Group behavior and learning in electronic forums: A sociotechnical approach

The term “community” is often misused to describe online groups, undermining their potential to develop into genuine communities. Transforming a group into a community requires specific processes and practices, as evident in the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF) project. The ILF project aimed to develop “communities of practice” among high school teachers, but found that autonomous community formation was unsuccessful in open online forums. The project’s experience suggests that “IT-supported” community development strategies are more effective than “IT-led” strategies