Revitalizing an online community

Abstract

It was established early on in this study that a Language, Literacy and Culture Program (LLC) site is needed to keep the community connected. A community-centered design was considered, and implemented in the fall of 1999. The current study was implemented to assess why the site failed and what could be done to revive it. The findings of the current study indicated that the community did not develop as expected despite the team's effort to follow a community-centered approach. In this paper we consider the reasons for the site's failure, and what could be done to revitalize the community. Through surveys, and interviews it was determined that the community needed more active participation from the moderator and faculty. They also required a more interactive and better developed design, and special care should be taken to train the members who need it on the use of technology involved.