Building Online Learning Communities

• In Event: TLC at APSA Luncheon: Online Learning and a Global Student Body

Abstract

This paper will discuss the methods and approaches used in promoting a multi layered learning community across two distinct forms of online education. It will argue that an online learning community can only be developed in the context of an experience moderator to facilitate the community and that such a community must be multi layered in its approach so that learners can engage with multiple interlocutors simultaneously. The first an online master’s degree that has run for five years beginning in April 13 with eight students and growing to over three hundred students on six distinct MA programmes. The second case study will draw from the experience of four Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) launched over the past three years. These MOOCs are run through the Coursea platform and are “On Demand”. It is the contention of this paper that the interactive nature of learning is enhanced by a learning community based approach independent of the size of the community. This paper will begin with a discussion as to what constitutes a learning community it will then introduce the structure of the online courses and their similarities and differences, it will then go on to highlight the advantages of multi-layered communities supervised by those skilled in the subject area and trained in understanding online learning methods.

Author

• Ashley Cox, SOAS, University of London