Online Professional and Academic Learning Communities

This study examines faculty perceptions of creating learning communities at a virtual university. Through online focus groups with 18 participants, 3 themes emerged: institutional-level community building as creating a learning culture; instructor-level community building as creating respectful interaction; and learner-level community building as creating positive interdependence. The faculty see themselves as taking on various roles to facilitate community, including being a facilitator, teacher, mentor, and guide; modeling professional behavior; and sharing experience.