Group items tagged

Denscombe argues that a research paradigm based on communities of practice might be the flexible multi-layered approach needed for mixed methods research. The basis of communities of practice states that learning is a collective activity and knowledge is shared. Mixed methods researchers share practices in a more formal paradigm than that of communities of practice; however, those communities of practice could still create the new paradigm that mixed methods needs. More research is needed to determine this for sure.

This text is similar to others posted in that it highlights the main features to the communities of practice theory. However, this particular text's focus draws to the readers attention the importance of the commitment factor in order to form a successful community of practice. A community of practice can exist in haphazardly fashion, but when the commitment is to the common purpose and shared experience the success will be more vivid. It also alludes to the seven principles outlined by Etienne Wenger which include: shepherd the evolution, encourage internal leadership, weave private and public space, invite multiple level of participation, find rhythm between familiarity and excitement, build momentum, and develop both communal and personal identity. The author states that the communities of practice platform is the perfect place for new and unattempted concepts or ideas to be practiced with nurtured care.

This article discuses the theories behind communities of practices. This resource includes charts and practices of designing effective communities of practice. It provides a clear definition of what these practices mean and provides several crucial characteristics of a community of practice.

According to the author, Wenger, a community of practice is distinguished by three features: domain, community, and practice. The domain is a shared interest. The community is the social part, including discussion and sharing. The practice is developing resources and collaborative tools. Example activities are provided along with social structures that are utilizing communities of practice.

An article on what COPs are, where they are being used, and what they look like.

This Intro to CoP felt like a great start to my search. This article provides not only a simple overview of the CoP concept but also gives the history of of communities of practice. Additionally, the author provides examples of a variety of settings and terminology used to represent communities of practices in a wide range of fields.

In this article, Wenger gives an overview of Communities of Practice including its definition, characteristics, and its application in a variety of fields. This article helped me better understand the basics of Communities of Practice.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

This webpage from the US Department of Education describes how Communities of Practice can improve education.

SUMMARY: The DOE gets behind CoPs as potential answer for achievement gap and underperforming teachers and leaders. Money, time, and resources were thrown at this initiative to see if online CoPs could become the missing link in the instructional shortcomings. Citing examples of success, one is drawn and intrigued to look further at the project as we are now 2 years later.

Finding and researching CoP sites I came across the Department of Education's answer on the Communities of Practice within education. The Department of Education has added the communities of practice within an initiative called the Investing in Innovation along with a series of other initiatives.

In this blog post, Amanda Hovious, librarian and instructional designer, discusses librarians as facilitators of communities of practice. What strikes me about this post is that Hovious identifies various types of communities of practice, including (for example) students in an English Comp class. If a classroom of students can be considered a community of practice, then every educator serves in a role that facilitates these communities.

This post was great! As a teacher of secondary English, I'm always trying to find ways to engage my learners both in and out of the classroom in regards to reading. I need to tap more into our library and our librarian! Awesome ideas I will have to share with her!

I love getting the librarian perspective in this post. I think it was interesting to see how she facilitates the communities of practice. I also liked getting ideas of different groups that constitute a community of practice.

The author creates a great case in favor of digital PLNs. She explains why they are so important and relevant today. The emphasis of the article is on the need to work together, not on best practices, but rather on emerging practices. The author takes the stance that best practices require training with known knowledge for known outcomes. While we should be collaborating and innovating together to tackle the emerging practices.

In this article, the author explains why you should build a PLN, why PLNs are important, how to build a PLN, characteristics of a PLN, and skills needed to build a PLN. We need to stay relevant and connected with our personal development and can do that through PLNs. In the 21st Century, it is essential and key to success to stay informed, updated, and connected. PLNs make it easy to learn at the pace of change.

This article discusses why building personal learning networks is important when information changes constantly. The key to survival is learning how to learn continuously through building Personal Learning Networks. Creating networks where people can collaborate and learn from each other in order to remain on the cutting edge. PLNs allow for continuous learning, exchange of thoughts and ideas, and validate and challenge one's thoughts among a diverse group of individuals. PLNs have to be a sharing process of ideas.

This article discusses communities of practice in a business setting, specifically the Federal Highway Administration. An overview of communities of practice is provided. The article identified these communities as essential for "knowledge management." They can vary in size, purpose, and style. Organizations, such as the FHA, benefit from communities of practice as they encourage problem solving, best practices, communication and professional skills, strategy, and professional development.

Hanna, thank you for sharing this article. I always like to see how things function outside of the educational world. This article points out why Communities of Practice work, especially in the work place. Each person can now focus on best practices and communication. Do you find that you use communities of practice after reading about them?

This article published in the Federal Highway Administration's journal discusses the array of benefits of a CoP. The article talks about how these communities are particularly important as places where knowledge can be stored and passed through the years ensuring information that was perviously held in informal networks is not lost.

