Network communities are a form of technology-mediated environments that foster a sense of community among users. One of the design dimensions of network communities is developing a sense of persistent, shared space as an environment that frames the presence of multiple actors and provides mutual awareness. The shared space of a network community offers the potential for verbal and non-verbal communication at all times, but the space does not exist only when explicit communication is taking pace. There is a “there” there, even when participants are quiet or absent’ (Cuthell, 2005 p.322).
This community is largely based on a hybrid of activity, preferring to organize face-to-face events wherever possible. The community organizes five or more seminars a year, depending on the availability of funding. Personal relationships and professionalism are cemented and celebrated in these workshops and other face-to-face events like the ten-year party held in 2002.
MirandaNet Fellowship has two Internet-mediated communication systems. The public site MirandaNet is open to the broader educational community. A large number of the resources of the MirandaNet Fellowship are available over the public side of the community web site. It is accessed by over 1000 visitors a week seeking resources and advice. The most accessed parts of the community site are the member profiles with associated partnerships and the case studies. The community resources, projects and publications link to the priorities and standards of, and are linked on, the National Grid for Learning, an English Government Clearinghouse of educational resources.
MirandaLink is the community’s private or closed conference system. Since 1999, the community has been in partnership with Oracle sculpting the facilities of Think.com to build the community interface and tools. This partnership has allowed the community to develop customized tools and interfaces and to focus resources in face-to-face activity wherever possible.
The community consultancy actively generates its funding through bids for research projects, pilots of new technology, advice on policy development, and the creation of local and international partnerships. The community has been successful in tenders for government and industry projects and has lately been the one of the key consultancies invited to tender for strategic projects in England. In a recent program where teacher innovators were nominated for an e-learning project, ten of the forty accepted participants were MirandaNet Fellows. The partnerships and consultative projects are a major part of what sustains the activity of this community and makes engagement equally worthwhile for members and partners. At the most grassroots level, the funding that the community attracts for action research and pilot programs, is often able to release teachers for short periods of time, compensate them for expenses, and support the school with resources. In some circumstances the technology piloted in the research, for instance laptops, may be retained in the school after the research is completed.
The community management and Scholars work has postioned MirandaNet as an expert advisory body in the field of educational technology. The passion and vision of the Director and now the Directors of the seven International Fellowships have sustained the currency and relevance of each community to both its teacher members and the industry sponsors. Constantly bidding for projects and seeking industry funding is a large task but the activity of MirandaNet could never be sustained without it. It is highly unlikely that an unfunded and wholly volunteer organization could, over fifteen short years, develop the professional profile and credibility that MirandaNet currently holds.
