Community Platform FAQ

Isn't the Internet already taking too much of people's time?
Human beings are wired for community. Many people are hooked to the Internet because they desire to be connected with people who share their passion, be it online gaming, shopping or something else. Therefore there is a need to harness the opportunity provided by the Internet to develop a passion for what is good and wholesome through Serving Communities. The Internet broadband is already revolutionizing the way people communicate and learn; it can also be harnessed to strengthen the community life that is often very weak in our competitive and individualistic society. If we do not harness it to develop a passion for Community Learning and Outreach, people will just simply continue to pursue their own passions online through pseudo communities.

What are Community Hubs?
The Community Platform provides each community with a virtual Community Hub where they can continue to learn, grow and serve together not only face-to-face, but now online as well. Communication and collaborative tools are available to support various learning activities that promote peer teaching, peer mentoring and peer coaching for learning to be transformational. Members could interact with reference to the Curriculum Package within the Community Hub to help them to take an active role in learning. As members develop deeper relationships online without the constraints of time and location, a nurturing environment is created where they could support one another as well as reach out to the community at large. This helps the Discipling Community to be internally strong and externally focused.

What are Personal Hubs?
The Community Platform also serve to archive artifacts of learning of each learner in their learning journey. When learners sign up for a learner's account in vHUBs, a Personal Hub is created to keep track of learner's learning journey that allow each learner to manage his blog entries, design learning activities and create their personal ePortfolio online. The Personal Hub is a personal learning space where learners can also setup their own online communities or look for a community that is in line with their passions that they would to join as a member.

What is the purpose of the Community Exchange?
This is the marketplace supported by the Community Platform containing a wide range of Curriculum packages and Outreach projects that community members can select from to engage in Community Learning and outreach. For those who are creative, they can also create and register their own Curriculum packages in the Community Exchange. The Curriculum packages can be under any of the following subject domains: education, environment, family, health, personal, recreation, relationships, service, spiritual, work. Such Curriculum packages are free for Serving Communities to use if they make use of resources in the public domain. Otherwise, contributors can opt to charge a subscription fee for the use of their Curriculum packages if they develop their own resources.

Social and mission agencies can also create and register Outreach projects for Serving Communities to engage in Community Outreach. Outreach projects can cater to any of the following domain: children & youth, community, education, family, healthcare, marginalized/exploited, business, legal, arts & media. Community Builders and mentors can then select from the pool of available Outreach projects that is in line with the passion and burden of their communities for outreach. As this is a community team effort, it is more substainable over a period of time after which the project can be released back into the pool of available Outreach projects.

What are the characteristics of a true community?
A true community is where there is openness to new members as well as intimacy among the members of the community, where authentic relationships are built upon friendship and accountability, and the presence of healthy conflict enhances care and learning; and where truth meets and transforms lives.

Such an inclusive community will enable all its members to experience care, safety, authenticity, growth and help as they work alongside each other to make an impact in the society.

Will using the Community Platform costs me an arm and a leg?
You can apply to use the Community Platform for free during this trial period. In a few months time, we aim to be a self-sustaining social enterprise. We will provide our services at the lowest cost possible so that as many communities as possible can engage in Community Learning and outreach. One of the ways that we aim to achieve this to by charging based on the utility model so that you only need to paid for what you use when you require it. The Personal Hub will also be provided as a free service for learners to archive the artifacts collected throughout their learning journeys as long as they still actively log on to their accounts.

Please contact us if you have any other question and we will get back to you as soon as possible.