In 1985, director John Hughes released The Breakfast Club, one of his many teen angst films. The plot is simple: five very different students (an athlete, a brain, a princess, a basket case, and a criminal) are thrown together for Saturday detention. Unable to leave the school library, the five learn to look past their social labels and see one another as real people, as peers. For many people in the mid-1980s (myself included), the movie struck a chord. It captured the social structure of student communities with an eerie exactness.

All too often, social classification determines not only whether students are accepted by their peers, but also how much authority is given to what they say. Today, however, student communities are changing, and things might be getting easier. No longer are classes relegated to buildings of bricks and mortar. Using technologies such as the Internet and electronic mail, many classes have gone online. And, as Reddick and King (1996) state, “When you use the Internet, you enter a worldwide community.” No longer are students seeing the athlete in his team jacket or the brain with her pocket protector. In an online class, students see one another as “JCACLARK,” “SLFPX,” or “THEMAN.” The facelessness of an online classroom isn't, as many critics claim, a deterrent to classroom community. It not only facilitates students developing a community more quickly than in a traditional classroom situation, but those communities are also stronger. And in some cases, the community established extends beyond the students themselves.

I recently took a new job after working at Utah State University for four years. While a graduate instructor and lecturer there, I spent three years teaching and developing online courses for the English department. In 1995, the English department, along with the English departments of two other institutions in the state of Utah, had received a $300,000 HETI (Higher Education Technology Initiative) grant to see if it was possible to take a first-year undergraduate English composition class online. At the time, I was a graduate student preparing to enter the thesis phase of my program, and I was selected to teach the first course funded by the grant.

In my traditional courses I worked hard to establish a community of learners, and students indicated that they enjoyed my classes. But as I prepared to teach online, I wondered what was going to happen to classroom interaction. What was going to happen to my classroom community? And, more important, how was I going to get a diverse group of students to interact when they couldn't even see one another?

What happened far exceeded any expectation I could have had. I found that not only did students interact well online, but the facelessness of the environment actually added to the interaction. The majority of the students interacted with and about the course content, but the interactions outside of that classroom content were particularly interesting to me. Students still formed relationships with others in the class, and I found that those who would normally avoid interacting in a traditional course actually interacted more in an online environment.

Take, for example, the relationship between Wenonah and Matt, two students in my first online classroom. Wenonah was just like the majority of my other students, with one major difference -- she is deaf. In a traditional classroom, she would have had a lot of attention drawn to her. She would have sat in the front row, with an interpreter signing the entire lecture to her. Her deafness would have automatically built a barrier at some level between her and the other students. Matt, on the other hand, was the type of student who was always in control. He is a Marine, and he is very imposing physically: tall and broad. Matt never hesitated to voice his opinion. If these two had been classmates in a traditional classroom, chances are they wouldn't have interacted much. The online classroom, however, gave them a chance to develop a unique relationship.

In one conversation (not related to any of our classroom curriculum), Wenonah responded to a comment from Matt by asking if it was wrong for a girl to ask a guy out. Matt followed up by asking the best way for a guy to ask out a girl. Wenonah replied,

> Wanna go out sometimes? sounds so vague... I think if you just asked someone
> “hey, would you like to go for a hike, or we can just go for some ice cream?” that
> would be fine, because you're giving the girl an idea of what you'd be doing, but
> there's still an option for her if say, she hates bowling, and you suggest bowling,
> she can say, oh, a ride in your car sounds fun, if she really doesnt want to bowl,
> and you gave her two options.
> Just ask. Dont be chicken. You're not a wimp. ;)

In this conversation, Matt, the Marine, takes on the learner's role. Wenonah, the deaf student, acted as the instructor. But Matt was not always the learner. On the subject of cars, he proved himself an expert authority. This started when he posted a message explaining why he missed the in-class essay exam:

> I suppose since we are all one big happy family again and not in groups that I
> should apologize to everyone for my absense from the in class essays. I was in
> Salt Lake on business Monday morning and my car decided to die in the middle
> of an intersection so after I pushed it to a gas station I walked over to a Toyota
> dealership and bought a new MR2 and vowed I will never push another vehicle
> again for the rest of my life or until I see some unlucky motorist in the same
> situation, whichever comes first. If any of you ever want to buy a mitsubishi
> make sure it has a bumper to bumper warranty for as long as you own your car.

