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Etienne Wenger discusses elements of Communities of Practice, with a focus on the private sector. Though the discussion is pertinent to all uses of CoP. Noted as a crucial component is how the community is managed by facilitators, for that is who is ultimately responsible for caring for the domain of information. And who must know what the group needs in order to prosper. Where the information is being shared by peers to address questions and challenges in common. While interactions among community members include cultural and structural components, there is space for each participant to realize their identity through connections and engagement

This journal article reviews four foundational articles about Communities of Practice. It explains and explores differences in understanding of this relatively new concept. You may need to sign in to this article with your Boise ID to access the full-text.

essay giving a number of examples of communities of practice for a freshman audience

This is an excerpt from the book by Etienne Wenger, Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. In it, Wenger details that communities of practice are found everywhere in our lives, from a very young age (daycare!) on up. For many reasons, modern societies are concerned that valid learning takes place and Wendger hopes to contribute. He points out that "a social theory of learning is...not exclusively an academic enterprise." It is all around us. Wenger is not discounting the many other theories of learning that have been developed in the past. His theory is in addition to these.

Andrea, thank you for finding this. I thought I'd found everything available on the internet for Wenger. I had been vacillating back and forth about purchasing "Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning, and identity." Having now read this chapter, I think I'll have to go ahead and buy the book. I love Wenger's writing, especially his straightforward prose used to support his argument for the Communities of Practice theory. Here's a fine example: "What if we assumed that learning is as much a part of our human nature as eating or sleeping, that it is both life-sustaining and inevitable, and that - given a chance - we are quite good at it? And what if, in addition, we assumed that learning is, in its essence, a fundamentally social phenomenon, reflecting our own deeply social nature as human beings capable of knowing?" That's very nice.

This scholarly paper focuses on COP's and the use of web 2.0 applications. Its emphasis is that web 2.0 applications improve communication and thus build community.

Stevens, V. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The rise and slide of the year's most viral microblogging platform. TESL-EJ: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 12(1). This article did not focus just on Connectivism or just on communities of practice but provided a clear example of both after my previous readings. If you think about the basic fundamental of twitter it would be easy to discount at first whether or not it would be successful. I'm sure along the way some may have even felt that it was a fad destined to fail or fade. Who would want to be limited to only one hundred and fifty characters to get out a complete thought and why would anyone be interested. Well right now according to this article twitter is the most popular microblogging tool that has existed. I found it interesting if you have read my previous articles especially about linguistics in communities of practice that twitter type has made its way into our everyday vernacular, such as saying hash tag in actual dictation. Interesting that a change in our speech and actions are indicators of belonging to a certain community of practice, much like how some groups say 'lol' instead of actually laughing out loud. This article draws these dots that are easily linked together to show Connectivism. The author spends time explaining when he "got" twitter, or when it dawned on him this is an excellent tool. From there he uses some great analogies to describe the connected world twitter produces for millions of users a day. My favorite quote from his article "To 'get' twitter, you have to have your finger on the pulse of what is pumping lifeblood through the Internet, and that is the people on it and how they come together (Connectivism), connect, and relate to one another (communities of practice) in virtual learning networks". (Stevens,2008)

I didn't realize Twitter had been around as long as it has - I also didn't know it's origins. Lost most of the social media sites it's changed a lot since the beginning!

Great post and I was cracking up at "The Twitter Curve" image. It gave a good explanation to me about what makes Twitter so powerful and its benefits but am also glad it touched on things to be leery of.

Communities of practice give teachers the opportunity to interact, communicate, gain knowledge and collaborate in an environment of English Language Learners (ELL). Teacher not only have a community of practice with fellow teachers, but also in the classroom.

This article discusses how communities of practice can help organizations to improve their performance. They can do this by their members sharing and learning together. They draw their conclusions from looking at seven organizations that have created and used communities of practice.

I have to confess--I found this difficult to read. It just did not hold my attention. But I did like the chart where they showed the different organizations and how they have used their communities of practice. It was well laid out and easy to understand!

Specifically discussing how online communities are essential for professional development and growth in education, this report explores the factors of EDTECH that help enrich learning. The ecosystems in times of budget shortfalls provide creative means for educators to connect and stay connected to colleagues. Establishing or joining an existing community of practice is critical for educators looking to broaden their horizons. The issue is getting everyone on board and implement communities of practice within professional development workshops at schools.

This brief article, while focused primarily on online communities of practice in healthcare, has clear implications for learners in other fields as well. One key quote about the value of online CoPs: "an OCoP provides a safew engagement space to enhance knowledge development, strengthen social ties, and build social capital...OCoPs can develop from knowledge networks as relationships strengthen, and motivation to work together on common problems increases." Who wouldn't want to be part of this?

The primary focus of this article is on the way blogs, wikis, and RSS can be used to create personal learning networks and communities of practice in the field of public affairs education. There are useful definitions of both PLNs and CoPs and an overview of how connectivism is contributing to collaboration within the classroom environment.

This article provides insight into personal learning environments by answering seven basic questions about them. A scenario in which an avid car enthusiast uses a PLE to help him gather knowledge to restore a car provides a helpful image as an introduction. Additionally, an overview of PLEs is provided, along with some examples of institutions that encourage their use and how they are used. Web 2.0 allowed the evolution of the PLE into a digital world. One drawback mentioned by the article is that students who have never practiced metacognition in their own learning practices are said to have difficulty at times with the format of PLEs.

Very interesting article. This article discusses findings of interactions and supports for communities of practice or both student-to-student and teacher-to-teacher. It goes on to describe the challenges for student-to-student communities and their dealings with conflict, and the corresponding support provided for the instructor who struggled with having student communities struggle in cohesion. There is a useful graphic on page 291 showing the gathering's (read: community's) intentionality and strength of their social bond - where both are high, there emerges a community of practice.

In my research surrounding the topics of communities of practice, PLNs, and connectivism I kept coming back to the Wenger-Trayner website. There were many helpful writings and diagrams produced by Bev and Etienne (Team BE), however this blog post stuck with me. When I attended undergrad at Michigan State University these practices were newer and not taught. Does anyone know of programs that use these topics in their curriculum authentically? Are their teacher prep programs or universities that have really embraced these concepts?

Dr. Etienne Wenger discusses communities of practice in this brief interview conducted by the Project Management Institute. Dr. Wenger provides his professional background with respect to communities of practice (CoPs). He also discusses learning partnerships, purpose and definitions of CoPs, tools utilized by CoPs, and the distinction between technology tools and CoPs.

Video details what a CoP is and how it will work. Also talks about joining existing versus starting a new CoP for what best suits you. I think the video is short enough and to the point that it is a valuable resource for someone who is starting out and trying to find more information about a community of practice.

This article breaks down what a community of practice actually represents. It lays out the purpose of said groups, the roles of people involved, among other things. I liked this article because it was simplistic in describing a community of practice as an active group full of participation.

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.