Pursuing the Elusive Metaphor of Community
in e-Learning Environments
Richard Schwier
Invited Address ED-MEDIA 2009
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24, 2009

Ben Daniel, Dirk Morrison, me, Kirk Kezema, Jaymie Koroluk
(not pictured: Xing Xu, Heather Ross)

Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Joi Ito from Flickr

Trajectory of
Learning
Environments
• ‘Relation-Making’ systems
• Personal "representation” systems
• Meaning is in the connections
• The locus of control is in the user
• PLN - McGuffin, ARRFF & Mesh
- Stephen Downes
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Our students
Search for what they want (Google)
Associate with whom they please
(Twitter)
Ignore what they don’t want (TiVo)
Consume what they choose (iTunes)
Become their own media (YouTube)
-David Porter, BC Campus
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

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Formal VLC model
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Sense
of
Modeling Community Constituents
Comparison
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Characteristics of
• Transcript analysis
• Interviews
• Focus groups
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Characteristics
• Awareness • Participation
• Social protocols • Trust
• Historicity • Trajectory
• Identity • Technology
• Mutuality • Learning
• Plurality • Reflection
• Autonomy
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Comparison of
Thurstone
analysis
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Thurstone Scale
Formal
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Modeling
Bayesian Belief Network
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BBN - Query the network
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Non-formal learning
• prescribed but unfettered learning environment
• emphasizes intentional learning--not casual or
serendipitous.
• Some structure for learning defined externally
• learner control; personal intentions outweigh
externally defined intentions
• Organizational expectations around participation,
investment, persistence and completion
• Internal, self-defined outcomes guide the
learning path
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

?
Non-formal environments
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Sense of Community
Rovai & Jordan’s “Classroom Community Scale” (Chronbach’s
alpha = .93)
90.0
67.5
45.0
Formal
22.5 Non-Formal
0
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Intensity
Fahy, Crawford & Ally (TAT)
2.0
1.5
1.0
Formal
0.5
0 Non-Formal
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Density
Fahy, Crawford & Ally (TAT)
0.8
0.6
0.4
Formal
0.2 Non-Formal
0
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Reciprocity ratio
the parity of communication among participants
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Reciprocity ratio
Instructors
15.0
11.3
7.5
3.8 Non-Formal
0 Formal
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Reciprocity ratio
Participants
1.0
0.8
0.5
Mean Mean
0.3 sd
0 sd
Formal
Non-Formal
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Order of importance -
Element
elements Non-formal
Formal
Trust 1 7
Learning 2 3
Participation 3 6
Mutuality 4 10
Intensity 5 7
Protocols 6 10
Reflection 7 2
Autonomy 8 10
Awareness 9 1
Identity 10 4
Trajectory 11 13
Technology 12 4
Historicity 13 13
Plurality 14 7
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Informal learning environments
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

personal
aggregation
of community,
meaning and
narrative
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Informal
Learning
|
Non-formal Learning
|
Formal Learning
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal
100
75
50
25
0
Initiation Maturation Declination

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal
100
75
50
25
0
Initiation Maturation Declination

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal
100
75
50
25
0
Initiation Maturation Declination

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal
100
75
50
25
0
Initiation Maturation Declination

Engagement Patterns
Formal Non-formal Informal
100
75
50
25
0
Initiation Maturation Declination

death of
community
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Photocredit: Keichwa

Collective intelligence
Changlc

Reputation systems
and leaders
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Reputation systems
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

engagement
matters more
than interaction
Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, lynne_b from Flickr

The Bystander Effect
Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Bryon Realey

Social Loafing
and Free-Riding

Trust
Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, David Burrows

Trust -
worthy?
Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Eve Hermann

Empathy/Forgiveness
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

aggregation
around
purpose
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hospitality

intimacy
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Transactional Distance
• psychological distance is more important than
actual/social distance
• students don't always want to be close to their
instructors
• students don't always want to be close to other
students
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Dunbar’s Number
147.
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Rick’s Number
12 ∏r 2
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Rick’s Twitter Numbers
119-442
4109
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

intensity
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Photocredit: Raphael Goetter

ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

content =
part 2
"object centred
sociality"
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

We as educators
need to
reconsider our
roles in
students’ lives,
to think of
ourselves as
connectors first
and content
experts second.
http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technolo
will-richardson
-Will Richardson
Darwin
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,
Peacock

CIDER
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

virtual environments are real
virtual is real

the Ken Burns filter
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Final thoughts
• Community is a tired but useful metaphor
• Non-formal and informal learning are powerful
features in formal learning environments
• Research should concentrate on informal
learning
• Community approaches require a fundamental
shift in how we look at learning and learners,
content and control
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu,

Twitter, Skype, Faceboo
http://vlcresearch.ca
schwier
Good virtual learning
environments and
good f2f learning
environments are
more similar than
different
Research by the Virtual Learning Communities Research Lab is
supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada
Photocredit:
ED-MEDIA 09 Honolulu, Maureen Flynn-Burhoe