Exploring the Fully Online Learning Community Model: Comparing Digital Technology Competence and Observed Performance on PBL Tasks

The Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) model is intended to operate within a co-created Digital Space to (a) reduce transactional distance, and (b) incorporate newcomers into an established learning community. An operationalized version of the General Technology Competency and Use (GTCU) framework was used with a convenience sample of Ontario Tech University students to determine readiness to work in the Digital Space. Initial findings confirm the results of an earlier study, which found positive correlations between self-reported scores and overall performance quality at the high and low ends of the continuum. We suspect that while the GTCU aids in the identification of a threshold-based approach to identifying readiness to work in the Digital Space, the instrument is insufficiently granular to identify a precise readiness point. This led the team to continue to develop a more sophisticated version of the GTCU, the current Digital Competency Profiler (DCP), and its companion, the Fully Online Learning Community Survey (FOLCS).