1. Community Portraits: collaborative learning online Liz Timms, University of Edinburgh, Scotland and Pirjo Helppikangas, University of Lapland, Finland

2. the community as a context for welfare practice collaboration as a method for working and learning the Internet as an enabler of collaborative learning the three main aspects of Community Portraits

3. the aims of the module to promote a pattern of social work practice and service that is based on active appreciation of the community context of people's everyday lives. to recognise differences as positive for learning and development

4. the task n to produce ‘portraits’ of the communities in which they work for presentation online

5. the process collaborative work in small groups via the Internet chatting, sending messages, writing statements

6. the trial run 24th February - 11th June 1999

7. the programme Week 4Planning for the task Weeks 5 - 11Doing the work Week 12Presenting the portrait online (group task) Week 13Assessing the portraits; debriefing Week 15Reflective study on collaboration( individual task) Week 0Introductions Week 1The concept of community Week 2Thinking about collaboration Week 3Introducing the communities

8. preparing for the virtual classroom (1) We confirmed that: educational goals should drive the use of technology teaching material has to be re-designed to capitalise on the technology We learned that: preparation is tedious, time consuming and, for the novice, often de-skilling, but it is vital

9. “at each step of construction it was necessary to reflect on how every tiny detail of the material - the tasks, the timing or whatever - would be experienced by the participants” Timms & Helppikangas, 1999

10. preparing for the virtual classroom (2) the start is important: be ready for it keep instructions short, clear and simple watch the pace - don’t rush: - collaborative relationships take time to establish

11. is education via the internet worth the effort? YES! high potential for inclusion: can overcome barriers of place, time, social distance, social inhibition but only if there is access for all

12. the technology must be reliable and any demands it makes on users must be minimal material and social barriers such as poverty, social class, gender, must be addressed

13. SCHEMA Social Cohesion through Higher Education in Marginal Areas Web site: http://www.stir.ac.uk/schema SCHEMA is co-ordinated by the University of Stirling, Scotland, with partners in Finland (Lapland and Oulu), Germany (Stuttgart) and Sweden (Orebro and Karlskrona-Ronneby). It is funded by the EC Educational Multimedia Taskforce. SCHEMA is co-ordinated by the University of Stirling, Scotland, with partners in Finland (Lapland and Oulu), Germany (Stuttgart) and Sweden (Orebro and Karlskrona-Ronneby). It is funded by the EC Educational Multimedia Taskforce.

14. http://www.stir.ac.uk/schema/