Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Building An Online Teaching Community: An Evolving Tale Ofcommunication, Collaboration, Andchemistry, Barbara Reisner, Hilary Eppley, Margret Geselbracht, Elizabeth Jamieson, Adam Johnson, Sheila Smith, Joanne Stewart, Lori Watson, Scott Williams

Hilary J. Eppley

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 inorganicChemistry 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.