To that, Wenonah replied,

> We missed you for the in-class essay -- Sorry about your Mitsubishi dying on
> you.... Does your new MR2 have a bumper to bumper warranty for as long as
> you own the car??...

> Matt -- I hope your plight wasn't as dramatic as Anna's! But I do hope
> you/someone like you comes along if EVER I should happen to be stranded in an
> intersection with an ornery car (sure hope I dont get a stupid car like that tho!!)
> Anyway, welcome back to safe Logan. Gonna give us all rides in your new
> MR2?? grin.

This exchange set off the longest conversation in our class: thirty-seven messages were posted over the next two weeks. Actually, 8 of our 14 students responded in this thread -- more than half! If this had occurred in my traditional classroom, I would have considered it a definite success. How many times in a traditional learning situation would a deaf girl ask a big Marine about cars, or call him a wimp because he had reservations about asking someone out on a date? It wouldn't happen. But the facelessness of the online classroom allowed the two to communicate freely and without prejudice.

Matt and Wenonah aren't the only examples of the Breakfast Club barriers breaking down in the online classroom. Another section of the online composition course produced the following exchange between Becky, a Breakfast Club princess, and Samuel, a Malaysian student. It was late in November, nearing the Thanksgiving holiday, and Samuel, missing his home, was trying to learn about our customs. He wrote,

> I wish everybody have a good holidays. You people will go home and have your
> thanksgiving dinner. But for me, an international student, I can't go home. But
> thanks God I am invited to attend a dinner with my church's friends. Is anyone
> know how to cook turkey? I like to learn if some one can teach me. You can
> teach me through the mail.

Of interest here is that Samuel had enough faith in the electronic community of students that he felt confident not only that someone would respond to what he asked, but that his classmates would communicate with him well enough that he would be able to learn. And indeed, Becky responded,

> I just read your entry on turkey cooking. I just love a good turkey dinner!! When
> I was in England last Thanksgiving, I had to cook three turkeys with stuffing and
> everything for this big party we had. The best thing to do is make sure the turkey
> is totally defrosted. Then....

Becky went on to explain how to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey. Again, it's not necessarily what is being said in these messages that is so important, it's the fact that these students are interacting at all.

Perhaps the best example of community I can show centered around one particular student. Jeremy is a naturally amicable person. He smiles a lot, and he is very easy to talk to. If you had to put him into a Breakfast Club category, he would probably be classified as a brain. He came into the online classroom excited to learn not only more about writing, but also about the new technologies being used. He had a way of treating others in the class that made them feel comfortable. He particularly connected with Megan, a Chinese student. A great example of Jeremy's interaction was his response to a message she posted detailing how she had learned a lot of English idioms by reading other messages from class members. She stated she had “started to think in English which is essential to speak and write in English.” Jeremy responded,

> OH NO MEGAN, YOU HAVE STARTED TO THINK IN ENGLISH!!! NOW
> YOUR IN TROUBLE. I HAVE A HARD TIME THINKING IN ENGLISH AND I
> HAVE LIVED IN THE UNITED STATES ALL MY LIFE.
> I am really glad you are learning so much. You and I have something in common, I
> have learned so much since class started. By-the-way, have we ever met in person?

Here Jeremy is the consummate politician. Uppercase letters in electronic communicationgenerally indicate shouting, and this response (though Jeremy is certainly not shouting at Megan) shows Jeremey's willingness to tease with a classmate despite the facelessness of the environment. And finally, by asking Megan if they had ever met in person, he shows a personal interest in getting to know her.

The thing that most established Jeremy's status in the community was the sheer volume of his writing. Of the more than 1700 messages posted by the class, 326 were from Jeremy. The only student to come even close to him posted 287 times. Students heard roughly 5.5 times more often from Jeremy than they did from me. In his messages, Jeremy showed the same concern and interest in other class members as he had in Megan, and he endeared himself to everyone by doing so. The effect he had on the classroom community is best illustrated by the exchange generated when he posted a message asking everyone to introduce him- or herself to his wife. The message did not seem to be anything special, but the way the other students responded was telling.

