The document discusses learning communities, how they work, and their role in learning and development. It covers topics like the definition of a learning community, how to facilitate successful communities, tools that can be used, and how communities can evolve into communities of practice. The goal is to understand how to initiate and support learning communities to enhance social learning.
2. What we will do this morning
What is a learning community?
How do successful communities work?
The place of Learning Communities in L&D
Tools for Learning Communities
Roles in initiating and supporting LC’s
Beyond LC’s – Communities of Practice
New kinds of Community
3. What is a Learning Community?
Framework for “talking” about things connected
with learning that is in common
Learning Communities are about the way people
talk to one another
Embed good practice
About people not technology
Different kinds of community
Overlaps of communities, networks and people
4. Information Overload
Many communities and networks – too much information!
What do you need?
Follow people who will do the work for you!
Tag, filter, prioritise
Bookmark, index – but update the index!
Use platforms that help you – disengage and unsubscribe
Be selfish in expressing needs clearly – learn to use 140
characters (Twitter)
Remember communities are made up of people
Human rules apply!
Respect, Listening, Offering,
Being part of the community
5. How Successful Communities
Work
Self- sustaining – develop their own life
90:9:1 model
90% lurk (do not contribute)
9% contribute
1% energise and lead
Need for critical mass!
90 lurking is OK so long as can check people are
learning
Facilitation - aimed at creation of internal energy –
the internal champion
People only stay in successful communities – spend
time where there is benefit
Need to continuously stimulate, evaluate – self appraisal
6.
7. Facilitating Successful Learning
Communities
Facilitation of LC’s aims at the creation of
internal energy – the internal champion
SME – willingly sharing
Enthusiast – involved!
Socialite – welcoming, empathising, praising
Change agent – strategist – shaping the
community’s direction
Service role – efficient and effective
not a part time role for big communities or major
interventions
8. The Place of Learning
Communities in L&D
Socialisation medium – virtual interventions
Supporting formal learning - especially long timescale
interventions, geographic separation
Working space – physical and virtual – Yammer, Socialcast,
Moodle etc
Sharing space – physical and virtual – LSG, LinkedIn,
SlideShare, Share and Learn
Repository – mostly virtual – Blogs. Wikis, etc
Point of cohesion in learning process – groups within
platforms – FB groups, #groups in Twitter, Yammer threads,
Source of expertise – mutual assist – Twitter, OER
movement, SoMe networks
Networking hub – I know someone/place who/where…..
9. What tools do we use?
Have to work with approved platforms/media
Some key principles
Have to resonate with the potential community
members
Especially important with SME’s
Our personal comfort zone – but not hiding!
Have to be consistent with the learning
proposition
10. Finding things on the Social Keeping up to date
Web with new content on
Improving the Social Web
personal and
team
productivity
Building
a trusted
network
of colleagues
Collaborating
with colleagues
Communicating
with colleagues
Sharing resources, ideas
and experiences with Source: Jane Hart
colleagues
11. Principles explained (1)
Have to resonate with the potential
community members
Especially important with SME’s
Place of comfort
Technology they are familiar with
Supportive facilitation
Sense of community
Familiar people
Recognisable formats
Spirit of interchange
12. Principles explained (2)
Personal comfort zone – but not hiding!
Not comfortable with a tool - don’t use it!
Don’t like where a community meets – don’t go!
Don’t like the people – disengage!
Value of virtual communities – don’t have to like or
dislike – just use !
Not getting value – try to improve it – but ultimately
leave!
13. Principles explained (3)
Have to be consistent with the learning
proposition
Eg Twittter inappropriate for engineering content?
Unless ……. Use of hyperlinks – be inventive
Linkages to other resources and platforms
14. L&D role in supporting Learning
Communities
Seed, feed, weed
Identify personal and mutual need
Energise, facilitate, enable, …….
What’s the right term?
What’s the intent?
Doing what the community needs
Technical assistance
Collation
Stimulation
“Warming” – the human touch
Subject expertise – Ukabhabha
Servant leadership!
15. Evolving Learning Communities
into Communities of Practice
LC – an end in itself or pathway to a business
hotspot?
Transition from LC to CoP
COP’s are not the same as LC’s
Need to have
WIFM
Gaining as well as giving
Authenticity and integrity
Improved results
Faster – Better - Novel
Focus on content not process
Facilitated interaction
Facilitated data and information mining
16. LC’s in the shift to Social
Learning
Learning is ubiquitous – a characteristic of being
human
Need to awaken and heighten learning skills
70:20:10 – model
90% of learning happens away from the classroom
Communities facilitate sharing and learning
Need to design L&D strategy and practice around
the model – communities facilitate the change
Turn learning into a business driver
18. New kinds of Community
LSG – Conference, website, webinars, physical meetings
Communities that evolve from other events – webinar
alumni
Backchannels with lives beyond events/interventions –
Social Learning Community
Noddlepod
Share and Learn
1st platform I’ve seen predicated on 70;20:10
Others will emerge as we recognise and enable Social
Learning
move away from Kirkpatrick levels and LMS’s into collaborative
SoMe enabled wierarchies
Story for another day…………
19. As a result of being here …..
What have I learned from this workshop?
List one thing I will do/do differently as a result
of the session
Share your learning and your plan in one of your
networks
