Belonging Online: Students’ Perceptions of the Value and Efficacy of an Online Learning Community

By: Loralee LaPointe, Marcy Reisetter. International Journal on ELearning. Norfolk: 2008. Vol. 7, Iss. 4; pg.

Abstract

The proliferation of online course designs has changed the learning environments for many students and professors.  Recommendations for best practice in online course design frequently include maximizing students’ online peer connections, with the intention of building a viable, if virtual, online learning community.  However, students’ responses to and value for these virtual communities have been mixed.
Graduate students taking online courses through a state university system were surveyed to determine their value for, and commitment to, this online learning community.  Results, both quantitative and narrative, indicated that although some students found the virtual community helpful to their learning, others  perceived the online peer connections as superfluous and inconvenient, and not supportive of their online learning processes.  We suggest that the new reality created by online learning demands a reassessment of our understanding of the most productive student engagement.

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Stop Reinventing the Wheel : Using Wikis for Professional Knowledge Sharing

Journal of Web Librarianship, Vol. 1, No. 1. (2007), pp. 27-44.

This article details the development of the Library Instruction Wiki (http://instructionwiki.org): an effort to develop a web-based, knowledge sharing resource. Though some library instruction is specific to a given institution or class, much of what instruction librarians teach is similar. Library instructors have repeatedly expressed the desire to share resources, ideas and expertise. With the increasing presence of social software applications, the options for technology-enabled knowledge sharing have grown dramatically in recent years. The success of Wikipedia illustrates how wikis can be used to build collective knowledge-building projects. The authors describe the process of using a wiki to build such a resource. Drawing on research connecting communities of practice, information and communication technology and knowledge management, the authors also examine the social and cultural challenges they faced trying to use communication technology with a dispersed network of practitioners. Implementation details including software selection and installation, customization, and marketing are discussed. A year after its initial launch, contributions to the wiki have slowed despite consistent and enthusiastic support for the concept. The authors examine possible reasons for this limited activity, and suggest next steps for this wiki and for further research.

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[abstract from<https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/dspace/handle/1957/7927>

Download article (Word document) <https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/dspace/bitstream/1957/7927/1/collabwiki_final_2.doc> from ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Cite as:
Deitering, A.M, & Bridgewater, R. (2007). Stop reinventing the wheel: Using wikis for professional knowledge sharing. Journal of Web Librarianship 1:1, 27-44.