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Communities of Practice - 13 views

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    This article looks at the connection between learning communities and linguistic and sociolinguistic elements that are essential to success in such communities. The article gives an initial theory of how linguistics is important in determining how different communities are conceived and the effect on diverse groups and how these communities are an excellent place to study those linguistics.
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    I found the phrase "shared experience over time, and a commitment to shared understanding" to be very powerful. It is the underlying foundation of a community of practice. Each member has something to contribute to the overall goal of understanding the same material.
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    An article that claims the success of communities of practice comes down to two things: "shared experience over time and a commitment to shared understanding." It further explains that not only are the experiences key, but it is crucial that those experiences have variety and diversity.
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    I appreciate this piece because then intent is to build a concrete definition for communities of practice for an encyclopedia. It explores the sociological implications of the term and offers rich language that can be used to adequately define this particular type of community. According to the author there are two primary conditions in order for a collection of people to be considered a community of practice: commitment to the same shared understanding and a shared experience over time. These communities act as a tool to familiarize participant's with the world using the lenses of the group's interests.
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    Concise definition and description of Communities of Practice. Focus is on relation to speech communities.
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    This article gives a straightforward explanation of communities of practice. The author discusses the role of linguistics in this approach, explains its value, and how it can be successful.
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    This article talks explains the idea of community of practice and how one might compare their community to others. The ability to establish the purpose of the community of practice in which you are participating will allow for differentiation amongst other communities of practice. Although it wasn't a major focus of the paper it was one of the things that I took from this article that hasn't really been brought up in others.
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    This article was written for the Encyclopedia of Langauge and Linguistics. The article discusses how communities of practice are "collections of people who engage on an ongoing basis in some common endeavor". They are based not on shared characteristics or co-presence, but rather on shared practices. The author also points out that there are two crucial conditions, "shared experience over time, and a commitment to shared understanding". The article then discusses communities of practice in the sense of linguistics.
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    This article defines and explains the unique qualities of communities of practice. It also provides examples of how communities of practice are much different than other groupings we may identify.
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    The author lists the needs of sharing experience over time and the commitment to share understanding to make the community of practice work. Collaboration between all parts of the CoP. The article describes how a Community of Practice does not only have to be educational. Examples like book clubs, bowling teams or a church congregation are used by the author in the article.
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    Communities of practice is described by Penelope Eckert. Communities of practice develops ways of doing things, views, values, power relations, and ways of talking. Two main parts of the meaning include shared experienced over time and a commitment to shared understanding.
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    This article summarizes the concept of Communities of Practice (CoPs) and examines this concept as the basis of a social theory of learning. CoPs are defined as "a collection of people who engage on an ongoing basis in some common endeavor." The primary virtue of a CoP lies in shared practice among members, which is a totally different idea then social groups based on gender, class, or physical location such as neighborhood or workplace. While this article focused particularly on the linguistic/speech field, the general theory behind the development of and discussion of benefits of CoPs was applicable to all domains.
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    This article gave a lot of information on Communities of Practice. I liked how they discussed the two crucial conditions of CoPs. The first is that they are a shared experience over time. As the group develops over time, there is a great level of consistency. It provides more opportunities for joint sense-making and deepening participants' knowledge. The second condition is that they are a commitment to shared understanding. Participants in the CoP practice collaborating by placing themselves in a group with respect the world around them. There is a commitment to mutual engagement, shared knowledge, and a sense of predictability.
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    Megan and Amy, I like the idea of commitment presented by this article. It's one thing to belong to a COP, but another to be committed to it. We can't just "join" a COP without actively participating in it and contributing to it. I think that's an important thing to remember.
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    I also like the idea that at it's heart a COP is about mutual sense-making. The article mentions the idea of that being conflictual or consensual which I think is important to remember. A COP doesn't have to be all roses and unicorns to be effective.
