Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rena M. Palloff, PhD, and Keith Pratt, PhD are the managing partners of Crossroads Consulting Group. They are the authors of Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace, Collaborating Online, Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom, and The Virtual Student, all from Jossey-Bass.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

Building Online Learning Communities

The second edition of the groundbreaking book Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. Palloff and Pratt share insights designed to guide readers, offering illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses.

"The focus on community makes this volume distinctive in the literature about online teaching and learning. The authors' expertise spans the nitty-gritty, practical aspects of the virtual classroom with the larger questions and context of twenty-first century education. This book goes way beyond the how-to's of online education to a sophisticated consideration of the major challenges of teaching and learning."
―Anna DiStefano, provost, Fielding Graduate University

"This book captures the essence of a successful virtual learning experience for both students and teachers. Palloff and Pratt share valuable insights that only expert practitioners could so clearly explain."
―David Wicks, director of instructional technology, Seattle Pacific University

"As the physical and virtual worlds converge to become the 'real world' of teaching and learning, communities play increasingly important roles in bridging distances and differences. This book underscores the real value that communities bring to distributed learning experiences, and gives readers plenty of guidance and advice for creating communities that connect, engage, and inspire."
―Ellen Wagner, senior director, WW eLearning Solutions, Adobe Systems

"This book is a must-read for faculty who truly want to help students understand and apply knowledge, and thus prepare for life in the twenty-first century. Palloff and Pratt have reaffirmed their roles as educational leaders in the development of online learning communities, reminding us of the significant benefits of such communities to learners at all levels."
―Jack A. Chambers, executive director, Office of Organizational Learning Services, Florida Community College at Jacksonville

Aus dem Klappentext

Building Online Learning Communities

The second edition of the groundbreaking book Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. Palloff and Pratt share insights designed to guide readers, offering illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses.

"The focus on community makes this volume distinctive in the literature about online teaching and learning. The authors' expertise spans the nitty-gritty, practical aspects of the virtual classroom with the larger questions and context of twenty-first century education. This book goes way beyond the how-to's of online education to a sophisticated consideration of the major challenges of teaching and learning."
—Anna DiStefano, provost, Fielding Graduate University

"This book captures the essence of a successful virtual learning experience for both students and teachers. Palloff and Pratt share valuable insights that only expert practitioners could so clearly explain."
—David Wicks, director of instructional technology, Seattle Pacific University

"As the physical and virtual worlds converge to become the 'real world' of teaching and learning, communities play increasingly important roles in bridging distances and differences. This book underscores the real value that communities bring to distributed learning experiences, and gives readers plenty of guidance and advice for creating communities that connect, engage, and inspire."
—Ellen Wagner, senior director, WW eLearning Solutions, Adobe Systems

"This book is a must-read for faculty who truly want to help students understand and apply knowledge, and thus prepare for life in the twenty-first century. Palloff and Pratt have reaffirmed their roles as educational leaders in the development of online learning communities, reminding us of the significant benefits of such communities to learners at all levels."
—Jack A. Chambers, executive director, Office of Organizational Learning Services, Florida Community College at Jacksonville

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Building Online Learning Communities

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

In the last ten years, significant change has occurred in online learning. Once viewed as a less rigorous, softer, easier way to complete a course or degree, faculty now realize that the time involved in the development and delivery of a high-quality online course is substantial, and students are now realizing that completing courses and degree programs online is hard work. There is no longer a need to spend time defining what online distance learning is or is not; it is now commonplace in higher education and is gaining popularity in the K-12 arena as well. Ten years ago, we were trying to decide what constituted distance learning and asked questions such as, "If the class meets face-to-face two or three times during the term, is that a distance learning course?" Today we know that distance learning takes several forms, including fully online courses, hybrid or blended courses that contain some face-to-face contact time in combination with online delivery, and technology-enhanced courses, which meet predominantly face-to-face but incorporate elements of technology into the course. In addition, academic institutions are experimenting with time schedules that depart from the traditional semester or quarter in order to more effectively deliver online classes.

