Problems within Learning Communities

Learning communities need participants. One of the most common complaints about group activities is that online classes, according to many adult learners, are supposed to be independently completed. Students do not have time to work with others, especially if community members live in other time zones or have different job and personal schedules. As with all collaborative activities, such as those on the job, some learners who are required to participate in a learning community try to take over the group and impose their ideas or will on everyone else. Personality conflicts arise when this situation occurs, and other group members either leave the community or spend collaborative time arguing, instead of discussing ways to work together. Some students do not do their share of the work and are content to let others take over. These personality and work-allocation issues can tear apart a learning community and keep members from accomplishing tasks.

A philosophical issue is that many learners do not see how the Internet can be a wonderful collaborative tool for internal or external learning communities. These students only perceive the Internet as a database, not as a communication tool.

To help alleviate any of these problems, you have to show learners how effective collaboration can take place and guide the learning communities so that members early on realize benefits from participating in them.

Ways to Overcome Problems with Learning Communities

You can do a lot to increase the probability of success in classroom learning communities by following a few guidelines. The community members have to be interested in the subject or activities that pull the group together. You can help generate interest by selecting topics that pertain to learners’ career interests or common personal interests that mesh with course objectives. You may have to introduce community members to each other and note these common interests to help the community begin to work together. When learners are interested in the topics of study by the learning communities, they are more likely to find value in participation.

Creating a stable, supportive environment is another step toward success. The need for nonthreatening and friendshipbuilding activities so that new community members have positive initial experiences with a learning community. If learners feel favorably toward class members and collaborative opportunities, they are more likely to participate. You as facilitator also must moderate the community’s activities and show your continuing interest in the. You should not require group collaboration and then remain aloof from the community that you have created. You must show that you value the communities and keep informed about what is going on within them if students are going to see value in group tasks.

Tthat interactivity is the key to learning communities’ viability. Learners must interact with the teacher and each other. The technology also must work easily and make it possible for learners to discuss information, see notes or plan projects, and share resources. For example, the chat room, whiteboard, bulletin board, e-mail, and attachments created with different software, such as PowerPoint or Excel, might be used to help learners create and share information in different formats. Community members may want to exchange presentational slides, .JPG files, PDF documents, and spreadsheets. All technical aspects of facilitating online communities have to function consistently well, or learners will become frustrated and abandon electronic communication for what they perceive as more effective methods of communication, such as phone conversations. Although learners wanting to talk to each other is a positive part of the learning community, they should not use this form of communication only because electronic means will not work reliably.

Asynchronous learning networks (ALNs), as well as synchronous forms of communication, can help make learners feel like a part of a real class that learns and works together. When you develop collaborative learning activities for your course, and as you plan or redesign a curriculum to include more collaborative work, consider both asynchronous and synchronous methods of pulling learners together. Emphasizing ALNs can help learners work more easily with group members in different time zones or on different schedules. ALNs give groups the chance to work together, but largely within the individual’s time frame. Asynchronous communication can help learning communities overcome barriers of time and space and ensure that all members can participate in group activities.