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A Sense of Community - The FCPS-TRT-L LISTSERV
| 9/12/02, 12:59 pm (subject -
"Savanna Rowe, Garden Springs"): "Thanks for including me in this
group. The knowledge that we share with one another is a wonderful
resource!" - Savanna Rowe, Garden Springs Elementary
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The problem: School-based Technology Resource
Teachers (TRT) and other folks
interested in the support of technology in instruction have a hard time
connecting and benefiting from their shared experiences. Meetings scheduled last year were poorly attended. Most
school-based TRTs, despite similar interests and responsibilities,
didn't even know each other!
| 10/29/02, 1:31 pm (subject -
"Keyboard Goals"): "I totally agree with you,
Barbara! ...to see an impact on the quality of writing of middle
school students, the students had to be keyboarding at at least 20
wpm..." - Paula Whitmer, DTRT
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The solution: This fall, the FCPS-TRT-L email
discussion group started. All school based and, floating TRTs, as well as
elementary and middle school sited Microcomputer Resource Technicians (MRT) and
Microcomputer Resource Specialists (MRS), were "pre-joined" to this private forum. After some initial problems,
and a few "down times," FCPS-TRT-L has established itself
as a resource for such teachers and support staff. Discussions have
been mostly about technical issues, but discussions about good technology
goals and practices have been common as well (see above).
| 11/7/02, 10:23 am (subject -
"Classroom Computers"): "How many schools allow
the teacher to have a teacher computer that the students are not
allowed to use?..." - Melissa Moore, Picadome
Elementary
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The community: But has this forum created a
community? Let's look at the list of characteristics mentioned in this
month's editorial:
- A sense of place: It has been slow to emerge,
but it's coming. The very low average response time to
questions (see Statistics
below) indicates that this "place" is watched closely by
many of its members.
- A sense of shared identity: This
characteristic is the most difficult to measure, since there are few
clues in the postings.
- A sense of shared purpose: The best example of
this is the threads on Digital Storytelling and Keyboarding Goals (see
example above, and the
archives).
- The ability to connect: This is the one thing
FCPS-TRT-L has provided, and is important only so much as it
contributes to the other three.
| 10/29/02, 1:31 pm (subject -
"Sorry"): "I didn't intend to start anything with
my comment about slammin'...Merely to let Savanna know that I didn't
mind someone else poking out my mistakes if she doesn't mind my
poking a little fun at hers! Wink, wink, nod, nod, or as Jeff would
say, ';-), ;-). (I don't know the emoticon for 'Nod, nod!')..." -
Melba Leach, Arlington Elementary
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The sense of community is bound to increase with use. In
on-line forums, personalities will begin to emerge (see right), and the
discussion will begin to take them into account. It remains to be seen
whether this forum can really replace the community which might be
realized through face-to-face meetings, but for now, it is providing a
service which exists nowhere else.
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Some interesting statistics on the
first 8 weeks of FCPS-TRT-L
- # of members: 86
- # of contributors so far: 43 (there were 18
anonymous postings before the configuration change removed that
option)
- # of postings: 164
- # of individuals who have asked to
be removed from the group: 1
- Average # of responses per contributor: 3
- Average time gap between postings: 9.4 hours
(the range was a few minutes to 6.67 days).
- Average response time (postings to a question
or other response): 26 minutes
- Member activity: -
- 11 postings: Penny Browning, Meadowthorpe Elementary
- 7 postings: Kim Overstreet, District TRT
- 6 postings:Cliff Tibbitts, Maxwell Elementary;
Debbie Watts, Johnson Elementary; Neva Etter, Millcreek Elementary
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Submitted by Jeffrey
L. Jones
Archives
of FCPS-TRT-L in text-only web page format
Archives
in Rich Text Format document (right-click to downolad)
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Elem, 
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Middle
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High, 
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Teachers
The Editor's Page
Technology
Applied