More people-smartness

Looking at how interpersonal relationships can be nurtured, I have found more ideas. What follows are are few which are for blogs, but illustrate other tools which are available online.
I have just managed to download a widget (a virtual gadget which can be placed on ones website, blog or screentop). This enables people to chat while viewing the blog. This can be pre-arranged (which probably works the best) or can happen incidentally if it is a blog which is often viewed by a large number of people.

The ingenious thing about this is that an educator can pose a task, ask a question, start a discussion, etc, and the readers can actually communicate realtime, working together in fulfillment of the task.
So, take a moment to chat with a friendly co-viewer or post a comment saying how you would use a chat tool on your blog!

People smart

Interpersonal intelligence can play an important part in online teaching. For one to one teaching a sense of trust will help both parties to be honest and make the learning a pleasurable experience. Not only this, but if learning should occure through communication with each other, then it is essential to instill this feeling of trust in order to facilitate communication without the benefit of eye to eye contact. A f2f meet would, of course, be ideal beforehand; however, this isn't always possible.

How can people smartness be encouraged online? This is actually quite easy. One can learn from the kids these days, who are MSN and chat-proficient. And there are other tools which can be used for real-time communication. Skype and other voice chat tools allow the receiving party to here intonation and reasonably predict the feelings the other is experiencing - at least while that person is talking. Through use of video chats you can even see each other, making a communicative experience even more personal.

Groups can also bond through simple group devices such as yahoo. In this case the moderator has an important job, ie encouragement of others and frequent input and comment thereof.
Learning with computers is an excellent example of a bonding group of people, most of whom have never met each other outside the group. And yet there is not just an interest of topic, but a true personal interest for the other members.

My experience in this group has further kindled my interest for the possibilities of learning online, and the level of people smartness has been a major factor in keeping people active and interested!