It is not unusual now to see six-week intensive courses or courses with flexible start and end dates. If we examine all the ways in which distance learning is occurring now, it is possible to state that almost every course delivered via some form of technology is a distance learning course. There is one important element, however, that sets online distance learning apart from the traditional classroom setting: Key to the learning process are the interactions among students themselves, the interactions between faculty and students, and the collaboration in learning that results from these interactions. In other words, the formation of a learning community through which knowledge is imparted and meaning is co-created sets the stage for successful learning outcomes.

Ten years ago, the notion of building community online was seen as "fluff" or just one more thing an instructor might pay attention to in the delivery of an online course. However, much research has been conducted in recent years regarding the importance of community in an online course and in online teaching in general (Garrison, n.d.; Rovai, 2002; Rovai and Jordan, 2004; Shea, Swan, and Pickett, 2004; Wenger, 1999) and, further, into the concept of social presence, defined as the ability to portray oneself as a "real" person in the online environment (Gunawardena and Zittle, 1997; Picciano, 2002; Richardson and Swan, 2003; Rovai and Barnum, 2003). The findings of these research studies and others have supported our notion that the key to successful online learning is the formation of an effective learning community as the vehicle through which learning occurs online. Adams and Sperling (2003) note that the community building process embedded in online courses has helped transform teaching and learning in higher education. Some of the changes they describe for students include greater availability and accessibility of information, engagement of different learning styles, and promotion of increased responsibility for teaching and learning. The changes faculty are experiencing include greater accessibility to and availability of information but also encompass the development of new skill sets for teaching and the need to rethink pedagogy, redefine learning objectives, reevaluate assessment, and redefine faculty work roles and culture.

We also see these changes in a number of college classrooms today, not just in online classrooms. And we continue to learn more about how people learn. Carol Twigg (1994b) indicated that many students are concrete-active learners, that is, they learn best from concrete experiences that engage their senses. Their best learning experiences begin with practice and end with theory (Twigg, 1994b). Many instructors, seeking to improve their practice and the learning outcomes for their students, have incorporated active learning techniques such as working collaboratively on assignments, participating in small-group discussions and projects, reading and responding to case studies, role playing, and using simulations.

These practices transfer well into the online classroom. However, instructors need to be diligent and deliberate in ensuring their success. When learners cannot see or even talk to each other, the use of collaborative assignments becomes more challenging but far from impossible. (We offer suggestions for implementing collaborative learning techniques in the online classroom in Chapter Eight.)

Learning in the distance education environment cannot be passive. If students do not enter into the online classroom-do not post a contribution to the discussion-the instructor has almost no way of knowing whether they have been there. So students are not only responsible for logging on but they must also contribute to the learning process by posting their thoughts and ideas to the online discussion. Learning is an active process in which both the instructor and the learners must participate if it is to be successful. In the process, a web of learning is created. In other words, a network of interactions between the instructor and the other participants is formed, through which the process of knowledge acquisition is collaboratively created. (See Chapters Eight and Nine for a discussion of collaborative learning and the transformative nature of the learning process.)

Outcomes of this process, then, should not be measured by the number of facts memorized and the amount of subject matter regurgitated but by the depth of knowledge and the number of skills gained. Evidence of critical thinking and of knowledge acquired are the desired learning outcomes. Consequently, cheating on exams should not be a major concern in an effective online environment because knowledge is acquired collaboratively through the development of a learning community. (The assessment of student performance in this environment is discussed in Chapter Ten.)

Institutions entering the distance learning arena must be prepared to tackle these issues and to develop new approaches and new skills in order to create an empowering learning process, for the creation of empowered learners is yet another desired outcome of online distance education. Successful online teaching is a process of taking our very best practices in the classroom and bringing them into a new, and, for some faculty, untried, arena. In this new arena, however, the practices may not look exactly the same.

Take, for example, a recent discussion with a professor in a small college where a distance delivery model was being implemented for a master's degree program. A software program was chosen and a consultant hired to install it on the college's server. There it sat for almost a year until the college decided to begin using it more extensively. Because of our expertise in faculty training and development for the delivery of distance education programs, we were consulted about the best way to improve a program that was not working very well. The professor informed us that the software had been used by a couple of instructors...