Building an effective online learning community: An ethnographic study

Abstract

What happens when a group of co-learners engage in a continuous lifelong learning community in the context of rapid changes in both the use of ICT in learning and the curriculum? A rare longitudinal ethnographic-action research study over 15 years has provided interpretive practice opportunities through analysis of rich data into building and sustaining a learning community. The study has involved a process of evaluating adult educational interaction and efficacy with rapid changes in ICT and curriculum models and theories associated with online learning and teaching. Border Studies is a non-traditional, lifelong learning community that was built and sustained over a period of fifteen years. As a result of the ethnographic action research cycles a RITA model for enabling effective online learning networks is proposed for action by the reader. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.