CivieBlog

As we are wrapping up the week for Learn Trends, one of the questions we faced was what to do with the Ning community that sprung up to support the conference. I'm pretty sure we are going to leave it up, but I'm also pretty sure that it will sit fairly dormant until the next learning event.

The discussion today suggested that it would be nice if there were a way to transfer the connections being made during the conference out to other networks or learning communities. I would highly encourage everyone who I connected with during the conference to connect to me on LinkedIn. I've connected to a couple of fellow bloggers.

But the issue of other learning communities was raised. This relates to the discussion of Getting Help. In that post, I suggested some places (learning communities or networks) when I need help.

I've not seen a good list of learning communities to go to in an on-going basis. So, I'm trying to form a list of on-going learning communities that learning professionals should know about. I'd prefer to add online communities that have fairly substantial membership, with active discussions and/or good ways to reach out to the members to get help.

Please add comments below to help me flesh out this list.

• TrDev - Large, Moderated - Training and Development Discussion Group begun in October 2000. Discussions deal with a wide variety of topics. Assessment, benchmarking, competencies, content development, course development, e-learning, EPSS (electronic performance support systems), evaluation, instructional systems design (ISD), job aids, knowledge management, learning characteristics, learning outcomes, learning styles, needs assessment, objectives, performance improvement, return on investment (ROI), strategic analysis, task analysis, tools for training and learning, train-the-trainer, training and development.
• (E-)learning network - Fairly active LinkedIn group/network for professionals working in the (E-)learning industry and informal learning industry.
• ASTD National - ASTD's LinkedIn group. Lots of members and discussion.
  
• Courseware Development - Smaller LinkedIn group started by Ted Kopp interested in courseware design and development. Some discussion.
• eLearn - Fairly large LinkedIn group for sharing ideas, concepts, and technology for eLearning. Discussion varies.
• Learning, Education and Training Professionals Group - a large LinkedIn group for training professionals, including project managers, instructional designers, developers, learning environment engineers, learning officers and classroom trainers. Fairly active.
• The eLearning Guild Linked In Group - LinkedIn group for members of The eLearning Guild. Fair amount of discussion on design, development, and management of eLearning.
• DEOS-L - The Distance Education Online Symposium. Listserv for professionals and students in the field of distance education and provide a forum for discussion of all aspects of distance education.
• ASTD Discussion Forums - Fairly active discussion forums on wide variety of topics such as e-Learning, consulting, OD & Leadership, Performance Improvement.
• LearningTown! - Large, active Ning community hosted by Elliot Masie with monthly questions that spark discussions. Some subgroups emerging.
• Chief Learning Officer Network - Fairly active Ning community that has broad range of topics.
• Classroom 2.0 - Very active Ning community looking at web 2.0 in education including tools, curriculum, integration, design.

Learning communities in related areas:

• Content Management Professionals collaborative community with 7731 learning professional members who practice advancing the field of content management

What am I missing?