Our educational focus is primarily on tertiary education. Students undertaking a University degree are learning to think and speak for themselves, and an important part of this in the modern world is (in our opinion) learning how to "hold your own" in the world of online interaction. While we don't think it would be that unfair to place most University students well ahead of most academics in terms of their level of comfort with online interaction, learning how to focus and present those thoughts to a global and unknown audience takes a little more work.

Our educational communities are designed to encourage students to learn how organize their thoughts and to express themselves using a specific online mechanism, in the field in which they are studying. We implement a number of variants of the basic educational community; each variant focuses on a specific form of online expression, whether it be blogs, a wiki, forums, an image portfolio, or structured content. The emphasis in each community is to provide the mechanism by which students shape their thoughts into a tangible form, while allowing the instructor to provide support and guidance. Auxiliary support for the instructor, such as announcements, distribution of course materials, and online grading, are part of every version of the educational community.

While a community can be created just for one instructor and one class, we think it's generally better for a community to be created with a broader focus. One or a small group of "resident experts" who can provide the impetus for a number of classes teaching in a particular area is the optimum approach for the kind of community we support. This could be the author(s) of a text book, for instance, who wish to provide support for other instructors who adopt that text. Or it could be a group of like-minded instructors who band together to create a community that focuses on their specific field and draws other instructors into that community.

Educational communities -- as defined by Angophora Press -- are not intended to be a replacement for face-to-face teaching or even for other educational support software that you may be currently using, such as Blackboard. They are an adjunct to your current activities, that can enhance the learning experience for your students and potentially reduce your workload. Let us know if you're interested.