Kalinago English: roles

You are not one of the myriad of interchangeable pieces,

but a unique human being, and if you've got something to say,

say it, and think well of yourself while you're learning to say it better.

David Mamet

I do not participate or contribute to every online educational group I belong to. I do not comment on every blog post I read: sometimes I feel intimidated by the other contributors, sometimes I am not sure that I have anything of value to add to the conversation, sometimes I do not know what is expected or appreciated...

And sometimes, I just don't have the time to write out a response.

As discussed in 3d, Does size play a role, Jack McGee puts the ratio of lurkers to non-lurkers at 90:10 |edited 02.03.10, previously read 90%, see comments|

I debunk that theory - when it comes to educational communities - because I have noticed that it tends to be platform and purpose determined, however, agree that it is the larger percentage of any group, even when educational.

So my question is, who are the people we do not see on our platforms, our blogs, on Twitter?

What is their role and how does it compare to their roles in real-life? Are they the quiet ones in the staff room, the silent listeners at a party?

If you run an online educational group yourself, what do you do to encourage these members to contribute the value of their wisdom to the community?

If you are what is popularly termed as a lurker (silly word), would you mind breaking the silence just for today (you can do it anonymously) to let us know why you stay silent?

Thank you!

Best,
Karenne

This posting is part of a series, Crowd Wise, and is, in part, preparation for the swap-shop on web based communities at the IATEFL conference in Harrogate, April 8th, 2010. Your answers, as brief or as in-depth as you'd like to be, is very much appreciated!

To subscribe to all the posts within this specific series, copy and paste this url:

http://kalinago.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/crowd-wise into your reader.

Note: if you would like to participate in this conversation anonymously, please do feel free to do so. Alternatively, if you would like to specifically mention an online educational community when making reference to your experiences, adding your group's name and/or its URL, you are most welcome to!

The greatest master is he who creates the most masters

Tao te Ching

Whenever I think about leadership in e-learning communities within the field of ELT, these are the following people who immediately spring to my mind as long-running, long-serving and highly experienced e-moderators:

(From top: Carla Arena, David Deubel, Duncan Baker, Gladys Baya, Tara Benwell & Vance Stevens)

At a minimum, without counting, I belong to at least 50 different web2.0 groups: on LinkedIn, Xing, Orkut, Google, Facebook, Ning, Moodle and Yahoo!Groups.

My role on these varies across the different platforms: for most of these, I am a lurker(!), on others I contribute infrequently, responding to a call out for help or providing monthly blog summaries - not just of my own blog:), and on others, I contribute very often.

In some, I actively and regularly engage in lively debates - sometimes heated exchanges on methodology, technology and pedagogical best practices.

I even run two groups aimed at other English teachers: one of which is on Facebook (strictly connected to my blog and helping my readers who choose to connect with me there) and one is entirely dedicated to enabling ELTbloggers to meet each other and collaborate across the blogosphere. I also have groups where I work in private blended learning courses with students.

BUT... I wouldn't begin, not even for a second, to put myself in the knowledge categories of those I've pictured above.*

And that makes me wonder:
what is it, that creates an amazing e-community leader?

Many people believe, like rules, that having a specific leader isn't necessary and that communities can drive themselves. On some this does work, on others it doesn't. Fact is, some leaders created their groups to serve their own (financial) agendas and simply do not communicate, care about or give anything back to their members. Some started their communities as part of an experiment in e-learning, something to put on the CV because it looks cool, some gave up on the concept way before their group reached critical mass and others have been taken over by trolls, spammers and pirates.

I've seen, first hand, throughout the last three years that great leadership is not something to take lightly and is something to take special note of. But what are the qualities these people possess? Is it the desire to share?

How are they able to lead others - people which, most of the time, they have only met online? Did they learn how to do this, read books - which ones? Or was it a skill they simply innately possessed dormant until the internet was born?

Let's do a quick experiment, for a second, read this ad:

I wonder...

How would the rest of the job ad read?

Best,
Karenne

**Although there are many, many, many other online edu-group leaders I could have featured in the mosaic above, I have specifically chosen ones in the field of ELT where there has been a clear leadership model over a long period of time, in communities I belong to or participated in. However, please don't hesitate to recommend other great moderators you have also noted.

Pictured:

Carla Arena, Images for Education and many more
David Deubel, EFL Classroom 2.0
Duncan Baker, BESIG LinkedIn Group
Gladys Baya, Learning with computers
Tara Benwell, My English Club
Vance Stevens, Webheads

This posting is part of a series, Crowd Wise, and is, in part, preparation for the swap-shop on web based communities at the IATEFL conference in Harrogate, April 8th, 2010. Your answers, as brief or as in-depth as you'd like to be, is very much appreciated!

To subscribe to all the posts within this specific series, copy and paste this url:

http://kalinago.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/crowd-wise into your reader.