successful online communities slf sept 2007

Learning and Teaching Scotland

How to Create Successful Online Communities

Henriette Laidlaw Phil Galbraith


Online Community – a definition

• A virtual community,e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via some form of mechanism such as letters, telephone, email or Usenet rather than face to face. If the mechanism is a computer network, it is called an online community. Virtual and online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. A computer-mediated community (CMC) uses social software to regulate the activities of participants. Significant socio-technical change has resulted from the proliferation of Internet-based social networks. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)


A Community of Practice

• A community of practice is defined as “groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise” (Wenger & Snyder, 2000: 139).


• We are in the business of improving the quality of education in Scottish schools by improving the quality of leadership in them

• To change peoples’ practice requires deep learning based upon reflection on their part about the way they work at present

• In turn online provision for this purpose requires software which engenders reflection

The “Together” communities


Designing Online Communities of Practice for Success

Adapted from Scott Burkett, 2006

• Invest in the means, not the end Ensure clear aims for the community Establish a captivating backstory

• Focus relentlessly on the needs of the members Resist the temptation to control

• Don’t assume the community will become self-sustaining. Seek out and support members who take on informal roles.Strive for “mass stickyness” in the form of the targeted “killer app”.

4. “Collaboration” should be an over-arching theme. Supporting building social capital

5. Foster a sense of trust Mitigate security and privacy concerns.

6. Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself from time to time Acknowledge what benefits the community.


1. Invest in the means, not the end

• Focus on generating traffic and participation– Inductions– Special events– Bulletins– High level of facilitation– High profile Hotseat guests


1. Ensure clear aims for the community

• Support the further development of the leadership skills of depute /headteachers

• Enhance their day-to-day role by providing them with a mechanism for mutual support, the potential solution of problems and the sharing and creation of new ideas.

• Create a one stop shop for access to resources which have been created/identified by deputes/heads themselves.

• In doing so reduce the isolation of deputes/heads • Raise the awareness about the potential role of ICT for management and administration, learning and teaching.


1. Establish a captivating “backstory”

• Sharing success stories– During induction of new members– In bulletins– At national events– In the press


2. Focus relentlessly on the needs of the members

• Using head teachers as facilitators

• Easy access to resources – Learning applications– Professional bodies

• Focus Groups

• Feedback

• Evaluations (Twice evaluated)


2. Resist the temptation to control

• The members decide which topics to discuss

• Facilitators can assist in presentation and linking but members control the agenda

• If needed discuss with members to address online behaviour.


3. Don’t assume the community will become self-sustaining.

• Facilitation• Advocates

– Within authorities– Within sectors– Incentives

• Refresher days• Continue to refresh the site• Focus on both long term and new users


3. Strive for “mass stickyness” in the form of the targeted “killer app”. • Cybrary

– Library of shared documents – Reduces work load for members

instantly


4. “Collaboration” should be an over-arching theme.

• Encourage contributions

• Encourage participation– Cybrary – Need help– Facilitator contact– Working groups


Online Communities ActivityPercentage wise, Wenger et al (1998) suggest

that activity rates are as follows:

• Core = 10-15% - participants who post, encourage activity, get involved often

• Active = 15-20% - participants who are sometimes involved, ie commenting occasionally

• Peripheral = 65-75% - people who read, sometimes known as "lurkers" – or readers

Jakob Nielsen (2006) suggests that "User participation often more or less follows a 90-9-1 rule:

• 90% of users are “lurkers” (i.e., read or observe, but don't contribute).

• 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time.

• 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions: it can seem as if they don't have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they're commenting on occurs. “


• “As a rule of thumb…in a month in a community of practice 10% of members visit, and 1.5% contribute” -

“70,000 heads are Better than One” NCSL 2005

• “For every contribution made, 40 people are watching.” i.e. 2.5% of active members contribute

Evaluation Report of NCSL’s Online Communities”

Activity Levels


0500

1000150020002500300035004000

Visitors

Visits


050

100150200250300350400450500

Oct-04

Dec-04

Feb-05

Apr-05

Jun-05

Aug-05

Oct-05

Dec-05

Feb-06

Apr-06

Jun-06

Replies

Topics


Why does members contribute?

• Anticipated Reciprocity

• Increased Recognition

• Sense of efficacy

• Communion From Peter Kollock (1999) & Mark Smith (1992)


What about the “Lurkers”

• Reflecting

• Apprentice to the profession

• Sharing outside of the community

• Encourage others to participate


Impact on Community

• Those who read but don't contribute are important, but without the active and core members, there's nothing to read! This really is a problem if your community is tending towards the 90-9-1 percent rule, rather than the 75-15-10 rule that Wenger predicts.


Change in member activity

Helen Nicol, 2007


4. Supporting building social capital

CognitiveReflection of

management issues facing educational leaders

Cross sector discussionsUnderstanding of

common issuesFamiliar taxonomyUnderstand the context of

shared resourcesLean the rules of the

profession

StructuralEnables members to locate expertise

within the communityLeverage weak ties Access to expertsBuilds up a tacit knowledge baseExposure to new ideasQuestions can be referred to an

“expert” or a member in the “know”Brokering of connectionsFinding resources developed by other

members

RelationalCoaching of new

members, new to their professional role.

Shared stories/experiences

TrustTesting of new ideasNorm for helpingWillingness to shareSecure environment to

express feelingsEstablish a positive

reputation by assisting


5. Foster a sense of trust.

• LTS

• Restricted membership

• Anonymous reports

• At Induction

• Continuous Checks of membership

• Listen to members


6. Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself from time to time

• H2G has had three major overhauls in 4 years• Adapt to change (new forums)• Adapt to users requirements (new document

types)• New functions

– Search– “I found this useful”

• Acknowledging that people really need to focus on activity which improves practice within their particular domain if they are to function as a community of practice.


The Exchange

Shared Discussion

Professional Development

A Curriculum for Excellence

Cybrary

Publications

News

Useful links

Deputes Together

Leadership and Management

Additional Support Needs

Early Years

Primary

Secondary

Quality Assurance

Raising Attainment

Staff Room

Heads Together

Leadership and Management

Additional Support Needs

Early Years

Primary

Secondary

Staff Room

Access

restricted

to Deputes

Access for Head Teachers

and Deputes

Acces

s

restr

icted

to

Head

Teach

ers


Hotseat guests in the shared areaDavid Cameron, Kenny Dalglish, Thomas Chalmers

Over 450 already members registered in Deputes Together, in addition to 2250 in Heads Together

– 1 000 visits to the Community each week– 10 000 items viewed each week

Plus online facilitation and support 24/7

Access to ‘experts’ as well as your colleagues


Benefits of The ‘Together’ Communities*

“It can save you time

It’s a valuable source of info & advice

It provides a national perspective

Its use contributes to CPD

It is up to date & continually updated

It is a valuable source of support”*Taken from Heads Together Evaluation 2006: George St Research


Thought I might have felt overwhelmed by the amount of information available, but it has actually helped me focus on the priorities in my school and my place in taking these forward.

A great new resource. Nice to know that we do not have to continue reinventing the wheel and that an answer is just a click away.)

For me the most useful aspect of Heads Together is the constant collation of all the issues and links that are important to a Scottish headteacher is invaluable.

Deputes Together can only be a good thing. We tend to work away in our own schools and discuss topics within the SMT, and this new forum allows us to have wider discussion. Views from other authorities are essential!

It has opened a treasure box of resources, especially people!

lots of new ideas now floating around my head to take back to school!

successful online communities slf sept 2007

Technology