Christene Wilson-James's List: readings

Selznik (1996) identifies seven elements of community: history, identity,  mutuality, plurality, autonomy, participation, and integration. With  respect to virtual learning communities, Schwier (in press) adds: an  orientation to the future, technology, and learning. Some of these  characteristics of community will be present from the beginning. Others, the  cohort will have to grow into. We will describe the features of these 10  characteristics, and discuss how we will use them for our purposes.   Selznik notes that communities are stronger when their members share history and  culture, rather than simply abstract general interests. Unlike an established  terrestrial community, the nascent community forming from the Distance Master’s  program will not have a shared history. Their history, like their  identity, will have to grow and develop through their interactions with  each other. We believe that a shared sense of identity will develop in this  cohort, and will strengthen their communal identity. Schwier’s suggested  strategies for fostering identity include team-building exercises, developing  community logos, and public acknowledgement of individual and group  accomplishments within the community. He also notes the importance of  articulating the “focus or purpose of the community” and outlining the  requirements and rituals. The structure of the courses allows for frequent and  obvious reiteration of community focus, and events such as orientation can help  the group define its own rituals and norms

falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which tipped the balance of power across  the world towards democratic free market and away from authoritarian rule. A  second flattener is identified as our ability to not only author our own  content, but to send it worldwide with the 1995 launch of the Internet.  Subsequently, free workflow software was developed, allowing people from around  the