Megan began her response, “Well, Jeremy, I'm just wondering what to write, you gave me a[n] assignment....” Her word choice here reflects the degree of authority she gave to Jeremy. To her, Jeremy's message was not a request, it was an assignment. She then went on to do what Jeremy had asked (as did about half the class), introducing herself to Jeremy's wife thoroughly and in detail. This shows the value she placed on what Jeremy had to say, his effect on the community.

It is also interesting to note that replies to his request were addressed directly to Teresa, his wife. In other words, Jeremy extended the community beyond our classroom. I cannot think of any classroom community in which the class members (much less an instructor) allowed an outsider to participate the way Teresa did. In a traditional course, I might not be upset if the spouse of one of my students visited, but I certainly would not like it if that visitor interjected with such frequency into our classroom conversations. In this particular classroom situation, Teresa essentially became an unofficial member of our class. She even began to post messages. As a matter of fact, she participated in our last assignment, collaborating with Jeremy on an essay in which students were asked to describe what they liked best about the course.

The fact that Jeremy's wife was known to the class and had a face attached to her name (Jeremy posted a picture of them) gave her status as well. She was able to enter the community of writers and voice an opinion -- and that, in turn, further bolstered Jeremy's status. Teresa wrote, “Jeremy has once again bribed me into writing to you all.” Jeremy's authority in the course even extended beyond the borders of our online environment: he not only had the other students participating and answering his questions, but he was also able to influence people outside the class to participate. I think, however, the crowning jewel for this class and perhaps the best example of Jeremy's influence was his organizing an end-of-term party:

> HEY EVERYONE!! I HAVE AN IDEA!! IF YOU WANT TO COME OVER
> TO MY HOUSE ON MONDAY NIGHT YOUR WELCOME!!... WE CAN
> WATCH A MOVIE AND HAVE A LITTLE PARTY IF YOU WANT!!
> TERESA WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE VERY TIRED, SO LETS SAY
> 6:30!! IF YOU ALL WANT TO COME, COME!!! BRING YOUR FAVORITE
> BAG OF CHIPS OR YOUR FAVORITE TREAT AND/OR POP!! IF YOU
> WANT TO COME YOU CAN LET ME KNOW ON MY E-MAIL!!
> YOUR ALL INVITED!!!!!!
> YOU CAN ALL MEET TERESA!!

From what I gathered later by chatting with students in the lab, only a few showed up. But the mere fact that one of the students actually put together a party in order to meet his classmates -- and that some of them went to his house to meet him, his wife, and others in the class -- illustrates the extent of Jeremy's authority. (Two students even e-mail him with apologies for being unable to attend.) Yes, he had students responding to what he asked. Yes, he got people from outside the class to participate in something they did not need to participate in. But he also overcame the facelessness of the class, arranged a party, and had his classmates visit him at his home.

In a paper posted on the first author's Web site, Wilson and Ryder define a community as existing when people “interact with each other and stay together long enough to form a set of habits and conventions, and...come to depend upon each other for the accomplishment of certain ends.” Any teacher knows that the sense of community among students greatly affects the success of a classroom situation. We struggle to ensure that all our students have an equal voice and equal opportunity to participate. Cohen (1992) argues that the success of heterogeneous small-group learning depends on how effectively students interact. If students feel comfortable in a learning situation they are more likely to become involved in it. The key is finding a way to help them, as the Breakfast Club did, look past social labels and develop a community conducive to learning and participation.

But how? We aren't able to control how our students think about their peers. We can't break down all social barriers and eradicate prejudice. And some would say that when you add the facelessness of the online classroom, there are simply too many obstacles to creating a community. “For many, real community means a difficult, never-resolved struggle. It's a sharing that cannot be virtual because its reality arises from the public places that people share -- not the artificial lots you choose but the spaces that fate allots, complete with local weather and a mixed bag of family, neighbors, and neighborhoods. For many, the As-if community lacks the rough interdependence of life shared” (Heim, 1995; online document).

