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BUILDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES:USING PARTICIPATORY METHODS AND WEB 2.0 TOOLS TO STRENGTHEN THE NETWORKS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING PRACTITIONERS AT UBC Blond, Danielle
Abstract
As an approach to experiential education, community service learning (CSL) is gaining popularity at the University of British Columbia (UBC). CSL allows students the unique opportunity to learn about academic concepts through a hands-on approach in the community. UBC is dedicated to creating exceptional learning environments and according to UBC’s newly crafted vision, Place and Promise, CSL is recognized as one of the key ways to help students become deeply engaged in their communities and develop a commitment to global citizenship. One of the ways CSL is being advanced at UBC is through the UBC-Community Learning Initiative (UBC-CLI). Since its inception in 2006, the UBC-CLI has acted as the “bridge” between the many actors involved, specifically between the university and the community. However, this present structure is no longer seen as being the most effective as it limits the direct relationship building and communication links between and among the actors themselves. Therefore, the director of the UBC-CLI has called for a shift in the role of centralized units like the UBC-CLI from engaging directly in planning and implementing CSL, to strengthening the networks of students, instructors, project leaders, and community organizations involved. To achieve this shift, the UBC-CLI proposed the creation of learning communities, more formally known as “Communities of Practice.” Specifically they wanted to explore using online learning communities that would allow members who are geographically dispersed to connect, communicate, share experiences and resources, reflect on practice, learn from each other, and develop new knowledge. Through a partnership with the UBC-CLI, online communities were assessed to understand how they could be built and used to strengthen networks and promote learning communities. From a review of the literature, the method used to create online communities was deemed important and that involving the future users in the creation of online communities was crucial for their success. Therefore, partnering with UBC’s Office of Learning Technology (OLT), a pilot project was conceptualized that would engage one of the groups of CSL actors (Project Leaders) to collaboratively build their online learning community. This report describes and reflects upon the processes used and the outcomes of the pilot project. It describes eleven principles (drawing from community development, participatory design, and principles of good facilitation) that guided the design and implementation of the engagement process. It offers insight into both the power of participation and the complexities of facilitating a participatory process surrounding technology design. Recommendations are offered based upon lessons learned and participant evaluations. These are directed towards two separate audiences: The UBC-CLI in order to assist them in accomplishing their vision of strengthening networks, and to other potential facilitators wanting to undergo this type of process. Four recommendations targeted to the UBC-CLI are: 1. Create a strategic plan for the continuation of this collaborative engagement with the other groups of CSL actors. This plan should include: vision, principles, targets, process steps and evaluation guidelines. 2. Create a long-term plan for growing and supporting the online communities that have been developed. This plan should include ideas for encouraging growth and guidelines for the moderation and the continual evaluation of the site. 3. Create a staff position to help create the above documents and to continue to develop the Project Leader online community, nurture it throughout its development and help to evaluate it at the end of the academic year. 4. Continue to develop and nurture the relationship with OLT and seek to build new partnership opportunities. Seven recommendations for future facilitators include: 1. Draw from principles of community development, participatory design and good facilitation when designing the process. 2. Be clear with participants about what their participation with lead to and the decision making power they hold. 3. Encourage participant ownership. This can be done through focusing on the ‘soft’ outcomes of the process, being clear about the role of the facilitator, involving the participants in the creation of session agendas, involving participants in the creation of evaluation criteria, and evaluating after every session. 4. Be dedicated to the participants first and the technology second. 5. Be cognizant of the timing of the process. 6. Include an array of participation options, focusing on offering both broad and deep levels of participation. 7. Pay attention to small details during the process that allow participants to feel valued. There is great potential for this new Project Leader online community to impact the future of community service learning at UBC. Its power is in its ability to strengthen, support and aid project leaders in communicating with each other. This reflects a positive step towards UBCCLI’s vision of strengthening actors in CSL instead of being the centralized unit or “central lynchpin” that holds everything together (Fryer, 2009 p. 12). It will be through the continual development of these learning communities that CSL will grow to become a more organic system, containing many rich networks of people working and learning together. This is just the beginning of an exciting movement in CSL at UBC, and potentially throughout Canada, as other universities look to draw on UBC’s innovation and expertise.
