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By Dr. Etienne Wenger tthis is a stong definition oa community of practice with some thought given to implementation.

I especially liked how the CoP was referred to as a joint enterprise that is continually being renegotiated. Isn't that what learning is supposed to be all about? The table listing the relationships between CoP and businesses was interesting. The bootleg relationship does not surprise me at all. This one frustrates me greatly since it only applies to a select group of people who keep many things to themselves. Just think if they were to share some of their knowledge what an impact it could have on the organization. It was good to see the seven different styles of leadership defined, however I believe a good leader would exhibit a bit of each one of these characteristics. Being a leader is not a simple task but it is important to be well rounded.

I like the graphic organizers that are included with the information on communities of practice. The first is almost like a life cycle of a community of practice. Nothing that I read in my research acknowledged that a community of practice may have a timeline on it, so even though it may be implied, it was nice to actually see it in print. The second, the table, defined certain types of categories that CoPs may fit into. I was drawn to the third column, the challenges of each group, because it shows that working in a CoP and sharing beyond the community itself may not always be free of issues. Thanks for sharing this resource!

This resource is a personal account of one teacher's usage of personal learning networks that supports the theory and nature of doing so as well as helps to create a working definition of a PLN for the reader. Additionally, this resource features how the educator used social networking to engage in personal learning networks as well as an example of overcoming the objections of skeptics to such practices.

KM stands for knowledge management. This article talks about CoPs in terms of the need to do away with canonical practice because the rules and procedures inhibit problem solving abilities. There is something I cannot identify that annoys me with this article. I do like the " Empowerment is key to learning" statement.

This article looks at Communities of practice and the implications to knowledge management. Communities of practice is a term originally developed by Lave and Wenger (1991). It describes a learning theory with a strong relationship to the social construction of knowledge. http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/communities-of-practice.html

"Communities of practice is a term originally developed by Lave and Wenger (1991)." A community of practice is a group with common goals and interests. It is important to note that they are not a team. The goal is not to acquire specific information but to be part of a group to share information. It is unstructured dialog which leads to problem-solving and innovation.

This is a short little slide share on the basics of connectivism learning theory as proposed by George Siemens. It's very basic and straight forward. I like the metaphor used for learning. I also like the images of the different social networks on the first slide.

A slide show production on connectivism, including definitions and comparisons/contrasts with constructivism.

This 2011, Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction, by Etienne Wenger distills earlier writings and discussions about communities of practice and outlines some characteristics and guidelines. Wegner's definition, "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly." There are 3 characteristics: the domain of shared interest, the community shares information, activities and relationships and the practice of practioners who share resources, experiences, stories, tools and problem solving. Communities of practice can be for problem solving, information requests, experience seeking, reusing assets, coordination and synergy, documentation projects, visits and mapping knowledge. They can be small or vast, online or face to face. The theory of communities of practice has spilled over into organizations, businesses, government, education, associations, social sectors, international development and the web.

I chose to share this link for two reasons: 1) It describes communities of practice, ways to support CoPs through networking, social learning, and online identities. 2) It's presented via a wiki, which is a platform that embodies the spirit of SNL, CoPs and PLNs.

I found this site to be very informative in a brief way! I find sites such as this a nice way to get started on something...find out enough so you know where to go next!

I appreciate the comment in this wiki about communities of practice developing a common store of knowledge. When I first heard the term, communities of practice, a few years ago, I thought they were simply referring to a group of people with something in common, not necessarily a group with a common purpose or goal toward which they are actively working.

Siemens is known for his theory of Connectivism. In his TedTalk, he opens with his frustration in the solutions for today's problems in education. George shares his limited view and connectedness when growing up in Mexico. He later states "our focus in education should be to collapse tot he point of a connection." George is worried about society's views of raising and teaching to the corporate setting, rather than being vital contributors to society, all in a connected way.

In this article Mark McBride, a librarian at Buffalo State College, discusses the recent changes that he made to his information literacy course. He talks about how he incorporated constructivist principles and problem-based learning activities into his course structure. In the process of making these changes, however, he discovered that he is really incorporating connectivism into his classroom. He makes the case that librarians should begin to adopt connectivist principles when teaching information literacy concepts. Additionally, he acknowledges that if librarians are going to move in the direction of the connectivist theory, the Association of College and Research Libraries must take a look at its information literacy standards and update them to acknowledge the ways in which learners can share and create information through the use of social media.