PCF3 // In 2003 a group of students within the School of Social Sciences at Southern Cross University in northern New South Wales who normally take classes on the main campus in face-to-face mode elected to study together online. // This paper represents an attempt to capture their total student experience as well as explore why the online students elected to study in virtual groups as opposed to studying through the more conventional modes.. Results were interpreted from the perspective of a community of practice where the basis for belonging was a shared purpose not shared beliefs or shared values.