue.

Resources and Links

Here are some useful resources about CoPos

Web Links

Online Community Toolkit
http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitymanual.htm

Online Networks in VET Toolkit
http://wwwtafe.lib.rmit.edu.au/onlinet/

Why Lurkers Lurk
http://snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca/~nonnecke/research/whylurk.pdf

Virual Communities of Practice as Learning Networks by Stephan Ullen, Donna Ure and Stephen Evans from the Brigham Young University
http://www.masie.com/researchgrants/2003/BY_Final_Report.pdf

On the Road to Community by Marlene Manto
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~marleman/index.html

The following are rescources posted into the 'Cop it Sweet' online forum by Robyn Jay.

Seven Steps to Building Electronic Communitiesby Philippa Gamse and Terry Grunwald
http://www.cyberspeaker.com/sevensteps.html

Design Principles for Online Communitiesby Peter Kollock
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/design.htm

How Online Social Networks Benefit OrganizationsBy Lisa Kimball and Howard Rheingold
http://www.rheingold.com/Associates/onlinenetworks.html

Building Online Communities: Transforming Assumptions Into Success by Victoria Bernal
http://www.benton.org/publibrary/practice/community/goals

Preliminary Heuristics for the Design and Evaluation of Online Communities of Practice Systems By Mark Notess and Josh Plaskoff
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?section=4&list_item=8&page=1

Practice Guide: Techniques for Engaging with Membersby Tim Pickles
http://www.sift.co.uk/practice/guides/participation.doc

Nine Principles for Making Virtual Communities Work
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/vc.principles.html



Books

Ettienne Wenger, Richard McDermott and William M. Snyder (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business School Press.

Salmon, G (2002) e-Tivities: the Key to Active Online Learning, Sterling, VA, USA: Kogan Page

Salmon, G (2000) e-Moderating, Sterling, VA USA:Kogan Page

Pratt, K & Palloff, R.M (2003). The Virtual Student. A Profile and guide to Working with Online Learners. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Brook, T and Wall, S (2001) Tutoring Online, CIT Solutions. Canberra.

Reports/Articles

Networking and the National Training System by John Mitchell and Susan Young (Reframing the Future Project Core Ideas report 2002)

Effectively Structuring Communities of Practice in VET by John Mitchell March 2003 (Reframing the Future project report 2003).

Learning Communities for Social Change in Forums on the Web by Janet Burstall. Adult Learning Australia, July 2000.

Learning Around Town: Learning Communities in Australia by Liz Henderson, Rachel Castles, Majella McGrath and Tony Brown. Adult Learning Australia October 2000.