I wrote a discussion post on Edubloggerworld this morning about the fact that online education communities seem quite slow to gain momentum.

“I wonder sometimes why sites like Edubloggerworld for educators don’t get up and moving more quickly. I am heavily involved with various artists forums online, and they are much more active spaces for sharing, learning, discussion etc.

…
Having been used to those communities, I find it frustrating that things move more slowly on education sites, there are few replies to posts, new threads, etc.

I know one answer will be that we have to reach a critical mass for that to happen, but as I have witnessed in the glass community, that happens much faster in other fields. Every new education community I have joined has been slow to get off the ground, and eventually, I will stop coming and checking, as there is nothing new to read or respond to.

Why is it that teachers seem so reluctant to utilise this amazing learning/sharing/social opportunity? I think that education communities online have huge potential, but I am concerned that my patience will not last till that potential is fulfilled.”

Sue Waters mentioned in her blog the following statistics:

• 90% of users are lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don’t contribute)
• 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time
• 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions: it can seem as if they don’t have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they’re commenting on occurs 

I’m not sure where those statistics come from, but I’m fairly confident that the balance on the glass forums leans more heavily towards a higher concentration of active users. I’m actually trying to get some statistics from the forum owner at the moment, just out of curiosity.

So the question remains - how do we either raise the ratio of active participants, or increase the overall number, so that small percentage can keep things rolling along?

 I think its tough for educators… as I replied in the edubloggerworld thread “I think one of the reasons momentum can be slow to build compared to other communities, is because in the other ones, people have joined initially as part of their leisure time, and related to something they are passionate about. I know that teachers can be very passionate about their work, but many of them do see use of technology as a chore related to their work, not as fun, relaxation, social activity etc. And they are VERY short of time at work - many of the teachers I work with struggle to find time to check their email, never mind participate in a forum or social network.
Unfortunately - that aspect isn’t likely to change anytime soon - the only way a space like this will be utilised effectively is if teachers see enough value in it to warrant giving time in their busy schedule.”

It will be interesting to see how this community develops - hopefully the momentum builds, because I think educators have a lot of value to share with each other.