Beginning engagements

Following approval of the project plan by we entered the research phase. Activities for phase 1 included:

1. Identify development team and advisory committee
2. Consultation with prospective participants in the project
3. Literature review
4. Comparative analysis of existing educator communities  
5. Review of communication and community tools  
6. Recommendations based on review
7. Developing recommendations for sustaining the community  

Identify development team and advisory committee

During phase 1 two key groups were formed to guide and contribute to the design and development of the community:

This team included members of the eLINC technical support, an “experience designer”, the project manager, and the community coordinator. This team did not hold any meetings as a group. Instead members met separately and through email, and continue to correspond in SCoPE.

2. Advisory Committee

This committee comprised of 8 members including 5 SFU, 1 external, the project manager and the community coordinator. The committee met two times, February and July, 2005 to discuss progress. The meetings were useful for discussing ideas for SCoPE. However, it was difficult to organize face-to-face meetings and it was decided at the second meeting that a better format would be ongoing communication and consultation using a private space in SCoPE .  

Consultation with prospective participants in the project

In addition to the activities of the Development Team and Advisory Committee, all of the eLINC staff was invited to participate in a full day of discussions about SCoPE. During the morning session the members were  divided into four focus groups. Below the main focus group themes and guiding questions are outlined. Following the focus group sessions members were invited to post their top three ideas in a community space set up on a dotproject site used for managing eLINC projects.

Activities    

• What are some events and services that would make our community unique?
• What are some ideas for launching the community?
• How do we attract members from a variety of backgrounds and interests?
• How do we encourage frequent member participation?
• What are the various types of resources that support, or are generated through, the community activities?
• What are some tools that would support resource management?
• What tools should be available to support these activities?

Community Environment    

• How can we design to cater to different levels of engagement?
• How might metaphors improve engagement in the community environment?
• What are some possible community metaphors (including community names, spaces, and role titles)?
• How can we make the community environment welcoming?
• How would you validate the acceptance of the community environment?

Sustaining the Community    

• How do we encourage the building of relationships among community members?
• How do we create a rhythm of participation?
• What are some revenue-generating possibilities for sustaining the community?
• How do we effectively communicate to potential sponsors the value of the community?
• How can we keep people informed of community activities?
• How do we assist new members to feel welcomed and comfortable?
• What tools will assist to sustain the community?

Research    

• What do we need to consider before launching the community if we wish to engage in ongoing research activities?
• How might we involve others as researchers in the community (to research the community itself, to involve community members in research projects related to elearning, to share research, to collaborate on research projects)
• What tools do we need to support research activities?

The next sections outline the top 3 recommendations related to the themes discussed by the four groups (Currie & Wallace, 2005).