Learning Communities Assignment 1- Finding a community 2009
Your view on the nature of a Learning Community
My view of what is the nature of a Learning Community is articulated in a quote from Kilpatrick, Barrett, Jones in their article “Defining Learning Communities”(2003)
” Learning communities are made up of people who share a common purpose. They collaborate to draw on individual strengths, respect a variety of perspective, and actively promote learning opportunities. The outcomes are the creation of a vibrant, synergistic environment, enhanced potential for all members, and the possibility that new knowledge will be created.” http://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/jon03441.pdf
In other words a learning community is a group of people coming together with a common goal to share ideas, learn from each other and create new learning opportunities and knowledge’s.
The reason why I have chosen to define a learning community/ community of practice in these terms is three fold:
Firstly it encapulates what I believe a vibrant learning community should and does look like.
Secondly this definition reflects my experience of being a participant in a variety of different learning communities in Second Life (Multi User Virtual Environment MUVE) in particular Jokaydia the learning community I have chosen to study.
Finally many learning communities/ communities of practice are now situated online, therefore the traditional notion of learning communities being existing in a specific geographical location is somewhat diminished . As Jokaydia is situated in Second Life it enables a wide variety of participants from all over the world to be involved in the various educational opportunities and activities that this community of practice has to office. Therefore the above definition is a a better fit for the purposes of this study.
Describe the nature and focus of the selected community
The learning community which i have chosen to study is the islands of Jokaydia. Jokaydia aim is to provide a “space to explore uses of virtual worlds in education, the arts and social change” http://jokaydia.com/about-jokaydia/
Jokaydia is a group of islands situated in Second Life. It is owned and operated by Educational Technologist Jo Kay aka Jokay Wollongong (her avatar’s name) and is self funded. Jokaydia’s primary focus is to provide educators with a flexible and dynamic space to explore the various alternative educational opportunities that virtual worlds have to offer. http://jokaydia.com/about-jokaydia/
This is achieved through providing educators with informal and formal meeting spaces, interactive tools such as instruments that are located in the newbie gardens as well as hosting a a variety of different events and activities these include newbie tours, road trips to different educational sims in Second Life, conferences and un-conferences (less formal collaborative space for educators to share ideas) the virtual classroom project and providing space for a wide variety of educational institutions and artists as part of the rental community in Jokaydia. Some of the groups include TAFE NSW Library – Information Literacy Project, Pulsar project, Macquarie University and Kangan Batman TAFE. http://jokaydia.com/about-jokaydia/
Information regarding the events and happenings can be found on various social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as on the Jokaydia Wiki and Blog.
Wiki Second life in education http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/
Jo’s blog http://jokay.com.au/
Facebook group that lets you know when the next event is on http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6569906581
Jokaydia blog http://jokaydia.com/.
http://purplegrrl.edublogs.org/learning-communities-assignment-part-two/
Explain how you recognise the e-community as a learning community
Unlike many groups that could have been examined for this assignment Jokaydia is easily recognised as a learning community for the following reasons:
Firstly the aims and objectives of the group clearly identifies jokaydia as a learning community. At the Virtual Worlds Best Practice conference (2009) Jo kay aka Jokay Wollongong describes the aims and objectives of Jokaydia as follows:
“Jokaydia is designed to provide a flexible and dynamic space for educators in Second Life”
” To explore communities of practice in virtual worlds”
“Assist new residents to gain competency and confidence in user the Second Life Interface- Whilst having fun!”
“Supporting mixed reality events, professional development activities and a range of educationally focused projects” Panel Discussion: Creating Communities of Practice in Second Life: A Panel Session with residents from the Islands of jokaydia Saturday March 28 2009
These objectives and aims clearly reflects the definition of a Learning community discussed earlier
“a learning community is a group of people coming together with a common goal to share ideas, learn from each other and create new learning opportunities and knowledge’s.
Secondly in my experience of this community of practice / learning community a vast amount of collaborative/social learning takes place both formally (at events and conferences) and informally (one on one interactions between members of the community) for me this type of social learning is a bench mark of what is a learning community.
Why might it be a value to your experience in this subject?
I believe that Second Life is the next or some say current frontier for learning. This 3D environment gives participants/learners a space which is more dynamic than Blogs or wikies. The learner can discuss in real time, ideas in a simulated environment and feel more a part of a learning community. Second Life offers a space for innovation and engagement and a futile ground for social learning. This is why my experiences in Second life will be of value for this subject. http://purplegrrl.edublogs.org/elearning-experience-assignment-1-select-a-learning-community/
Describe your expectations as a learner /participant in this community.
I have been involved in the learning community of Jokaydia for over a year. in this time I have had the opportunitity to explore the various technical, social and educational aspects of Second Life and then some. My expectations as a learner/ participant in Jokaydia are influenced by the experiences and has enabled me to immerse myself deeper into this community of practice.
My expectations are as follows:
- To further enhance the skills I have aquired over the past year and to “explore the boundaries of what is possible”. (http://sl.nmc.org/about/)
- Be a part of and create a network of users/practitioners who are interested in technology and Social learning.
- Use the knowledge and skills acquired from interacting/ participating in these groups to create a Second Life space for the Masters of Arts E-learning students.
- See how Social justice and social change groups on Jokaydia operate.
References
Defining Learning Communities AARE 2003 conference
http://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/jon03441.pdf accessed 31 March 2009
Jokaydia Blog http://jokaydia.com/2009/02/08/jokaydias-online-presence/ accessed 28 March 2009
Jokaydia Wiki http://jokaydia.wikispaces.com/ accessed 1 April 2009
NMC Campus Observer http://sl.nmc.org/about accessed April 2008
Purple grrls Second Life Blog http://purplegrrl.edublogs.org/ accessed 1 April 2009