In a well-designed classroom, the community will emerge. Condon and Butler (1997) argue that “well-functioning communities depend...on a variety of conditions, common assumptions, and rules, all of which lead members and prospective members to see the benefits of belonging to the group.” I believe that just as in a traditional classroom, if students in an online classroom know what to expect, if the conditions and rules are given to them, they will feel comfortable in the learning environment.

I must acknowledge here that my assertions are based on my own experience of teaching in online classrooms designed in a particular way, where interaction occurs primarily through e-mail and discussion groups. Anderson, Benjamin, Busiel, and Paredes-Holt (1996) explain, however, that a class news group will almost certainly assume different roles depending upon the nature of the course, the teaching style of the instructor, and the structure of the syllabus. They continue by stressing the need for students to be prepared for the new classroom environment. “Without direction students unfamiliar with newsgroups simply ignore the class group and most of the conversation will be carried on by only a few eager participants.... Since many students will choose not to participate in the group if instructors make postings optional, requiring students to send messages to the class group may be necessary.” In short, if activities are designed well and students are prepared to participate, they will participate. And that participation breeds community in the online classroom, a place where students look past (or simply ignore, since they literally don't see their classmates) social barriers and view their peers in light of their ideas, not their physical appearance. Experience shows that this type of community is not only possible, but quite common.

In a traditional classroom, students will generally get to know three or four others fairly well. This bond is often established among groups that sit close together. They chat before, after, and during class. They talk about their weekends, their other classes, and other events in their lives. In an online classroom, these discussions generally aren't limited to just a few students. If one student posts a message to another about his or her weekend, not only will the intended recipient be able to read it, but so will everyone in the class. This means that the Breakfast Club brain is able to listen to the conversation between the princess and the athlete, just as if he were sitting at the desk next to them. The facelessness of an online classroom allows for this type of community to be established.

But where do we go from here? If we agree that online learning environments can actually foster community, then it is important to determine what questions must be next be asked and answered. Today there are many tools available to enhance interaction and community in the online environment. But when should they be used? What types of learning outcomes are best addressed in an asynchronous environment (through e-mail and message boards, for example)? When should synchronous “live chat” be used? The particular tools themselves don't need to be studied, but rather their implementation and impact on the learning environment.

When I teach online, I have two goals: make sure the students learn and understand the content, and develop a student learning community. Students come to the course expecting to learn content, but when a classroom (whether online or traditional) has a rich community of learners, they get so much more.

We all know members of the Breakfast Club. They sit in our classrooms day after day, interacting narrowly and as little as possible, biding their time until class is over. In the movie, the students are locked in the school library and spend their time breaking down social barriers. But in the online environment, students don't judge each other by how they look. They don't see the criminal with his long hair and chains, the basket case sitting in the back of the room talking to herself, or the princess dressed in the latest fashion. Instead, students are judged by what they think and say. In the movie, the students are required by their principal to write an essay about who they are. When the day is over, they each have a different perspective than they did when they first arrived at detention. And the lesson they learned is the same as that learned by most students in the online environment. We're all the same.

Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is that we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms and in the most convenient definitions.... But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain. And an athlete. And a basket case. A princess. And a criminal. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club.

Anderson, D., Benjamin, B., Busiel, C., & Paredes-Holt, B. (1996). Teaching on-line: Internet research, conversation and composition. New York: HarperCollins.
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The breakfast club [film]. (1985). Producers G. Friesen & R. Meyer; director J. Hughes. Artisan Studios.

Cohen, E. (1992). Restructuring the classroom: Conditions for productive small groups. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
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Condon, W., & Butler, W. (1997). Writing the information superhighway. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
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Heim, M. (1995, January). The nerd in the noosphere. Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, 2(1). Available: http://sunsite.unc.edu/cmc/mag/1995/jan/heim.html.
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Reddick, R., & King, E. (1996). The online student: Making the grade on the Internet. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in these related postings at the Reading Online site:

• Literacy and Cyberculture, an article by Angela Dudfield
• Instructional Applications of Internet Technology: Teacher Training in the Language and Literacy MOO, an article by Richard D. McCallum, Owen G. McGrath, and Jeffrey B. Rusch in the Electronic Classroom
• Electronic Literacy in School and Home: A Look into the Future, a contribution to International Perspectives by Keith Topping

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