Assignment 2 Part 2 - Individual Task

I believe that as a group, the Communication Bug members formed our own learning community, when working on creating and on-line learning community for the assignment -  our activities and interaction reflecting the theories of social learning. As outlined in Social Learning Theory (Saunders, 1999; http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html June 2008) we did this by interacting in a social environment and providing opportunities for modelling behaviours which enabled us to learn off of one and other. However, a side effect of learning in social environments can be that certain people may be left feeling confused, frustrated or feeling left out or ‘lost’ within the group. However, I didn’t notice any of this in our group dynamic, as our group meetings promoted everyone to contribute evenly. The group charter filled out by each member also prevented from any of this happening, as each member was honest and up front about their expectations from each other.

A quote from Wegner (1999, pp 226) outlines the importance of learning communities, and in turn what the Communication Bug strived to achieve: ‘Learning – whatever form it takes – changes who we are by changing our ability to participate, to belong, to negotiate meaning’. Specifically, the interaction within the group and the participation by everyone impacted my learning in this social environment as I felt motivated and supported to successfully contribute to the learning taking place. In fact, Cornford (1999)declares that social learning develops self-regulation and positive beliefs in self-efficacy, instilling the belief that one is likely succeed, which is how I felt being part of the group.

I believe the experience of being part of an e-learning community, and also designing one has taught me to be more cautious in trusting the information and cultural capital participants bring to forum and chat situations. While it is easy to believe what others say instinctively, and invest time and recourses into it, I think that is worthwhile to check the legitimacy of that information and publisher. Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Travel Forum provided a wealth of knowledge made up of people’s experiences and anecdotes, however, it did not provide an opportunity to get to know your community members and therefore trust the information provided to you. For example, businesses can create an alias and contribute to these forums posing as community members with the real intention of their involvement being to gain business. For all I knew, when asking about accommodation in Prague, a travel agent or hotel chain could have been behind the certain recommendations I received, and therefore the information gathered and learnt could not have been genuine.

While this was the case on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Travel Forum, I don’t think this would have been an issue with the Communication Bug, as that environment was designed as a closed community with its members belonging to the same organisation. The information and data found on the Communication Bug is legitimately founded on theory and practice – real experiences of community members. 

Further to this, members of the Communication Bug also had to disclose information about themselves in the interview part of the member’s section. Altman and Taylor’s Social Penetration Theory (Saunders, 1999) explains how adult learning moves from a superficial level to a more meaningful level when there are opportunities for learners to disclose information about themselves, as learning takes place when trusted reciprocal disclosures are made. The Communication Bug’s focus was to take that trusted relationship, and build learning opportunities from it where members did not have to question the authenticity of the data or the motivations of the community members. Ryle and Cumming (2007) further reinforce this by stating that

peer-to-peer online interaction enables deeper learning due to engagement and disclosure between community members.

Overall, my experiences in designing and being part of on-line learning communities will impact my personal and professional environments. Professionally, I will be using the theories, tools and learnings from these experiences to create a similar e-learning atmosphere at work. My role at work is to explore innovative ways to promote knowledge, learning and professional development for all staff, in turn making our workplace a ‘employer of choice’ within a competitive market. I believe that creating an e-learning community to complement their face-to-face training will promote social learning and therefore not only increase retention, but make the learning process more meaningful and enjoyable to them all. Wegner (1999) also identifies that providing such communities of practice within organisations will create a rhythm of engagement, imagination and alignments of the staff. This therefore increases the learning potential of the organisation, as the amount of learning taking place directly relates to the success of the organisation and its competence within the market.

On a more personal note, previous to this course, I was not aware as to how involved (an addictive) being part of an e-learning community was. I will definitely continue to be an active member of the Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Travel Forum so I can continue providing information and anecdotes to impending travellers, and also seek valuable tips from experienced travellers for my own expeditions. Also, I will look at investigating other communities of practice which relate to other hobbies of mine, as well as communities which can provide support on professional matters relating to my career.

References

Cornford, I.R (1999) ‘Social Learning’, in James Athanasou (ed.), Adult Education Psychology, Sydney Social Press, Katoomba, pp 73-80

Ryle, A and Cumming, K. (2007). Reflections on engagement in online learning communities, International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 3(3), pp. 35-46.

Saunders, S (1999) ‘Social Psychology of Adult Learning’, in James Athanasou (ed.), Adult Education Psychology, Sydney Social Press, Katoomba, pp 26-71

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity, Cambridge University Press, USA, pp. 225-229, 230-240, 241-267.

http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html viewed Monday 2nd June 2008