Learning Technologists: Virtual Community Practitioners

Abstract

University of Minnesota consultants from the Digital Media Center in the Office of Information Technology, an instructional technology support center, will reflect on their own practice of participating in and designing virtual project team environments, virtual learning communities for faculty development programs and seminars, and a hybrid Web space/face-to-face Teach with Technology community of practice for campus faculty, instructional designers, and graduate students. Consultants will describe how reflecting on their day-to-day participation in virtual communities increases their expertise in helping faculty design virtual learning communities. Time will be allocated for attendees to discuss how they use virtual communities in their work environments and begin to develop a heuristic guide for designing successful virtual teams, learning communities, and communities of practice. Specifically, consultants will discuss their experience as WebCT-support virtual team members (eight people located in different buildings), as designers of two new virtual communities (an online faculty seminar and a five-week hybrid seminar on learning communities), and as designers of a campus-wide hybrid forum for people interested in teaching with technology. Consultants will discuss why different spaces (such as a Web site, listserv, Internet Relay Chat, face-to-face meetings, celebration luncheons, phone) were used for different purposes; how cultural beliefs and attitudes, project history, and affinity to different technologies affected design decisions and language usage; what tensions occurred as community members struggled with group identity and self-identity; and how they determined if the community is effective. Consultants will weave in thoughts on how they build on these work experiences to improve their faculty consultation skills and design future virtual communities.