www.merlot.org
What is the goal or purpose of the community?
- Target group: Higher education (faculty and students)
- Providing resources: Peer reviewed online teaching & learning materials, resources for continuous professional development
- Disseminating educational practice: “Putting educational innovation into practice”
- Supporting specific disciplines:
e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics,
Health Sciences, Business, History, Music, Psychology, World Languages,
Information Technology, Faculty Development, Teacher Education
What types of interactions are available to the community?
All online interactions within MERLOT are aynchronous interactions, mainly by posting material and comments.
Opportunity for other interactions is given:
- Member directory allows contacting members directly.
- Annual International Conference (face-to-face)
- JOLT – Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (published quarterly)
- Newsletter “Merlot Grapevine” (published quarterly)
Do the interactions support the goals/purpose?
Yes. Merlot is designed as portal for online teaching materials to foster dissemination of the materials. The website is easy to navigate and by providing separate communities for each discipline it is easy to find relevant material. The comments and reviews mainly have the purpose of improving the teaching material or strategy presented. There is no focus on creating a community.
What is the best quality of the community in terms of interaction?
The main interaction is user and content. This interaction is well supported by the exemplary organization of MERLOT. The main goal is dissemination of information and this is achieved as one to all information flow via a journal and a newsletter. Interactions between users play a secondary role, but are supported by making contact information of members available to other members. An opportunity for face-to-face contact is given at annual conferences.
If you were a member, what changes would you like to see made in the community interactions to make it more suitable for you as a learner?
Offer a question and answer wiki for each discipline specific community. This would allow exchange of topic specific teaching ideas or learning material that is available outside of MERLOT.
