Creating Technology-Supported Learning Communities
Classrooms and school has pretty much always been teacher centered. The teacher takes control of the learning that is going on in the classroom. The teacher decides how and what is learned in their classroom. The teacher can change that by allowing the students have a little more control in the how process. We can change the environment from individual to community by using technology.
The students need to learn how to communicate with others. They can do this by talking face to face, using electronic bulletin boards, listservs, instant messaging, chat rooms, e-mail, and web pages. These different forms of communication can help the students to see view points from people all over the world. They can broaden their horizons and thoughts. They can see things in a way they had never thought of before.
A good example of making the classroom environment more community based and less individual based is the learning circle. The learning circle starts off with about 8 classrooms who work together on a project. They will work together on assignments, activities, research, etc. on a particular topic. They will use different ways of communicating with each other, using some of the forms of communication I listed above. This type of project is student based. They take control of their learning process. They work collectively on what interests them. Together they create an end product that they can all be proud of.
