IONiC: A cyber-enabled community of practice for improving inorganic chemicalEducation

IONiC’s purpose is to enhance the inorganicChemistry classroom and laboratory experience for students and faculty members through the development of a vibrant virtual “community of practice”

Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource

The deep yet narrow training received by most chemistry faculty can make curricular innovation at the undergraduate level difficult. Faculty need current knowledge in a broad range of subdisciplines and effective approaches for teaching outside their “comfort zone.” To support innovations in teaching, the new resource VIPEr (www.ionicviper.org) was created, which combines a digital library of learning objects with social networking tools to form a rich virtual community of practice amongst chemistry faculty worldwide

JCE VIPEr: an inorganic teaching and learning community

To facilitate the effective sharing of teaching tools among faculty and the development of deep subject knowledge in support of teaching, a group of faculty from predominantly undergraduate institutions has established a virtual community of inorganic chemists, IONiC (Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists). Our mission is to enhance the inorganicChemistry classroom and laboratory experience for students and faculty members through the development of a vibrant, collaborative, and open community. VIPEr, the Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource, is a Web site that forms the online home for our community. VIPEr is an interactive Web resource that combines a repository of learning objects (small instructional units such as an in-class activity, an exam problem, or a lab) with social networking tools (such as forums and comment threads) to form a rich virtual community of practice among inorganicChemistry faculty worldwide. Registration and access to all materials are freely available