The verdict is in. The last two years have confirmed humans are designed to function within a community. Whether personal or professional, all communities are necessary for optimal physiological function.
In particular, the activity of learning is greatly enhanced within the confines of community. A collective approach in the pursuit of knowledge is beneficial because:
1) It connects people. Learning communities assemble individuals across sectors, disciplines, and geographies to connect, share ideas and results, and learn from each other.
2) It sets goals, measures collective progress and align participants around common goals, metrics (ways of measuring achievement), theories of change and areas of practice.
3) It fosters shared learning via successful and unsuccessful experiences to deepen collective knowledge.
4) It supports distributed leadership (a shared, collective and extended practice that builds the capacity for change and improvement). The scope of a learning community allows it to offer a wide range of leadership roles and skill-building opportunities.
5) It accelerates progress toward impact at the required size to solve the problem. Community has potential to facilitate fast-cycle learning, measure results to understand what works for whom, and bring together interested parties to work towards a common goal.
Learning communities provide a space and a structure for individuals to align around a shared goal. Effective communities are both aspirational and practical. They connect people, organizations, and systems eager to learn and work across boundaries, all the while holding members accountable to a common agenda, metrics, and outcomes. These forums enable participants to share results and learn from each other, thereby improving their ability to achieve rapid yet significant progress.
A community of young people who share similar interests is an ideal platform to exchange viewpoints, ideas, and information. Because it provides a positive, interactive experience, this approach is a highly effective way to promote and accelerate learning retention. An experience is more than the event itself, it’s valuable social capital. Recording and sharing attendance and participation is an important social identity component.
It's evident the kinetic nature of community reinforces ideas and accelerates the learning process. Taking a cue from how the gamer community builds an esprit de corps by combining technology with a common goal, Tomestic is intent on fostering a community of learners by virtue of our Organic Living Book and the inherent properties of our IP that promote peer-to-peer learning through the sharing of ideas and resources across geographies. We’re ready to take on the challenge of implementing transformational change for readers everywhere. Visit our ‘Home’ page to sign up for our newsletter so we can keep you apprised of our progress.