This chapter discusses the role of community formation in online learning processes. It analyzes messages from two online groups of educators over 5 weeks to evaluate how social software and computer-mediated communication can facilitate community building. The analysis identified categories of discourse behaviors and roles that participants took on, such as dominant participants who actively engaged and selective participants who only interacted when relevant. The conclusion is that computer-mediated communication enables collaboration, the formation of roles within online communities, and allows participants and moderators to develop online identities through interaction.

1. ICT in Foreign Teaching
and Learning
Chapter 5: The role of
community formation in
learning process
Margaret Rasulo
University of Naples L’Orientale, Italy
Marco Antonio Peralta & Javier Alexander Rivera

2. GOALS
• Evaluate the fundamental role of Web 2.0 social software in
learning processes, including language learning.
• Emphasize the importance of community formation when
involved in online learning.
• Reaffirm that constructivist principle that collaboration is at
the basis of all learning processes.
• Discuss the use of Computer Mediated Communication as
social software and its role in community formation.
• Demonstrate that community building is recognizable and
visible through participants’ discourse behaviours.
• Highlight the importance and the diversity of the role of e-
educator.

3.  This experience dealt with two online groups of
professional educators who work as an online
community during five weeks. One of the groups
worked from October 2002 to November 2002, and
the second groupfrom May 2004 to June 2004.
 The community members came from
Australia, Japan, italy, Portugal, Ulster, Ireland, En
gland, UAE and South Africa and scoped for
acquiring more online learning.
 The main data source came from 1824 postings
from the conference environments and the analysis
of the messages and the discourse behaviors from
the groups.

4.  It is to acknowledge the importance of online
communities since they enable the participants to
show certain behaviors as if they were face to face
such as exchange knowledge, express
emotions, gossip, find friends and even fall in love.
 This research explored the CMC (Computer
Mediated Communication) by centering on the
language and language use in computer networked
environments.
 The participants´messages were analysed in terms
of language structure, social behavior and
partcipation patterns.

5.  By analysing these messages, it was easy to
identify certain categories like:
acknowledging, teasing, apologizing, expressing
personal needs and self representation using
community concerns structures.
 This categorization permitted the researcher to
establish some roles of the participants through
their engagement in the community such as:
 The dominant participants: interact actively and
answer or comment other members´postings.
 The selective participants : interact when there is
something relevant for them.
 The little brothers: do not have anything to say
and interact unwillingly.

6.  Not only the e-moderators but also the participants
achieved their goals by interacting with others in
different ways and developing their identity.
Besides, they consider that online learning
communities are spaces which foster sociability
and knowledge.

7. CONCLUSIONS
CMC (Computer Mediated Communication) can facilitate
collaboration by enabling the discussion of problems, ordering
of thoughts and sharing knowledge
The formation of roles within community grounds are on
display.
Participants and e-moderators learned to survive online by
developing an online personae.

8. THANK YOU