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Vol: 50(64) No: 2 / June 2005         Networked Collaborative Learning: Building And Managing A Virtual Educational Community Maria Ranieri University of Florence, P. S. Marco, 4 - 50121 Firenze, Italy, web: http://www3.unifi.it/ Keywords: distributed networked educational learning communities, lifelong learning, continuing professional development, collaborative learning, community of practices. Abstract Networked collaborative learning is a crucial issue which deserve careful scientific investigation. Virtual communities such as Open Source Communities make to rise new “collective intelligent actors” (Gibbons, Levy) and give new opportunities for creating social knowledge. An interesting area for studying network shared knowledge, is the one of teachers lifelong education; this is due to the fact that educators are generally aware of the benefits of collaborating and sharing different view-points. In this article it is presented the process by which it is possible to create an educational community focused on collaboration and social construction of knowledge. By analyzing the design and management of a post-graduate distributed networked learning course, this work shows how a virtual educational community can be grounded on “community of practices” and project-based collaborative approach inside a virtual community. The aim is twofold: on one hand highlighting critical issues for networked shared knowledge spaces and on the other to define guidelines for setting up and managing collaborative learning environments for educators lifelong training. References [1] Archer, W. Garrison, D. Randy Anderson Terry and Rourke Liam, “A Framework for Analyzing Critical Thinking”, in Computer Conferences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. [2] Banks, S., Goodyear, P., Hodgson, V., and D. McConnell, “A Research based conference on e-learning” in Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Sheffield, pp. 685, 2000 [3] Davis, M. Denning., K. “Online learning: frontiers in the creation of learning communities.” in Proceedings of the Conference Networked Learning 2000, University of Sheffield, 2000. [4] McConnell, D. “The Experience of Networked Collaborative Assessment”. Studies in Continuing Education, v. 24(1), pp. 73-92, 2002.