This article discusses the challenge to translate evidence-based practice, an important and necessary feature in public health, to communities of practice that disseminates and applies the evidence-based practice.

This research paper looks into success factors for communities of practice. Although the "success factors" portion of the article may fit better with future "how-to" assignments, I found the breakdown of CoPs helpful. Retna covers the basic idea that adults learn from day to day experiences, not just activities specifically designed for learning. Knowledge transfer is explained with emphasis on what it looks like in organizations. The paper goes on the account for CoPs in a multi-national company based out of Singapore. The findings are explained in the three components domain, community, and practice. The key success factors are identified as leadership, culture, and individual motivation to learn. 

First thing that caught my attention was, "An employee picks up the most relevant know-how in an organisation from day-to-day activities and by watching and talking with other employees." This absolutely defines what a community of practice is. Professional development is a great way to learn, but many of us learn best by seeing a theory, action, or idea in practice. Communities of practice connect people who have similar interests, providing them with a wide range of resources to draw upon. Motivation is also a major part to making a CoP a success. Once a member, one must stay active. Having a responsible leader helps to maintain motivation and organization of the community. I especially appreciated the emphasis on informal CoP. Members are there because they want to better themselves and periodically the leader may provide a reward however I believe knowledge is reward enough. Great paper!

I like how this article talks about knowledge is best understood as a "habitus". This habitus is everything that a person does that helps them acquire knowledge. This includes their activities and life experiences.

STEM faculty members who are working in educational research are participating in communities of practice. The communities of practice were used to increase capacity, engagement, and collaboration amongst the members. Communities of practice can be differentiated depending on the needs to the members participating in the learning community. A vital part in communities of practice is that it's members need to share a common goal or vision and work collaboratively to contribute to the learning community.

I am very pleased with this video. It's an interview with Etienne Wenger and he explains, in his own terms, his research and definition of the Community of Practice.

I also liked the explanation about how members from a Communities of Practice are engaged in a similar practice but they may do it in different settings. They don´t need to do it together. The learning contract between the members is the key of success.

Dr. Wenger talks about his Community of Practice. This discussion gives us an outline of how skills be shared through a CoP. According to Dr. Wenger, the CoP creates an on-going network of resources to communicate problems and discuss solutions. The learning and knowledge sharing can even create knowledge creation as solutions are discussed.

This is a decent video of a discussion between two professionals who discuss CoPs.  It defines a CoP and gives examples of what might happen in a CoP.  It is informative and helped me understand the difference between CoPs and PLNs.  

This video contains an interview with Dr. Etienne Wenger in which he discusses communities of practice. Wenger describes his background and how communities of practice create partnerships in learning. Wenger explains that a community of practice provides a group of people one can turn to during a challenge, giving him/her a learning partnership to go to for assistance or ideas.

Meyerhoff, M. (2002). 21 Communities of Practice. This is another article that researches the marriage between social and linguistic definitions used in communities of practice. What I enjoyed about this excerpt was when the author went beyond the foundation communities of practice has, and explored distinguishing frameworks on which linguistic and social understandings were built. I also enjoyed that a good portion of this writing included the research that went on in the developmental stages of defining community of practice. This allowed me to draw strong correlations within my own educational arena and within the development of adolescents. All the research made sense to me as I read it; I just wish I knew the conclusion to the research, such as how it can affect those who want to belong to a less than morally ideal community of practice. How do I combat the need for certain students to want to feel part of a community of practice I know will not lead them to professional success.

Smith, M. K. (2003) 'Communities of practice', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm . In this article, author, mike smith explains the beginning concepts that Jean Lave and Entienne Wenger developed for communities of practice. What I liked most about this article is it was the first reading I had that took communities of practice and put a learning centered spin on the theory. "Suppose learning is social and comes largely from our experience of participating in daily life. Their model of situated learning proposed that learning involves a process of engagement in a community of practice" (Smith, 2003). Mr. Smith defines and reiterates what Lave and Wenger argued, structure communities of practice. I also appreciated the time Mr. Smith took note the weaknesses that could be potential downfalls within their own research, such as "romanticizing communities of practice" as Mr. Smith puts it. "In their eagerness to debunk testing, formal education and formal accreditation, they do not analyze how their omission [of a range of questions and issues] affects power relations, access, public knowledge and public accountability" (Tennant 1997:79). He goes on to discuss organizational development and follows up with a conclusion that included the below phrase I really enjoyed. "Learning is in the relationships between people."(Smith, 2003) If you think about the history textbook version of what the authors and historians assumed thanksgiving was like and the weeks and days leading up to the day of thanks, you can see a great example of learning as a relationship between people.