Assignment 2 Seminar Recap

By Carla, Craig, Darci and Melody

Our group approached planning and facilitating our "Learner-Led Seminar 4: Building
Virtual Communities" purposely. We communicated regularly through over sixty email
exchanges, and four Collaborate sessions. Our learning activities sprang from our reading
of Karen Kear's, Chapter 6 of Online and Social Networking Communities: A Best Practice
Guide for Education (2011). Kear (2011) notes that "not all students need to feel part of a
community, but for those who do, it can make all the difference to their experience of
studying online" She further suggests that activities such as ice breakers, discussion forums,
profiles, netiquette guides, and social networks such as Twitter help with building
community. We relied heavily on her suggestions to plan our activities. We wanted our
cohort to not just learn about creating online communities, but to experience it.
During our first Collaborate session, we established an outline, created a checklist, and
assigned tasks. To reduce information overload, we chose to house our session in Desire to
Learn (D2L) as it is a familiar learning management system to our group and easily
accessible. We sent our cohort a welcome letter with seminar instructions through the
weekly bulletin. We also included a welcome video and video instructions to one of our
activities to create a more welcoming environment. We provided our contact information
and a dedicated spot in one of the discussion forums for questions and support.
We used Ice Breakers to create connections within our cohort. The Ice Breakers
involved the sharing of photos and providing an anecdote that was connected to a learning
experience. This activity allowed participants to connect on a more personal level. The
icebreakers sparked a great deal of interaction, and sharing. With reference to Salmon's 5
Stage Model (2011), and the Second and Third stages of Online Socialization and
Information Exchange, this activity was highly successful with over ten pages of dialogue.
Next, we moved into the topic related activities and discussion. With reference to
Salmon's (2011) Fourth Stage of Knowledge Construction, the use of readings, video,
synchronous and asynchronous Twitter chats, an interactive quiz on Netiquette, and a
simple poll were meant to provide variety and different platforms for learning and
interacting. The requirement to post a response to the video and then respond to another's
post encouraged the sharing of perspectives and learning from each other. Using the

discussion forum before the Collaborate session, provided students with the opportunity to
think about the discussion topics for ahead of time. Discussion groups were thoughtfully
formed ahead with a mix of DL and non-DL teachers in each group to maximize perspectives
and experiences. Development as the last stage of Salmon's 5 Stage Model (2011) was
reflected in the community building tools poll, the Twitter chat, and the Collaborate Break
Out Room Discussions, as we asked our cohort members to reflect on their experiences and
perspectives. Finally, we used a simple poll in D2L to close the session and ask our cohort if
they felt more connected after the week's activities. The result was unanimous: everyone
feels more connected.
As a group, we were successful in meeting our end goals which were to: create an
increased sense of connectedness within our cohort; help everyone expand their knowledge
about the importance of community; and help everyone learn different ways of establishing
it. We collaborated well together. We each took up reigns where we had strengths, and
were engaged throughout the planning process. We could have better managed our time
during the Collaborate session. We feel that the use of a timer could help keep us on track.
A dry run-through would also be helpful. We had actually hoped to practice before our
session but a few of us were having technical difficulties. This was a good reminder that
technology does not always work as planned and it is good to a backup plan.
As individuals, we were each successful in learning new online tool skills, and each
learned ways we could improve our presentation. Darci discovered that it was more
difficult to make a video than she thought, and that online facilitation is challenging when
you cannot see how the audience is responding. Craig found that he had wasted time on
PowerPoint animations and transitions that do not function in Collaborate. Next time he
would spend more time on the technical aspects to help the session run smoother. Melody
found she needs to watch the Collaborate microphone icon to make sure her audio is on,
and that rehearsing the poll tool ahead of time would have improved the activity. Carla
tried many new online tools to deliver content such as the first Ice Breaker survey and the
synchronous Twitter chat. She had never made a welcoming video before and received
much positive feedback from the cohort saying they may now do the same in their own
courses. She realizes that she needs to better anticipate the length of her activities and use
a timer to stay on schedule.
We all found facilitating this seminar a great way to build community with our cohort.

Kear, K. (2011). Online and social networking communities a best practice guide for
educators. New York: Routledge.
Salmon, G. (2011). E-moderating:the key to teaching and learning online . (3rd ed.). New
York: Routledge.