Building a dynamic online learning community among adult learners

This article examines the nature of learning communities constructed among a diverse group of adult learners in an online graduate-level course. The course engages students in both independent and team tasks to complete several project deliverables. The 21 students enrolled in this online course came from across the USA and countries as far away as Hong Kong, Japan, Argentina and Venezuela. Students and their instructor communicated via a variety of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools, including synchronous webcasts and chat sessions and asynchronous e-mail and discussion boards. Discourse artefacts, student profiles, survey responses, and project evaluations were content analysed for evidence of the formation of learning communities, particularly for evidence of three markers: participation, shared identity and the establishment of a social network. This action research also generates pedagogical implications for promoting adult learners' active participation in online learning and instructional strategies to facilitate the community-building process. Copyright © 2003 International Council for Education Media.