The vision of connected teaching in the National Education Technology Plan 2010, the demonstrated benefits of online communities of practice and collaborative learning from research, and the corollaries with established community learning practices set the stage for practical guidance for real online communities.
Findings from the literature and lessons learned from practice—coupled with mature, accessible technologies—should be used to broaden, strengthen, and connect online communities of practice. While research and professional wisdom continue to evolve, enough is known now about the state of the field to inform efforts to develop or improve online communities for educators. In addition to a thorough review of research on online communities in education (much of it identified and discussed in Booth, 2011) and lessons from practice, this report is informed by additional inquiry, including:
- A research review of online communities in other industries
- Review of notable education communities and development of descriptions of their core qualities
- Detailed comparative analyses of the features of a representative sample of the education communities explored
- Identification of trends in online communities outside of education
This body of work is the foundation for the information and practical guidance on online communities that follows. As the investigation into online communities continues, this practical guidance will be refined and expanded and design principles for effective online communities will be developed. To date, this information and practical guidance represents the best thinking on online communities in education in these areas, which are the topics of this section:
- Core qualities of notable online communities of practice
- Current and aspirational roles and responsibilities
- Community technology matters
- Metrics for evaluating the impact
- The balance between guidance and uncertainty