If educators choose to support the development of virtual learning communities, a number of issues arise concerning management, pedagogy and content liability. On the surface, the most imposing barrier appears to be financial. Technology requires hardware, software, and access, and these elements can be expensive. However, we believe that other issues are more important, and in some cases, more difficult to deal with in supporting this type of intervention. We present a few of these issues in the form of questions which educators will need to address.
Building virtual learning communities provides one way to think about finding some answers to curricular challenges faced by most educators, and especially those in rural communities. Some of the strongest objections to many distance education initiatives charge that they are expensive, they are difficult to manage, and they fail to provide the type of interaction and engagement among students necessary to promote a high level of learning. At the same time, rural administrators are confronted with the option of supporting a smaller local school population by supplementing the curriculum with traditional distance education courses, versus closing smaller schools and moving students to larger centres which can support a broader range of specialized programs. The argument between the benefits of smaller schools and larger programs continues to percolate.
In order to build a caring community students need continuity in their school residence. They should stay in one school building for longer than two or three years. Children need time to settle in, to become responsible for their physical surroundings, to take part in maintaining a caring community. When we have to choose between highly specialized programs for a narrow range and a continuity of place, we should choose the latter. Continuity of place is easier to achieve in smaller schools. (Noddings, 1992)
We contend that the choice between specialized programs and continuity of place presents a false dichotomy; it is an either-or proposition that deserves to be challenged. We do not suggest that using technology to support the development of virtual learning communities will provide definitive solutions to the many challenges faced by rural and urban schools alike. Many of our children are already technologically literate, and many already participate in informal virtual learning communities. We suggest a way of using technology that is consistent with constructivist changes underway in the schools, and recognize that virtual learning communities can contribute to the way we respond to those challenges.
We must be able to catch the ball that the child throws to us, and toss it back to them in a way that makes them want to continue the game (of learning) with us...developing, inventing new games as we go along. (Filipinni, 1990)
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