New midterm topic

Following up on my previous thoughts and my discussion board entry, I would like to change my individual / midterm topic to the influence of culture on online collaboration. I haven't thought through the details yet, but I think I would like to focus on the following areas:

• cultural aspects that might and do affect how computer-based learning is perceived, e.g., individualistic v. collectivistic tendencies, high/low context, fast/slow message preferences, attitudes towards technology and distance learning,
• being consciously inclusive, reaching out to learners from all cultures
• and to what extent online learning communities form their own cultures.

I'm not sure I will be able to cover all of the above, but these are all areas that interest me.

Thoughts on the group process

We lost one member of our group, Neecie, who bravely volunteered to join a completely new group. Then there were three. So far the group process has been completely smooth with us all agreeing without having to debate anything. Part of the reason for this is that the topic suggested by Johanna had the most global appeal, where all three of us immediately saw merit for each one of us.
To comment on the socio-cultural constructs of an online team as presented in the Khalsa article, "Multicultural Dimensions:"

• our team support and recognition of others has been limited but good with each of us expressing faith in the others as well as gratitude for opinions expressed
• time and flexibility seemed to be the challenges for this first week with me away on a business trip and the other two, particularly Johanna, also very busy with multiple tasks; however, I see us all stepping up to the plate in equal shares in the coming weeks
• we don't have a lot of rules and guidelines yet, but Nancy has created an area in which we can work and exchange ideas
• in regard to power and status and assertiveness, I do not anticipate any problems as I can see we are all sensitive to the related issues
• I would say that Nancy has taken the biggest leadership role so far; we will see how the dynamicas of this aspect progress has we go on.

I am feeling very comfortable with our group, think we can work well together as a mini-online learning community, and look forward to working on our common project.

Other thoughts for my "individual" contribution

Although I'm planning on sticking with the first topic I came up with as the one I'm offering the group, as I don't want to confuse the issue by throwing out multiple topics, I have had some other thoughts.

Briefly, one would be how such intercultural aspects as individualism v. collectivism (Hofstede, Trompenaars) and high v. low context societies (Hall) influence how groups build and handle social capital and trust.

Another idea is how learning departments can leverage online learning communities to support on-going learning/ training when travel and other budgets have been cut in these difficult economic times.

And lastly, one more is how we could use Second Life or similar resources for establishing and maintaining online learning communities.

Process thoughts

So far in these classes I have enjoyed (once I got into them) all of the assignments, whether individual or group, but in many cases the group experience is a richer one, as we learn from each other.

We have lost Neecie to another group. As pleasant as she is, I don't mind because I think it may be easier to work with a group of three rather than four. Reading Johanna's and Nancy's posts, I am impressed with their thinking abilities and eagerness to plunge into the task. I am a little concerned as I'll be on a very busy business trip this week starting tomorrow, and I do want to hold my own in this impressive group, but I'll save my evenings for working out of my hotel room. Even now I'm stressing out a bit as I want to do a good job on my workwork and my homework! :)

General thoughts

After brainstorming with myself and coming up with quite a list of online communities I am currently involved with, I also had to reflect that I have only had access to the Internet for 13 1/2 years (and at first I didn't have a clue what I could do with it!) - but how it's changed my life and expectations of communication with others! Now, both a world of information and rapid communication with others are at my fingertips.

One could say that one way to divide up the world is into the Internet have's and have not's.

Strengthening online communities

I am a member of numerous sorts of online communities, e.g., Delta Intercultural Academy, my MS-OTL classes, my workplace, a group of 4 friends on two continents, Facebook, the ASTD CPLP community, and so on. Some of these online communities seem to serve their purposes/ functions better than others.

One that seems to me that it could be much more efficient and effective is my "work community." My organization has about 5000 employees worldwide, with a bit fewer than 3000 of those at our headquarters here in Reno NV. The company has an Intranet with links to the various departments, makes use of a (rather complicated it seems) Sharepoint to store and retrieve documents, touts an LMS, and sends out numerous emails with announcements of various kinds. And yet, all of the above, although containing a wealth of information, seems rather piecemeal and disjointed and does not convey a strong sense of community, even just among the employees on our local campus. For example, although I have access to lots of information, I hardly know who the top people of the company are or what visions they have for the organization.

I wonder if it might be possible to research and find a better way to pull all of these electronic loose ends together in such way that the employees could understand how all of this fits together and benefits the individuals, thereby perhaps creating a greater sense of community, of pulling together toward the same goals.

If others on my team have experienced similar situations in the organizations they work for, then a possible topic for our project might be something like, "Creating the optimal online work community."