According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: 

“Learning communities provide a space and a structure for people to align around a shared goal. Effective communities are both aspirational and practical. They connect people, organizations, and systems that are eager to learn and work across boundaries, all the while holding members accountable to a common agenda, metrics, and outcomes. These communities enable participants to share results and learn from each other, thereby improving their ability to achieve rapid yet significant progress”.

Before this course, I was unfamiliar with the term “Learning in Communities”, even though it was something I was a part of!

The current pandemic the world is facing has brought learning communities to the forefront for students and educators alike – we have been forced to learn and lean on one another even more so than ever before.

The learning community that was created within the institution I work for has grown considerably, which has increased my specific Personal Learning Network as well.

According to the Center for Teaching Innovation, there are the following benefits to collaborative learning:

• Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.
• Promotion of student-faculty interaction.
• Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.
• Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.
• Preparation for real life social and employment situations.

These benefits are clear when the collaboration is done extensively and effectively.

When starting to teach online – I was excited and felt challenged to find new collaborative methods to use in a virtual environment = however, would the students feel the excitement to try all these new methods in their classes?

The answer I soon figure out was a resounding NO!

This challenge to me seemed like one that I was never going to beat as the students simply did not seem interested in creating these learning communities with each other.  Little did I know, it was the fear and apprehension of new ways of doing things that was what they were experiencing.

Creating a learning community with the educators from my institution has been a relatively easy task, however, creating the same kinds of ideas with the students has been a much more challenging task, however, I believe that the more we as educators work on it, the easier it will become, and end up being the norm for what students are sued to.

The use of technology in creating these learning communities (especially of late) have had a major impact, as we now have the world at our fingertips (literally).  Throughout the lockdown period, I have created learning networks and communities with fellow educators nationwide, as well as a few international connections which I hope to continue to expand as time goes on.

Resources:

DevelopingChild.Harvard.Edu. 2020. Learning Communities. [online] Available at:  https://developingchild.harvard.edu/collective-change/key-concepts/learning-communities/#:~:text=Learning%20communities%20provide%20a%20space,align%20around%20a%20shared%20goal.&text=These%20communities%20enable%20participants%20to,achieve%20rapid%20yet%20significant%20progress. [Accessed 23 November 2020].

Teaching.Cornell.Edu. 2020. Collaborative Learning. [online] Available at:  https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/engaging-students/collaborative-learning. [Accessed 26 November 2020].