Does Community Matter for Online Learners

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Does Community Matter for On-line Learners?

• Community Building and Its Relation to the
  Retention of Learners in On-line Degree
  Programs.
• Becky Copper The College of St. Scholastica
  Capella University

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Introduction and Overview

• Research on the topic of community and retention
• Theories of adult learning and discussion
• Community inside and outside of the on-line
  classroom
• On-line community building tools
• Discussion and suggestions from the audience

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Why Community Matters

• Tinto's Model Student Integration

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Student Integration Theory- Vincent Tinto (1975)

• Retention -depends on the students
  level of motivation and their degree
  of social integration with the
  institution
• Ritual need for separation, transition and
  incorporation among traditional college students
• Lack of integration incongruence and isolation
• OToole, Peterson and Wetzel (1999) -Degree of a
  students academic integration has a greater
  impact on retention than any other factor
  including financial aid and tuition pricing.

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What do we know about adult learners?

• McGivney, V. (2004) Understanding persistence
  in adult learning. MacKinnon-Slaney, F. (1994).
  The adult persistence in learning model A road
  map to counseling services for adult learners.
• Career focused
• Motivated
• Family work related obligations
• May have anxiety about returning to school
• May not have the skills necessary to be
  successful

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Tintos Model Non-Traditional Students

• Hanna Ashar and Robert Skenes replicated
  Tintos model with adult non-traditional students
• Adult students have different learning needs
• Work-related motives bring students to the
  institution
• Results showed that social integration has a
  larger impact than career or academic integration
• Environment matters small class sizes
• Psychological factors- perceived value and
  utility of education

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Tintos Model Applied to Distance Learning

• David Kember, 1989/1995
• Entry characteristics different for adult
  learners (GPA, ACT, etc.)
• Difficult to measure the impact of social
  integration vs. outside factors
• Social and academic integration matter
• Adults need meaning learning experiences

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How do we create community?

• Adult Education Theory

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Adult Education Theory Discussion Experience

• Malcom Knowles Andragogy
• Learners are aware of their needs, they
  bring experience and knowledge to the
  education activity and they are motivated to
  learn
• Jack Mezirow Transformative Learning
• Shared experiences
• Discussion
• Shared world views
• Learning connectiveness
• The power of transformation
• Reflection

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On-line Learning Communities

• Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt
• Students need to identify and belong to their
  communities
• Value of learning is in the social participation
  that takes place
• Collaboration Activities Assist Learners with
• 1. Development of critical thinking skills
• 2. Co-creating knowledge
• 3. Reflection

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Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt Cont.

• On-line Learning Community is
• Active interaction involving both course content
  and personal communication
• Collaborative learning evidenced by comments
  directed primarily student to student rather than
  student to instructor
• Socially Constructed meaning evidenced by
  agreement or questioning, with the intent to
  achieve agreement on issues of meaning
• Sharing of resources among students
• Expressions of support and encouragement
  exchanged between students as well as willingness
  to critically evaluate the work of others

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Tinto

• While discussing learning communities Tinto
  (1997) stated that We know student learning is
  greatly enhanced when students participate in
  shared, collaborative learning experiences, when
  they are active rather than passive in the
  learning process and their discourse is
  wide-ranging and interdisciplinary (p.2).

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Adult Education Theory - Discussion Stephen
Brookfield Discussion as a way of teaching

• Components of meaningful discussions
• Instructional Responsiveness
• Peer-to-peer and instructor-to-peer feedback
• Practicing and modeling respect
• Relationships- create multiple ways to get to
  know our students
  and allow them to know you
• Discussions that involve extended periods of
  independent reflection
• Participation modeled by the instructor
  (Instructor should encourage peer-to-peer and not
  dominate discussion)
• Thoughtful discussions students apply experience
  and prior knowledge
• Disciplined discussion stay focused on the
  topic, set ground rules and model

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Adult Education Theory - Discussion Stephen
Brookfield Discussion as a way of teaching Cont.

• Benefits
• Competition for air-time does not exist in an
  on-line environment
• Allows us to think before responding
• Separation from cultural and social influences
  vital for people to develop independent critical
  thought

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Communities of Practice

• Etienne Wenger
• Communities of Practice
• Practice as a community that is created over time
  by the on-going pursuit of shared experiences
• Social Theory of Learning integrates meaning,
  practice, community and identity.
• Create inventive ways to motivate and engage
• Provide access to resources that assist with
  participation
• Help learners to make a difference in the
  communities they value
• Learning is an integral part of everyday life
  and it is part of our participation in our
  communities and organizations.

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Trends on the horizon

• What is next for on-line communities?

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Adult Learners- Distance Learning

• Department of Education -2005 Congressional
  report (24 distance learning institutions)
• Over half of the institutions reviewed reported
  the average age of their learners to be between
  25-34
• Student enrollment had increased from 400-700
  percent within a 6 year period.
• Growing population of adult learners who are
  seeking distance learning degrees but have lower
  retention rates at the beginning of their
  program.

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Social Networking Software

• Facebook, MySpace, Friendsterhow do we use
  these to build community in an academic
  environmentshould we use social networking
  technology for this purpose?

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Social Networking Software

• Ulises Majias
  Teachers College,
  Columbia University
• Graduate Course in social Software
• http//ideant.typepad.com/ulises_mejias.html
• While social software can connect learners to
  new resources and to each other in new ways, I
  argue that its true potential lies in helping us
  figure out how to integrate our online and
  offline social experiences.

