This edition’s main focus is looking at what it means to be in community on the Web, that is, examining what is community or communion, the structures being used to create Web communities, the types of communites that are emerging, the processes used to facilitate online communities, the relationships being formed within Web communities and the uses of Web communities in education.

Our lead writer, Nancy White of Full Circle and Associates in Seattle, United States of America, first came onto my radar in 2000, when I subscribed to attend an online session titled ‘Animating Online Tutorials’. Imagining I was going to learn about using computer animations with learners, Nancy’s session, conducted in asynchronous forum software, was (surprisingly to me) more about creating, facilitating and animating conversation. Using visual aids to those ends, within discussions forums, was just a small part of it.

Nancy has long been a leader in the field of online community facilitation and online community development, so it is with great anticipation that I recommend you engage with her in an exploration of ‘Blogging and Community: launching a new paradigm for online community?’.

Our second article on blogging by Alison Gotts from Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, is a personal, ‘down to earth’ account of blogging as a teaching practice in an online environment. ‘Blogging at the Chalkface’ is a practical, reflective analysis of using blogs with Diploma of E-learning participants over three years, including impacts, strategies and a checklist for action.

This edition also contains two interviews.

Jenny Ashby founder of the Bendigo Education Apple Users’ Team (BEAUT) in ‘Thinking Beyond Pen and Paper’ considers the place of podcasting in primary schooling and the implications of such teaching strategies for teacher professional development.

Leo Gaggl in ‘Moodling while mobile’ outlines research his company Bright Cookie is conducting in the converging world of m-learning applications, games based interfaces and learning management systems.

Ian Robertson provides a review of the recent publication M-learning: A handbook for educators and trainers by Kukulsa-Hulme and Traxler, 2005.

Please contribute your wisdom through the comments feature under each article. We look forward to ‘communing’ with you.