ICLS 2000 Proceedings

Scaling Educational Online Communities: The Role of Volunteerism in Doing Large-Scale Educational Projects Online

Jason B. Ellis & Amy S. Bruckman
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0280
Tel: +1-404-894-9761
{jellis, asb}@cc.gatech.edu

D. Kevin O'Neill
Learning R&D Center
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: +1-412-624-6962
dko@acm.org

Nancy Butler Songer
School of Education
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
Tel: +1-734-647-7369
songer@umich.edu

Abstract: Educational online communities provide new opportunities for adult participation in the classroom. However, working with online adults presents unique challenges for designers of educational technologies as well. In this panel, we will examine the issues affecting the design educational online communities that integrate adults, as well as the role that adults play in making these communities scale to many classrooms.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, discourse, distributed learning environments, life-long learning

Preferred Citation Format:
Ellis, J.B., Bruckman, A.S., O'Neill, D.K., & Songer, N.B. (2000). Scaling Educational Online Communities: The Role of Volunteerism in Doing Large-Scale Educational Projects Online. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 362-365). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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