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Ulises Majias

• E-learning is going in the direction of learners
  engaged in the learning process
• Social networking does away with the notion that
  learning is supposed to happen in one space
  during one particular time. Learning is an
  ongoing practice. Knowledge is not just coming
  from the course materials, from the instructor,
  but it is everywhere filtered socially. My access
  to knowledge and information depends very much on
  my social network (Filipczak, 2006)
• The learning process is fluid, dynamic and not
  always controllable

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The New Media Consortium (NMC) and Educause The
Horizon Report

• Social networking will continue to grow
• Various social networking tools are already in
  place and common outside of the education arena
• Personal broadcasting of audio and video material
  will continue to expand

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Americans and On-line Communities

• Pew Internet American Life Project found that
  the internet has transformed communities in
  America by connecting communities and expanding
  networks (Boase, Horrigan, Rainie and Wellman,
  2006).
• Email enables people to maintain relationships
  more easily than other forms of communication
• Internet users tend to have larger social
  networks than non-internet users.

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Americans and On-line Communities

• 2001, Pew Internet American Life Project
• Approximately 23 million Americans are very
  active in online communities meaning that they
  email their principle online group several times
  a week. Our survey results suggest that going
  online to connect with a group is a central part
  of Americans Internet experience (p.3).

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2001, Pew Internet American Life Project Cont.

• Use of the internet helps people find others
  who share their passions, lifestyles or
  professional interests and it helps them feel
  more connected to groups or people they already
  know (p.8).

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Overview

• What do we know about community?

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Capella University

• University discussion Boards
• Professional associations and communities of
  practice
• LinkedIn 2500 members (Alumni, Faculty and
  Students)
• Courseroom discussions
• Group projects/ collaborative activities

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Summary How do we create on-line communities?

• Discussion including life and work experience
• Reflection Allowing time for reflection
• Instructors Model and encourage interaction
• Seek opportunities that allow learners to grow
  and participate in larger communities
• Allow learners more control faculty cannot
  force community

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Open Discussion

• How does your institution develop on-line
  communities?
• Is community needed outside of the on-line
  classroom? How are these created/facilitated?
• Do you have ideas on how to improve or create
  on-line communities?

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References

• Association for the Study of Higher Education
  (ASHE), (2003). Why students leave college.
  Retaining minority students in higher education.
  ASHE 30 (2), 43-73. Retrieved May 28, 2005, from
  EBSCO database.
• Ashar, H. Skenes, R. (1993). Can Tintos
  student departure model be applied to
  nontraditional students? Adult Education
  Quarterly, 43(2), 90-100. Retrieved April 5th,
  from EBSCO database
• Boase, J., Horrigan, J. Rainie, L., Wellman,
  B., (2001). The strength of internet ties.
• Pew Internet American Life Project. Washington
  DC, www.pewinternet.org
• Brookfield, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of
  teaching. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
• De Caga, J. (2001). Tending the garden of
  knowledge A look at communities of practice with
  Etienne Wenger. Information Outlook. 5(7), July
  2001. Retrieved May 3, 2006 from
  http//www.sla.org/content/resources/infoportals/C
  OP.cfm
• Filipzcak, B. (2006). Interview with Ulises
  Majias. Capella University
• Horrigan, J. (2001) Online Communities Networks
  that nurture long-distance relationships and
  local ties. Pew Internet and American Life
  Project (Washington, D.C.)
• http//www.pewinternet.org
• Kember,D, Lai, T. Murphy, D. et. al . (1994).
  Student progress in distance education courses a
  replication study. Adult Education Quarterly,
  45(1), 286-301
• McGivney, V. (2004). Understanding persistence
  in adult learning. Open Learning, 19, 1 (33-45)
• MacKinnon-Slaney, F. (1994). The adult
  persistence in learning model A road map to
  counseling services for adult learners. Journal
  of Counseling Development. 72 268-274.
  Retrieved August 2, 2005 from EBSCO database
• Office of Postsecondary Education, Office of
  Policy, Planning and Innovation (2005). Third
  Report to Congress on the Distance Education
  Demonstration Program.
• US Department of Education, Washington, DC,
  doc.20006.
• OToole, D., Peterson, S., Wetzel, J. (1999).
  Factors affecting student retention
  probabilities A case study. Journal of Economics
  and Finance, 23 (1). Retrieved May 26, 2005 from
  scholar.google.com
• Boase, J., Horrigan, J. Rainie, L., Wellman,
  B., (2006). The Strength of Internet Ties. Pew
  Internet American Life Project. Retrieved March
  13, 2006 from http//www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/172
  /report_display.asp
• Tinto, V. (1988). Stages of student departure
  reflections on the longitudinal character of
  students leaving. The Journal of Higher
  Education, 59 (4) 438-455, retrieved April 5,
  2006, from http//www.jstor.com
• Tinto,V. (1997). Universities as learning
  organizations. About Campus.
• Wenger, E. (1999) Learning as Social
  Participation. Knowledge Management Review. 6

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Contact Information

• Becky Copper
• Campus Director, St. Paul Campus
• College of St. Scholastica
• 340 Cedar St. 50
• St. Paul, MN 55101
• bcopper_at_css.edu
• 651-241-1015