MERLOT - Virtual Learning Community

Introduction

After taking a look at a couple of online virtual communities, I have decided to examine MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) (http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm). (see Figure 1). I have chosen that virtual community because it looked structured, well-organized and very comprehensive. Another reason of choosing is that MERLOT is a virtual community which has many well-developed resources of my own interests. So, I thought that being a part of that virtual community could be helpful in my own professional development.

“MERLOT is a leading edge; user-centered, searchable collection of peer reviewed and selected higher education, online learning materials, catalogued by registered members and a set of faculty development support services. MERLOT's vision is to be a premiere online community where faculty, staff, and students from around the world share their learning materials and pedagogy (http://taste.merlot.org/)”

My first impression of the community was very positive. I have created an account and had access to great online resources right away. Although I didn’t make a contribution to the community, I reviewed a couple of resources that other members posted and visited the profiles of some of the community members. I am impressed with not only the variety of the resources but also the easiness of the site navigation.
Type of the Community

MERLOT is both a knowledge-based learning community, in which members “construct, use, reconstruct, and reuse knowledge in deliberate, continuous cycles” (Riel & Polin, 2004; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994; Bereiter, 2001; Hewit, 2004), and a practice-based community, which arises around a profession, discipline, or field or endeveavor (Riel & Polin, 2004). MERLOT has been categorized as three portals: Discipline communities, Community of MERLOT Partner Academic Support Services (COMPASS), and partner communities. That means, users can reach the resources by selecting the discipline they are interested in (i.e education, agriculture, etc.), by selecting the type of material they are looking for (i.e. e-portfolio, online courses, etc.), or by selecting the institution and/or program that they are belong to (i.e. California State University - Business, World Futures Studies Federation, etc.). MERLOT aims at supporting all communities of disciplines. Since it is sponsored by higher education, corporate and community organizations, it is free for the users.

Structures of the Community

Every individual create a profile as they sign up for the site and manage their profile easily. Components of the profile include contact information, skills and interests, publications, experiences, etc. Users are not required to fill out every component of the profile.

Users can review peers’ works, make comments to the resources, become a guest speaker in the area of their expertise, join discussions and debates in MERLOT Voices forums, chat with people in real-time and participate in the annual international conferences to interact with each other and learn by collaborating.
I have observed a discussion in MERLOT Voices site about the topic: “How can we increase student participation in our online classes?” It was interesting to review people’s ideas about the topic. While some of them were stating their concerns, some others were sharing their experiences and ideas. One of the users linked to another source about the topic. The forum was looking very interactive and informative.
Design Features and Role of Technology

The site looks very organized and consistent. There are smaller groups within the site to connect people with common interests. Some of the examples are Faculty Development, Health Sciences Editorial Board and Virtual Worlds Taskforce. Users can join the groups and view multiple discussion threads about an area. Users can even invite friends and send gifts to each other. Also, users have access to their Twitter accounts from the site.

Each user has a page in which he/she can upload a photo, post a blog, add RSS, check inbox, update the status, add apps and videos. The page is very similar to a Facebook profile page. Other people can visit and write comments on the walls of each other. The pages are useful for personal use and for interaction with others.

Conclusion and Implications

I really liked the structure and tool features of MERLOT. It is an excellent online virtual learning community that could be used very interactively. Navigation is easy and simple and resources are varied. I believe that there is something in the site that every educator would find useful. I really cannot think of any suggestion for improvement.












References

Bereiter, C. (2001). Education and the Mind in the Knowledge Age. Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hewitt, J. 2004. An Exploration of Community in a Knowledge Forum Classroom: An Activity System Analysis. In: S. Barab, R. Kling & J. Gray (Eds.). Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Riel, M. & Polin, L. (2004). Learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Chapter 3 in Barab & Kling (eds.) Designing Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning. NY: Cambridge University Press.

Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (1994). Computer support for knowledge-building
learning communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(}), 265-283'