Item Metadata
Title |
BUILDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES:USING PARTICIPATORY METHODS AND WEB 2.0 TOOLS TO STRENGTHEN THE NETWORKS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING PRACTITIONERS AT UBC
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Creator | |
Date Issued |
2009-11
|
Description |
As an approach to experiential education, community service learning (CSL) is gaining
popularity at the University of British Columbia (UBC). CSL allows students the unique
opportunity to learn about academic concepts through a hands-on approach in the community.
UBC is dedicated to creating exceptional learning environments and according to UBC’s newly
crafted vision, Place and Promise, CSL is recognized as one of the key ways to help students
become deeply engaged in their communities and develop a commitment to global citizenship.
One of the ways CSL is being advanced at UBC is through the UBC-Community Learning
Initiative (UBC-CLI). Since its inception in 2006, the UBC-CLI has acted as the “bridge”
between the many actors involved, specifically between the university and the community.
However, this present structure is no longer seen as being the most effective as it limits the direct
relationship building and communication links between and among the actors themselves.
Therefore, the director of the UBC-CLI has called for a shift in the role of centralized units like
the UBC-CLI from engaging directly in planning and implementing CSL, to strengthening the
networks of students, instructors, project leaders, and community organizations involved.
To achieve this shift, the UBC-CLI proposed the creation of learning communities, more
formally known as “Communities of Practice.” Specifically they wanted to explore using online
learning communities that would allow members who are geographically dispersed to connect,
communicate, share experiences and resources, reflect on practice, learn from each other, and
develop new knowledge.
Through a partnership with the UBC-CLI, online communities were assessed to understand
how they could be built and used to strengthen networks and promote learning communities.
From a review of the literature, the method used to create online communities was deemed
important and that involving the future users in the creation of online communities was crucial
for their success. Therefore, partnering with UBC’s Office of Learning Technology (OLT), a
pilot project was conceptualized that would engage one of the groups of CSL actors (Project
Leaders) to collaboratively build their online learning community.
This report describes and reflects upon the processes used and the outcomes of the pilot
project. It describes eleven principles (drawing from community development, participatory
design, and principles of good facilitation) that guided the design and implementation of the
engagement process. It offers insight into both the power of participation and the complexities of
facilitating a participatory process surrounding technology design.
Recommendations are offered based upon lessons learned and participant evaluations. These
are directed towards two separate audiences: The UBC-CLI in order to assist them in
accomplishing their vision of strengthening networks, and to other potential facilitators wanting
to undergo this type of process.
Four recommendations targeted to the UBC-CLI are:
1. Create a strategic plan for the continuation of this collaborative engagement with the other
groups of CSL actors. This plan should include: vision, principles, targets, process steps
and evaluation guidelines.
2. Create a long-term plan for growing and supporting the online communities that have
been developed. This plan should include ideas for encouraging growth and guidelines for
the moderation and the continual evaluation of the site. 3. Create a staff position to help create the above documents and to continue to develop the
Project Leader online community, nurture it throughout its development and help to
evaluate it at the end of the academic year.
4. Continue to develop and nurture the relationship with OLT and seek to build new
partnership opportunities.
Seven recommendations for future facilitators include:
1. Draw from principles of community development, participatory design and good
facilitation when designing the process.
2. Be clear with participants about what their participation with lead to and the decision
making power they hold.
3. Encourage participant ownership. This can be done through focusing on the ‘soft’
outcomes of the process, being clear about the role of the facilitator, involving the
participants in the creation of session agendas, involving participants in the creation of
evaluation criteria, and evaluating after every session.
4. Be dedicated to the participants first and the technology second.
5. Be cognizant of the timing of the process.
6. Include an array of participation options, focusing on offering both broad and deep levels
of participation.
7. Pay attention to small details during the process that allow participants to feel valued.
There is great potential for this new Project Leader online community to impact the future of
community service learning at UBC. Its power is in its ability to strengthen, support and aid
project leaders in communicating with each other. This reflects a positive step towards UBCCLI’s
vision of strengthening actors in CSL instead of being the centralized unit or “central
lynchpin” that holds everything together (Fryer, 2009 p. 12). It will be through the continual
development of these learning communities that CSL will grow to become a more organic
system, containing many rich networks of people working and learning together. This is just the
beginning of an exciting movement in CSL at UBC, and potentially throughout Canada, as other
universities look to draw on UBC’s innovation and expertise.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Series | |
Date Available |
2016-01-29
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0107191
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International