An Introduction to e-Learning Communities Kostas Liotsios, Stavros Demetriadis, Ioannis A. Tsoukalas Department of Informatics, Aristotle University 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece Abstract. This article provides an overview of online Leaning Commu- nities (or E-Learning Communities) with an emphasis on Dynamic Learning Communities. Members of a Learning Community can be stu- dents, teachers, tutors, practitioners and experts who have a common interest in a specific field of knowledge and area of learning, with no geographical and physical limitations. After an analysis of the concept and structure of an E-Learning Community we explore Dynamic Learn- ing Communities and provide information regarding the rationale for their development and use, the services and tools that they provide and their design and management. Moreover we comment on the problem that is most commonly encountered in a Dynamic Learning Commu- nity, namely how to capture members’ interest and induce their active participation in the community. We conclude this article by proposing some practical and technical solutions to the above issues. 1 Introduction According to [12] “A virtual community is first of all a social entity. It is a number of people who relate to one another by the use of a specific technology. In a traditional society we often see communities as something evoked by geographic closeness (vil- lage, neighborhood, town, etc.) or organizational belonging (schools, churches, sports, hobbies, etc.)”. Klang and Olsson in [12] speak about the role of “technol- ogy”, today, a virtual community using technology constitute an online virtual com- munity. A definition offered in [16] confirms our view on this point: “Virtual com- munities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace”. In the field of education, virtual communities help create learning communities. Learning communities are dedicated to a process of learning, through online courses and distance learning programs, with a study workplace that provides knowledge (through e-books, links etc). A Learning Community consists of users and tries to cover their common needs, interests and goals, in specified areas of informing- learning-education [8], but above all it is a community whose members share a con- sensual goal to support each other in learning. Members of a learning community can be students, teachers, tutors, practitioners and experts who have a common interest in