Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education
Celebrating 30+ Years of
Service to the IT in Education / E-Learning Community
Celebrating 30+ Years of
Service to the IT in Education / E-Learning Community
This presentation addresses what seemingly casual bloggers who write in a diaristic format – often dismissed as not serious or wasting time – can teach the rest of us about building an online community and engaging in professional development. Data and anecdotes from three ethnographic studies of diaristic blogging communities will be shared with a focus on explaining how these communities benefit their participants and what role narratives play in these benefits. Topics covered include community purpose and norms, informal learning, online-offline knowledge brokering, knowledge management, cognitive apprenticeship, and mentoring. Practical implications will be shared for those looking to create online professional development and/or knowledge sharing communities.
Vanessa Dennen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University. She teaches courses on Web 2.0, program evaluation, instructional design, discourse analysis, and learning theory. She also serves as Program Coordinator of the Instructional Systems Program. She earned a PhD in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University.
Vanessa's research, broadly described, investigates the nexus of cognitive, motivational, and social elements in computer-mediated communication. Within this larger area, her work has concentrated on two major problems: the study of learner participation in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) activities; and, more recently, the study of interactions, norm development, and support networks within communities of practice. The cognitive apprenticeship model of learning, whether undertaken in formal or informal learning environments, is a common theme in both of these research strands. Both research areas are complementary, since their primary concern is to help understand how learning takes place in computer-mediated environments and to develop interventions – whether they be activities, facilitation methods, or community guidelines – that will help better foster such learning.
Vanessa's professional experience includes contract work as an instructional designer and evaluator of online learning, communities, and technology-based programs in corporate, higher education, and K-12 environments. Prior to earning her PhD she worked as a corporate instructional designer, the academic director of a summer media program for high school students, and in the consumer electronics and gaming industry.
