An effective learning community has clearly defined and inclusive Values How do we encourage equality, diversity and inclusion? How can we build a climate of safety and trust through our values? What behaviours are acceptable? What are not? How do we communicate our values to members and ensure they share them?

An effective learning community has a clearly articulated and shared Purpose What is the purpose of the learning community? Who develops this purpose? Do we involve our participants? How does the community contribute to the development or learning goals of learners, i.e. their course or CPD? How do we communicate our purpose to members and ensure that we all understand and share it? How will we know that the community has achieved its purpose?

An effective learning community has a clearly articulated and shared Goals What goals do we want to achieve? How will these goals relate to other goals or objectives such as the overarching course or CPD needs? How do we communicate our goals to members and ensure that we all understand them? How do we relate the community’s goals to overall learning goals of members? How will we know that the community has achieved its goals?

An effective learning community has active and vibrant Interaction How will the members participate and interact– synchronously, asynchronously or both? What are the barriers to interaction? How can we help overcome these? What patterns of and interaction and participation are we looking for? Do we and our members know what good meaningful participation is? How can we discourage under- or over-participation?

An effective learning community is owned and managed by its People How do we tell potential members about the community? How will people join the community? How will they leave? How do we ensure that members are represented in the management of their community? Who will have overall responsibility for managing/facilitating the community?

An effective learning community has dedicated Structure How does our learning community relate to the course/CPD structures we already have? How does it’ fit in’? Where is our dedicated space for the community? Online, face-to-face or both? What internal structures will the community need? i.e. activities, points of contact, timetabling Who provides leadership for the learning community? Who will manage the learning community on a day to day basis?

An effective learning community has Collaboration How will the members collaborate – synchronously, asynchronously or both? How does collaboration relate to the community’s purpose and goals? How can we encourage collaboration between members and between us and members? How do we respect those who are challenged by collaboration? How do we ensure collaboration for those with accessibility issues?

An effective learning community has adequate and appropriate Support What training will we & our members need to use any technology? Who will provide technological support for members & how is this provided? What guidance and/or training will managers/facilitators receive? E.g. managing and working with group dynamics? What guidance & training will members be given to take part in the community? What emotional support is available for when things go wrong? How do we encourage our members to support each other?

An effective learning community has understood and respected Expectations Are the community’s expectations defined, communicated and understood by all parties? How do we know what learning community members expect of us? How do we understand what the members’ expectations of the community are? How do these expectations relate to the purpose of the community? How do members know what we expect of them?

An effective learning community has adequate and appropriate Resources What tools, technologies and infrastructure do we need? Are these tools accessible to all? How robust and reliable is the technology? Will it allow the creation of a sustainable learning community? How well will our institution support the technology? How can we ensure that we have the right staff and the right number of staff to support the community?

An effective learning community is has built in Evaluation In relation to its goals and purpose, how effective is the learning community? What works well in the community? What doesn’t work well? What information can we gather about the community’s performance: quantitative and qualitative? What have we learnt and how can we communicate what we have learnt to others so that success can be replicated?