This resource is based on an event held 26 October-5 November 2002 titled “Dancing With Dragons” facilitated by Nancy White from Full Circle Associates http://www.fullcirc.com/

When our heroes/heroines last stepped through the magic looking glass we found them standing, slightly aghast, in this strange new world... Their classrooms had seemingly vanished into wisps of ephemera called "online learning communities"...  The ground seemed to shift beneath their feet...  What dragons lurked around the bend in the road?...  What magical sprites and faeries could be summoned to assist in this land of Online Learning?

-  What dragons do we need to try and slay?

-  Which dragons could we try to tame?

-  Which dragons should we run away from as fast as possible?

During the event members identified a number of dragons that surround online learning and online communties.

Some members bravely slayed (or at least wounded) these circling dragons…

Online Dragon
Learning takes place by being around people, in close proximity - like in public spaces in the real world. As well as “the regulars”, people need to have strangers and transients coming through their space.

Can we “create” proximity online? How can we build interaction “places” that are adjacent to each other so that we can benefit from groups learning “next to us?"

 How to slay this dragon

• presence indicators (but they are "dumb" - they only indicate an on-off state)
• instant messaging (but messaging can't infer cues such as facial expressions)
• have a video cam running and tell people they can look at you if they want to
• use avatars that can change expression to show feelings
• “post it notes” that scroll across the screen only once displaying “verbal asides”
• dress up doll avatars - so you can change what you’re wearing to express how you feel that day

 Online Dragon
When a course has flexible entry how do you stop discussions becoming just online Q&A sessions?

 How to slay this dragon

• “Networks” are looser than “communities”. They allow strangers to intersect but ultimately remain strangers. Communities enable strangers to get to be known in different forms of relationships. Maybe what you have is network, not a community, and a Q&A session is perfectly OK for a network. There is still the opportunity for smaller communities to grow out of this network.
• We need to get over our unrealistic expectations of what people should be doing in communities.

 Online Dragon 
Technology problems...

 How to slay this dragon
Technical help needs to be provided by someone who inspires confidence.

 Online Dragon 
How do you get a room full of real or digital “strangers” to move from polite indifference to energised collaboration?

 How to slay this dragon

• Foster identity - encourage introductions, bios, deepen understanding of each other with questions, encourage storytelling/case presentation.
• Use tools that support identity. Tools that allow you to search a person's posts, see people’s picture and bio. Make it easy for members to update their own picture and bio.
• Have presence indicators.
• Have instant messaging.
• Provide space for a variety of types of interaction. Social interactions help support identity and relationships.
• Foster small group interactions which help build relationships
• Have good record keeping and track participants' engagement
• Have a commitment to certain standards of engagement such as turn-around times, quality of responses etc
• Provide clear explanations of processes, expectations and how to use various tools
• Encourage participants to be part of the planning so that they feel a sense of ownership
• Encouraging participants to take on a specific role eg: welcoming newcomers
• Make participants feel valued, by recognising and rewarding contribution, both virtually and in real life. There’s nothing wrong with picking up the phone and saying "Hey, thanks for your input in the community - well done!"
• Shape a sense of "place" and "belonging" by encouraging participants to develop rituals and events eg: orientation week, 'Happy Hour' chat times, birthday virtual cards and celebrations etc.

 Online Dragon 
The IT skills that students need before they can even start an online course are increasing all the time.

 How to slay this dragon
A mother of teenagers suggested that the gaming industry is training future students in IT skills just fine.

 Online Dragon 
Some people just aren't "joiners" and they don't WANT to be part of a community. Do we just let them sit in the corner, or do we encourage them out to play?

 How to slay this dragon

• Some one-on-one coaching, followed by some online group activities may draw people in especially if the group activities are meaningful and/or FUN!
• Treat people as individuals and attempt to respond to their unique needs and feelings.

People will only join (and stay with) an online community if they can say a resounding "YES" to the following:

• It fulfils a need that is important to me,
• It gives me a sense of identity,
• People know me, and I am accepted for who I really am,
• I have a sense of “belonging”,
• What I receive is worthwhile, and what I give is valued.

 Online Dragon 
One of the effects of serious technology is that people take it too seriously!

 How to slay this dragon
Combining simpler technologies, play and stories can be very powerful agents of learning.

Some dragons were left in their cave, to be slayed another day…

Who is this technology leaving behind? 
How do you communicate online inter-culturally without creating a bland common denominator?
Many of the decision makers responsible for resourcing online interaction don't actually believe in it's potential!
How can online interactions become more inclusive? How can I get my learners involved and motivated?
People sometimes feel a bit exposed communicating in an online community. They think other people will think they’re an idiot!
There are many different ways to facilitate online. How do we assess and design and facilitate to the need of our students rather than to our own preferences?

The Power of Dragons: What We Are Doing Well in Online Interaction 

• Steering education back from a focus on technology, and re-focussing on human relationships and connections. Technology is a necessary tool, but it will never replace human interaction.
• Technology is connecting folks who could not previously be connected, creating new and sometimes very unique learning opportunities. We are showing people that they are not just learners, but teachers when we learn together in a group
• We are building cultures of learning, not just courses.
• Focussing on experiences and activities rather than content.
• Knowledge is being constructed through collaborative wisdom and critical reflection and debate. As well as through email games, debates, forums, quescussion (discussion using questions), scenarios, storytelling, simulations and problem solving scenarios.
• Being creative with communication: using emoticons, constructing mindmaps, telling stories, portraying body language (scratching head), using acronomyms (LOL), using staccato text talk (instant messaging), using graphics/ images, sending sound files and video, icing words with **** for emphasis etc.
• Understanding the importance of appropriate and timely feedback.

Some general comments about communities:

• People come because they need or want something - a good discussion, some intellectual stimulation, some information etc
• Don’t have preconceived ideas about what people should be doing in a community. Whatever they want to use a community for is fine.
• Don’t worry about lurkers! Lurkers are necessary to a community. Having lots of people around, even ones that don’t contribute, provides a dynamism that wouldn’t exist if you only had the ones who “talk”.
• A community is only as good as the people in it. The energy and life is what brings you back - not the technology.

There was some talk about “convergent processes”

Divergent processes are things like brainstorming, creating future scenarios, developing options, putting forth one's opinions. They are flowing outward without boundaries. These don't always require us to understand other people's ideas, but to put forth our own. Differentiation. Divergent processes don't require us to understand the other's view.

Convergent processes are processes which seek to define boundaries, hone in, decide. To accommodate a variety of thoughts or ideas. They include things like prioritising, grouping ideas, advocating, voting, consensus and other decision making processes. These require us to consider and understand others' ideas. To clarify. To find joint meaning. Integration. To converge! It can take longer to do convergence online.

For more info about convergent and divergent processes –

The Deeper Layers of Learning
http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/aerc/2000/vanderveenr1-final.PDF

and

See the work of Sam Kaner (Participatory Decision Making)

These companies are transforming traditional offline convergent facilitation models into "hard wired" software frameworks:

Communispace Software
http://www.communispace.com

GroupMind Express
http://www.groupmindexpress.com

Contributors:
Jeff Catchlove, Jess Chalmers, Marty Cielens, Bev Driver, Jennifer Dunbabin, Frankie Forsyth,  Martha Goldman, Alison Gotts, Rose Grozdanic, Kathie Hinton, Louise Housden, Marie Jasinski, Marlene Manto, Vicki Marchant, Janet Simpson,  Margot McNeill, Annelieske Noteboom, Nancy White