Abstract
Learning can be profoundly and personally transformative when it occurs within a community. Creating knowledge in learning communities can facilitate innovative solutions to increasingly complex problems in today’s knowledge society. Designing the right environment to create online communities is a complex task that has implications for designers, facilitators and participants. The aim is to create a community that welcomes and engages in constructive controversy, prompting learners to view their practice in an entirely new way. Three significant environmental factors that will enable the creation of a supportive community in which transformative learning can occur include social presence, authentic learning and interdependency. These are intricately linked and take on different levels of importance in different phases of learning and community development. Getting the balance right and being aware of when to emphasise a particular environmental factor is necessary to establish a community that can effectively engage in constructive controversy leading to personal transformation.
