According to Bielaczyc and Collins (1999):
“The defining quality of a learning community is that there is a culture of learning in which everyone is involved in a collective effort of understanding. There are four characteristics that such a culture must have: (1) diversity of expertise among its members who are valued for their contributions and given support to develop, (2) a shared objective of continually advancing the collective knowledge and skills, (3) an emphasis on learning how to learn, and (4) mechanisms for sharing what is learned.”
With this quote in mind I was asked in my ETEC 533 class to respond to the following:
In what ways do the networked communities you examined represent and depart from this characterization of learning communities? What implications does this have for your practice?
In response to this question I chose to focus on the Integrated Laboratory Network (ILN), Second Life and Exploratorium.
Of the networked learning communities explored the ILN is the best representation of a learning community according to Bielaczyc and Collins’ (1999) definition. The ILN allows access to expensive laboratory equipment through online, remote access. This system allows post-secondary pharmacy and chemistry teachers, researchers and even external individuals access to the laboratory equipment and results. By offering access to rare and expensive scientific equipment through ILN Cancilla (2004) serves to redefine how laboratory science is taught. Cancilla (personal communication, March 26, 2009) states that one of the group’s goals is to allow remote access to a variety of interested parties including high school and other institutions thus reaching a diverse membership across great distances. The shared objective of putting unused technology to use and changing how educators allocate equipment resources serves to advance the knowledge and skills of all those involved and thus is a clear and successful attempt at building an online learning community.
The Exploratorium is an online museum dedicated to science, art and human perception. With over 18 thousand web pages exploring these topics the Exploratorium goes a long way towards fostering a learning community based around science and education. By going beyond content such as webcasts, hands-on activities and simulations and enabling students and teachers to communicate, share objectives and mechanisms for learning the Exploratorium is an excellent example of an online learning community. The communication that this network is able to facilitate between its members and partners creates a broad educational community that could definitely advance the collective skills and knowledge of the group.
Second Life is not normally thought of in an educational context, the online, virtual environment is normally used for entertainment and communication purposes as avatars or virtual characters interact with each other, objects and the environment (Baker, Wentz and Woods, 2009). Despite its origins outside the educational sphere, modern educators and researchers are beginning to see the potential educational uses of the system to foster and host learning communities (Appel, 2006). The creators of Second Life have been encouraging educators to take advantage of the media and networking capabilities of the system and educators are taking notice (Appel, 2006). Despite these efforts however I failed to see a clear learning community in Second Life that met Bielaczyc and Collins’ (1999) definition. After exploring the Planetarium and Museums and interacting with others it was clear that communication and sharing can easily be fostered in the environment but no party has been able to foster learning communities in a cohesive and educationally meaningful way. As Aldrich (2006) states: “Second Life, as is, is not a teaching tool. It is content free. It is closer to a virtual classroom tool, or even a real-world meeting room or water cooler (without the actual water). Any content has to either bubble up from spontaneous conversations (great when they happen, but not predictable or scalable enough to provide an intellectual payoff), or be brought in.” With this in mind the focus will have to be on scientific and educational content before Second Life itself can be seen as scientific learning community.
After exploring these resources and their attempts to build meaningful learning communities in virtual space I see great potential in these areas. The possibilities that systems like ILN, Exploratorium and Second Life hold for educators and students as a learning community are huge and I am excited to see their goals and aspirations come to fruition. Implementing such technologies in the science classroom in a relevant and pedagogically sound manner may be difficult now but I have hope that in the future these efforts will hold great changes for the physical classroom as we know it.