The Ideal Digital Learning Community

There are a number of good digital learning communities already in existence.  None of them are ideal.  

• The ideal digital learning community must offer high quality instruction covering the same subject through different media (print, audio, video, lab simulations, demonstrations, etc.)  A number of sites already have this.
• The ideal digital learning community should be organized with links to prerequisites subjects and future learning opportunities.  The former is particularly important.  I think that many students try digital learning on a subject they find interesting, but realize that the subject is currently beyond their ability.  They then give up because there is no convenient way for them to go back and fill in knowledge gaps.
• The ideal digital learning community must be free and open access.
• The ideal digital learning community must provide the opportunity for teachers and students to interactive live.  Hangouts and chatboards are not enough.  There must be real, face to face, interaction like a classroom.  This can be done with videochat, but a way to instantly video chat with several people at once in real time is needed to make online learning as fruitful as it can be.  This will require faster internet connections, a larger digital learning community, and willing participants for discussions.