How to Develop a Learning Community Online
Educational institutions and parents have discovered an important learning tool -- the Internet. Teachers are able to post classroom materials online, parents have a nearly infinite knowledge base at their fingertips and students enjoy the immersion and interactive nature of learning online. Valuable Internet resources, whether it is for kids or adults, are learning communities. Online learning communities can be developed to suit any subject or age group. Whether you are creating an online learning community for an organization or a business venture, planning and networking are essential.
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Instructions
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Ascribe a purpose to your online learning community. Decide if it will be for a specific school, age group or subject. Your online community should have a well-defined purpose or it will get lost in the multitude of other learning communities. Have a concrete idea of what your community will offer and to whom.
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Create content for your online community. A website without some content is virtually invisible. This does not have to be comprehensive, but should address some of the learning topics your website will involve. In the future, content creation will be member driven.
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Begin gathering a list of members. Sign up a number of members before you launch. If you are developing an online community for a school or business you will already have a list of all students or workers that can access the community. If your community is public, you want some initial members to begin posting discussions and adding content as soon as the site goes live. Content is important because it will boost your search engine visibility, thus allowing you to draw in more members.
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Research other online communities to get an understanding of website design and functionality. Decide on which elements you want to incorporate in your site. Note which websites appeal to you, as most designers will use those as the foundation for your community.
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Develop your website. Online communities can be as simple as message boards or as complex as Facebook. The scope of your website will be determined by budget and intended purpose. If the site is oriented towards a small group and very specific subject, you will avoid an overly costly design. But the more general and larger number of members you wish to attract, the more expensive your online community will be. For simple sites, a blog and a message board will suffice. This can be accomplished without the help of a website designer. For larger, more in-depth projects, you will need to enlist the assistance of a website development company or freelancer designer.
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Launch your website. Send emails to current members that the community is now online. Since most of your first members will be friends or acquaintances, ask them to give feedback on functionality and report any bugs within the site.
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Foster a positive learning environment. Appoint moderators to regulate the message boards. Continually add new content to the site. Have a page for feedback. Remember that online communities are user-driven. If you have informed and content users, your site will grow in popularity.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not solely concentrate on the online aspect. Organize local meetings or events with members to encourage involvement in the group.
References
Resources
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