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.