Group items tagged

In this article, the author gives an introduction to communities of practice. It explains the definition, provides some examples, and gives suggestions for further reading.

This article defines and explains communities of practice. The article also cites the history and significance of communities of practice.

Harold Jarche offers a look at the concept of organizations moving from hierarchies to wirearchies. An argument that communities of practice prove more able to get things done in the real work--a-day world and offer a safe place for members to do highy concentrated work. My college still puts out an org chart every year showing the heirarchy of the organization. But everyone knows who the real people are that you need to connect with to get anything done.

I thought this article provided new insight in how to combine social networks and communities of practice into the workplace. Ideally, the workplace should be collaborative and cooperative, but I think most traditional organizations still operate on a hierarchy structure. I thought the term introduced in the article of "wirearchy was extremely creative.

A whole book on Google Books about Communities of Practice. Chapter 6 highlights teaching with technology!

The idea of managing an organizations body of knowledge. This article talks about how a wiki can aid in a community of practice. Educators are not great about sharing what they know (ironic right). The effort to share knowledge needs to be intentional.

This articles discusses the use of communities of practice in South Africa and Europe. EDTECH543 Communities of Practice

WebQuest takes students through the community to see what different workers/helpers do.

This article discusses the use of communities of practice for university teachers as the demand for research increases. Cites how many professors got into teaching to teach, not to do research, and are either leaving the profession or joining communities of practice to develop research skills and get help to meet the research demands. The bottom of page 972 talks about the challenges for those who are not well trained in research. The bottom of 973 talks about what it takes to change a teaching culture to a research culture. 979 has a useful table on what it looks like for education faculties to build their research capability.

I believe that a lot of individuals enter the university teaching profession thinking they are only going to teach! So many of my professor friends have found that they have to write grants and build in their yearly incomes just to stay employed! Thanks for sharing!

This article discusses the uses of communities of practice in universities, particularly research practice. It calls into question some typical strategies used, such as a portfolio for assessment. It also talks about, as a few articles have now, the progressive nature of communities of practice - that one starts by observing, then participating, then adding to and helping to lead.

This links to a composition by Etienne Wenger, who co-coined the term Community of Practice. Wenger gives an overview with a specific statement that a CoP can be viewed as a social learning system, but is also part of a much broader social learning system, as a result of the network in which it takes place. Wenger goes on to identify the identities that happen as a result of being part of a CoP.

Another article by Etienne Wenger, this appears to be a synopsis and an update to his previously published book. While he does not go into great detail about the topics, he talks about communities of practice as social learning systems and in social learning systems. He also talks about the power of COPs, as well as the relevance to learning today.

This is another article by Etienne Wenger discussing communities of practice. I like it because it works in social learning systems. Social learning systems are similar to connectivism, CoP, and PLNs so I think it fits right in with our topic of study for this module.

You will need to use your BSU information to access this scholarly article. This article discusses how situated learning can evolve into Community of Practice. The author asserts, " The basic argument made by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger is that communities of practice are everywhere and that we are generally involved in a number of them - whether that is at work,school, home, or in our civic and leisure interests." Some CoPs are formally created while others are much more casual. This article is a great summary of Wenger's initial discussion of the topic.

A company discusses how the use of communities of practice resolved an issue they could not. Their community spotted the problem that the company was having and they were able to share a quick solution.

This project has students retelling a story through the use of a social media account. For this project, the story of To Kill a Mockingbird was retold with an Instagram account. The account was made from the perspective of the main character and pictures were added with different captions to explain the story. This allowed the students to use contemporary social media norms in the context of older stories. I like this project because it forces students to highlight the key points of a novel without simply writing them all out. If everyone in the class was using the same platform, they could add each other and comment on each other's posts. This would be a good way for students to see stories from the eyes of their character and add new layers of depth to stories. This is an idea that can be used with many different social media platforms and with many different stories. To Kill a Mockingbird is read by the Freshman in my district and this is a project I could see myself using.

This article explores the classroom as a community of practice and examines the role classroom activities have in students' collaborative learning. The study uses a graduate-level public administration course as the case.

This article discusses the use of a university classroom as a community of practice. The survey showed how leadership played an important role in increasing collaboration among the students. Learning took place during engaging and reflecting class activities. Classroom activities that were designed for social interaction promoted learning. Collaboration occurred through a diverse set of ideas leading to a common goal. Students stated that including activities that encourage students to learn from their peers by connec classroom knowledge with real-world examples creating a community of practice.

A PLN or Professional/Personal Learning Network is a tool that uses digital information like social networks to collect, communicate, collaborate, and create with similarly minded people all over the world at any time. PLNs aren't being widely used because of the challenge to navigate the resources. PLN's do drive collaboration and technology is the tool that fuels it. They are a way to connect with people to share and discuss things the people share interest in. You can start a PLN by getting online and joining blogs, twitter, and message boards about what you are interest in. 

According to this sites definition of a Personal Learning Network, this Diigo group meets the definition ("a tool that uses social media and technology to collect, communicate, collaborate and create with connected colleagues anywhere at any time"). The article continues by stating that each member becomes "a source of information," which leads us back to connectivism, making connections, and learning.

This website defines and discusses PLNs as used by educators specifically. This article talks about how to start or get involved in a PLN, barriers educators face in using PLNs, and benefits of using PLNs.

A chapter from Carter and Nugent at VSU which has a nice phrase, "Personal learning networks are based on the premise that learning occurs through interaction with multiple people and in multiple contexts through virtual communities." Somehow I like that. It goes into more detail and explores the, 'abstract concept that is learning.' A big read which take more time to go through but has some effective descriptions. Moves on to CoP as well. A chapter to return to.

The article begins by addressing what a PLN is where a learner joins an informal, web-based communities and they create a network so they can learn whenever, wherever they would like. This article describes a PLN in the context of adult education and the role of the adult educator. The article describes what a PLN looks like. Last, it gives ways to help adults to learn in this type of culture and implications for this. As many articles do, this pushes for a change in education and change their model of teaching to fit this digital age.

Here is a book chapter that details the theoretical implications of using PNL for Self-Directed Learners. This chapter talks about the different ways that learners learn within COP/PLN and how this learning takes place formally, informally and incidentally.

This article takes us through some of the key components of a community of practice. The importance of clear definitions, meaningful engagement, a helpful identity, lifelong learning, and the desire for success for all are all discussed.

This article examines how communities of practice can enhance research in higher education. They seek to gain greater understanding of what individuals gain from their membership, how CoP enhance personal research, and how CoP can be integrated into higher education.