Building Learning Communities in Cyperspace, Effective Strategies for the online
Classroom, Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, 1999
Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace is the collaborative effort of Drs.
Rena M Palloff and Keith Pratt both graduates of the Fielding Institute. (The Fielding
Institute offers degrees completely on-line.) It was at the Fielding Institute where they
became interested in the benefits of “building a virtual community and the impact such a
community can have on computer-mediated distance learning”. Dr. Palloff and Dr. Pratt
are both on-line professors and conduct research and training in the areas of electronic
group facilitation, face-to-face and electronic community building, distance learning, and
management and supervision. They bring to this book a wealth of experience and
techniques developed into what they and I believe is an effective framework that they
wish to share with “anyone engaged in the process of online work”. The book is
designed to help instructors, faculty and administration meet the needs and challenges of
today’s distance education courses. It is well written, concise, understandable to a lay
person and is supported by data obtained directly from their on-line classes.
In this book, the authors explore the benefits and problems surrounding computer
mediated distance education They offer this book as a guide to the development of
learning communities and they ask instructors to develop new approaches to education
and new skills for the delivery of distance education programs. They focus on issues
encompassing the relationship between the user (participant and instructor) and the
machine (computer), the instructor or facilitator and participants, and the participants
among themselves. The book is not about technology but is about the way in which
participants interact with the technology.
Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace is organized into two parts. The
first part lays out the authors foundation for their distance education framework. The
second part provides a guide developed through experience to the generation of an
effective electronic learning community. The last part of the book provides examples of
course syllabi designed to assist instructors in building effective learning communities
on-line and is an excellent resource.
Part 1 (Chapters 1 – 5) The Learning Community in Cyberspace
To begin, the authors believe that the “key” to the learning process in distance
learning environments are the interactions and dialogue developed among students, and
between faculty and students because group interactions and the relationships among
participants are the primary source of knowledge. The learning community must be
nurtured and developed to be effective. The framework asks instructors to support and
nurture the development of these communities through group activities, simulations, the
use of open-ended questions to stimulate dialogue and perhaps trigger conflict to rouse
debates. In this new teaching model teachers promote “autonomy, initiative, and
creativity while encouraging questioning, critical thinking, dialogue and collaboration”.
The role of the teacher changes from expert to facilitator and s/he offers gentle guidance
to students throughout the learning process. The framework also asks the instructor to
constantly monitor group interactions and act decisively and quickly when problems
arise. Problems include unresolved conflicts among students and when student’s
dialogue go off course.
In this framework, the participant or student is also required to change. It’s their
job to nurture this community by showing up and actively participating. The role of the
learner is discussed further in the second part of the book.
As a student of on-line distance education, I found my self agreeing with the
author’s statements and saying - that’s why my instructor structured the class in such a
way and that is why I was asked to post a bio, contribute and respond to my classmates. I
do believe my experience in distance education has enhanced my critical thinking skills, I
have become a more autonomous learner and have taken the initiative on many occasions
to get a fuller understanding of the subjects that I am studying.
Also in the first section of the book, the authors discuss the issues surrounding
time management in distance education. Instructors as well as students all say that
distance education courses take a great deal of time and that too much time spent on-line
can lead to information overload. They give specific guidelines and course management
techniques to help both instructors and students manage time.
They discuss group size in both Synchronous and asynchronous courses. They
believe that an ideal class size for a synchronous class is 5 to 10 students. However, they
stress the importance of the “skill of the instructor, his or her knowledge of the electronic
medium, the content being discussed and explored, and the means by which that
exploration occurs” no matter the size of the class. Larger groups can be broken into
smaller and more manageable groups to make the process work effectively. They believe
an ideal group size for a successful asynchronous class is 20 or more. I disagree with this
statement for I have participated in a large asynchronous class and I have felt lost in the
deluge of discussion posts and I have spent hours trying to understand all the information.
I believe an ideal number is 20 or less.
They believe that the course software should be transparent, visually appealing
and must be supported by technicians who can handle the problems and ‘bugs’ in the
system. Not everyone comes to an on-line course with the same technological expertise
and the authors believe that no matter what the student’s level of expertise all should be
allowed to effectively participate with help and guidance from the instructor and support
staff.
Part 2 (Chapters 6 – 11) Building An Electronic Learning Community
The role of the learner in the learning process in on-line courses is best described
by the authors as “active seekers of solutions to problems contained within the broad
confines of the knowledge area being studies and raising the level of those solutions to
one of more complexity”. Learners are expected to work collaboratively with other
learners to view and question problems from various perspectives. They should question
the teacher, other students and their own assumptions and ideas about the subject matter.
An effective learner is one that is active, interacts and engages others, and is responsible
for the creation of the on-line learning community through participation.
The issue of establishing on-line teams to complete projects is another area in
which I disagree with the authors. I agree with their research and the research of others
in the value of on-line collaborative learning activities that promote learner
interdependence (students depend on other students to construct meaning of the course
content), however, from a learner’s perceptive I think that working within a smaller
group, and also being responsible for the larger group, requires you to conform to
another group’s time constraints and takes away the freedom and choice that studying online offers and is time consuming. The authors believe that collaborative activities should
be developed by the instructor throughout the course and like the authors, I also believe
that interdependent learning, peer review and feedback are valuable tools. I believe in the
value these tools to enhance a deeper understanding of the course material, however, too
much teamwork can be overwhelming.
The final chapters look at student and course evaluation and a look ahead to the
future of distance education. The authors believe that all aspects of the on-line course
should be evaluated. Evaluation should include the performance of the students to the
effectiveness of the course, and the instructor to the overall effectiveness of the program.
On page 158 they list guiding questions to help instructors evaluate “course effectiveness,
the experience of on-line learning for the students, and self-evaluation of the students’
perceptions of how well they achieved their learning objectives”. They offer the list as a
guide to stimulate your thinking in the area of evaluation.
Chapter 11 is called Lessons Learned and A Look Ahead. There is one paragraph
that struck a cord in me that I would like to share with you. The authors believe that
distance education won’t replace the traditional face-to-face classroom and they believe
that “electronic pedagogy does not advocate the elimination of faculty in the delivery of
on-line courses. In fact, just the opposite is true. We are promoting the development of
new approaches and skills for faculty so that their teaching in this medium might be more
effective. Electronic pedagogy is not about fancy software packages or simple course
conversion. It is about developing the skills involved with community building among a
group of learners so as to maximize the benefits and potential that this medium holds in
educational arena”. My work experience supports this statement. People can never be
replaced but in today’s world, the computer becomes a new and challenging tool that
enhances and supports your work experience in the information age.
A book review prepared by Marypat Taveras, Graduate Student, Technological Systems
Management, Educational Computing Concentration, State University of New York at
Stony Brook