"Building an Online Teaching Community: An Evolving Tale of Communication, Collaboration, and Chemistry" in Enhancing Learning with Online Resources, Social Networking, and Digital Libraries

Abstract

The Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) has grown from a small group of faculty to a national and international network focused on improving inorganic chemistry learning. IONiC’s vision is to create a community of teachers and learners who make teaching visible using social networking tools to share, discuss, test, and assess their teaching methods. The features that have allowed the IONiC community to develop and grow and IONiC’s vision for the future are described. It is likely that the lessons learned apply to other groups seeking to develop professional communities through social networking.