Building a Successful Community
1.
What
type of community am I building? (The characteristics of T/TAC Online)
·
Combination
of a geographical and topical community
·
This
is a topical community because there is sharing of professional information,
searching resources, continuing education, networking and supporting personnel.
·
This
is a geographical community because
we are designing a site to be used by educators, service providers, T/TAC
employees and parents of children with special needs in the state of Virginia.
2.
Why
are we building it?
·
Provide
various information and resources and to support online training in relation to
assistive technology and other issues regarding children with special needs
·
Informational
resource database for users
·
Provides
current and easily accessible information
·
Professional
development
·
To
provide an arena for discussion and correspondence among leaders and novices in
the field of AT
·
Provide
a network for T/TAC directors, coordinators and service providers for exchange
of ideas, knowledge and experience
3.
Who
am I building it for?
·
The
community is primarily building for T/TAC employees, service providers and
parents of children with special needs in the state of VA
4.
What
specific benefits will our members (the users) get out of this community?
·
Creating
and sharing of materials, resources, knowledge among T/TAC coordinators
·
The
users can easily access the website and get various information and resources
from the site
·
The
users can network with people who have the same interests or concerns
·
The
users can take online workshops and courses from the site (continuing
education)
·
Professional
development
·
A
social environment for connecting with people of similar interests that is
supportive and friendly
·
The
ability to reach a wide audience in multiple locations – lowering geographical
barriers
5.
Identify
members’ needs and owners goals.
·
Members
needs
·
A
universally designed, visually appealing and accessible website
·
Alleviating
some of the current obstacles such as commuting distance, time and facilities
·
The
capability to communicate with other community members through synchronous and
asynchronous
·
A
website that contains current resources and references to literature about
Professional development on issues related to children with special needs
·
An
easily accessible and printable website
·
A
search function for the website
·
Technical
support
·
Owners
needs
·
A
universally designed, visually appealing and accessible website
·
A
comprehensive online delivery system for training modules and workshops in the
website
·
A
place for information gathering and announcements and links to related websites
·
The
capability to communicate with other community members through synchronous and
asynchronous communication
·
A
protected data registry for assessing the website
·
Ease
of maintenance and creation of courses
·
Potential
to track user participation and receive user feedback
·
Potential
access to online material for use by Universities in accredited courses
·
A
potentially marketable website
6.
Create
a Master List