The Math Forum: Measuring the Aliveness of a Community

Michael HerrickPhD StudentUniversity of

Hawaii Manoamherrick@hawaii.edu

What I Studied

• General– Community– CoP– Online Community– Virtual Community

• Specific– Virtual Math Community

What I Did

• The Math Forum (www.mathforum.org) • Enduring Virtual Community• Seven Principals of Aliveness

• The Math Forum (www.mathforum.org) • Enduring Virtual Community• Seven Principals of Aliveness Measure

• The Math Forum (www.mathforum.org) • Enduring Virtual Community• Seven Principals of Aliveness Measure

Your Virtual Community

7 Principles of Aliveness

1. Design for evolution2. Open a dialogue between inside and outside

perspectives3. Invite different levels of participation4. Develop both public and private community

spaces5. Focus on value6. Combine familiarity and excitement7. Create a rhythm for the community

1 - Design for evolution

• Geometry Forum Math Forum (1996)– NSF Grants– Discussions, Problem of the Week (PoW),

Ask Dr. Math– Professional development, wider audience– Resources, mentoring, Math Forum Digital

Library– Workshops, Pre-service teachers– National Science Digital Library (NDSL)

2 - Open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives

• National Science Digital Library• Math education groups (NCTM, NCSM)• Math groups (MAA)• Higher education institutions• K – 12 education• Commercial firms

3 - Invite different levels of participation

• Core Members– Staff– Math Doctors and Teacher2Teacher Assoc.

• Active members– PoW Participants– Profuse discussers

• Peripheral• One-time

4 - Develop both public and private community spaces

• Public– Resources– Discussions & archives

• Private– Advice public discussion– PoW– Workshops– Personal communications

5 - Focus on value

• Resources & information– Students– Teachers– Parents, researchers, citizens

• Communications– Experts: Ask Dr. Math, T2T Assoc, Staff– Peers: discussions, archives– One-on-one

Ask Dr. Math

Ask Dr. Math (cont)

Teacher2Teacher

5 - Focus on value

• Resources & information– Students– Teachers– Parents, researchers, citizens

• Communications– Experts: Ask Dr. Math, T2T Assoc, Staff– Peers: discussions, archives– One-on-one

6 - Combine familiarity and excitement

• Familiarity– Site– Continuing discussions

• Excitement– Site for novice– New resources– New workshops– New tools

7 - Create a rhythm for the community

• Outside– Rhythm of school– PoW

• Inside– Statistics– PoW

• Feel it!

Measure Your Community

Conclusion: Necessary But Not Sufficient

1. Design for evolution2. Open a dialogue between inside and outside

perspectives3. Invite different levels of participation4. Develop both public and private community

spaces5. Focus on value6. Combine familiarity and excitement7. Create a rhythm for the community

Staying Alive

Mahalo