Bounded Communities - Anne Gossett

Bounded Community: Designing and facilitating learning communities in formal courses

Why It Is Important
I agree with the article that creating a community for distance learning is an important step in improving the learning experience. If the students feel connected to the community they are more willing to participate. In addition, the efforts to create a bounded learning community often include making sure it is a safe environment where the participants feel free to take risks and try new things. This will help them to learn more and expand the knowledge of the other students.

In some instances the creation of a bounded learning community can lead to the formation of an unbounded community after the class ends. The unbounded community will have a shared history (stories and experiences from the class) and similar interests since they all signed up for the same class. In theory, staying in touch after the class will allow them to continue to share ideas and further expand their knowledge base.

Suggested Techniques
Some of the best techniques discussed in the article for establishing and maintaining online communities include:

• Using authentic problems for the class to address. This can help hem relate what they are learning to real world problems they will encounter in the workplace.
• Working in groups to complete projects. While this can be very challenging in a distance environment due to time zones and many of the participants working full-time, it can also help develop a learning community. The students will get to know each other better and learn to trust each other as they work together.
• Having the instructor monitor community discussions. Responding quickly to student questions and providing project related feedback promptly helps the students know that the instructor values their contributions and the work they are doing. If the students feel valued they will feel more connected to the community.