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    This was a very interesting article to read by Penelope Eckert. The focus of this article takes on language and linguistics in CoPs, and Eckert claims that a "community of practice is thus a rich locus for the study of situated language use, of language change, and of the very process of conventionalization that underlies both." At its core, the claim being made is that language and linguistics is always evolving in CoPs and this helps with "identity construction" within a CoP.
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    This was an interesting read, though perhaps not particularly relevant to our class. It discusses communities of practice, what they are, where the theory came from, but it goes on beyond that to connect linguistics into it. I never would have considered that link if I had not read this.
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    This brief encyclopedia entry about communities of practice gives a succinct summary of the theory and discusses how CoPs affect, and perhaps are affected by, language.
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    This brief encyclopedia entry about communities of practice gives a succinct summary of the theory and discusses how CoPs affect, and perhaps are affected by, language.
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    Penelope Eckert explains that "a community of practice is a collection of people who engage on an ongoing basis in some common endeavor." CoP was developed by developed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger and is based on the social learning theory. The author discusses the two conditions that are necessary to have a successful community of practice and provides scholarly research on the linguistic factors of CoP.
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    This article discusses the origins of Communities of Practice and then expands on the concepts by using examples that adhere to Anthropology and Linguistics.
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    This article explains what a community of practice is. It gives two aspects that are necessary for a community of practice which are "shared experience over time, and a commitment to shared understanding." The article also contrasts communities of practice with groups of speakers. It also explains that a child's linguistics are much more related to a child's communities of practice as opposed to their parents' social class.
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    This article delves into the definition of communities of practice and relates this to the world beyond my lens of education. This academic article relates communities of practice to anthropology and linguistics. The way we talk influences our communities of practice. The things that band us together can be many… finding an identity inside of this community is important
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    This article goes in great detail to define communities of practice. The author defines communities of practice as, a collection of people who engage on an ongoing basis in some common endeavor. Communities of practice develop in response to common interest, and have an important role in forming their members' participation. This commitment to the common interest holds the individual accountable for their participation.
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Communities of Practice - 4 views

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    Eckert looks at Communities of Practice (COP) to study situated language use. She finds that the COP is important because of "its focus on the fluidity of social space and the diversity of experience" (p. 3). She finds the COP to be complementary to the speech community and that feedback between the two approaches would provide the best process for analysis.
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    Communities of practice are groups of people who share the same job or a common interest in a subject. They come together to form a link to help each other perform in the world around them. This article talks about the value of communities of practice and how and why they work.
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    Eckert, P. (2006). Communities of practice. ELL, 2, 683-685. In this article, Mrs. Eckert does a great job in simplifying what a community of practice entails and means. She allows you to visualize the communities you belong to as well as other communities of practice you interact with or observe on a daily basis. One important distinction is that the author of this work is written from the sense of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology and not from an educator's mind set. Irrespective of this standpoint, you can see direct correlations to where students understand themselves and what communities of practice your own student population may fall under. In order to understand the social development of communities of practice Mrs. Eckert does a good job in breaking down common cores that can emerge from memberships. The linguistic side she writes, "A white working class Italian-American woman does not develop her ways of speaking directly from the larger categorical working class, Italian American, and female, but from her day to day experience as a person who combines those three memberships. Her experience will be articulated by her participation in activities and communities of practice that are particular to her place in the social order."(Eckert, 2006) Building upon that theory, she discusses the importance of social space "Emma Moore's study of teenage girls in Northern England (Moore 2003) traced the gradual split of a group of somewhat rebellious "populars" as some of them emerged as the tougher "townies" in their ninth year. In the process, the vernacular speech patterns of the "townies" intensified in opposition to those of their more Conservative friends". (Eckert, 2006) While the article sheds more light on the development of speech patterns and dialects through the medium of communities, we can also see the definition in practice in which a collection of people gather together over a common interest and then orients to their new surrounding
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    This is just a basic definition of communities of practice. It is a very easy way to understand it.
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    Communities of practice (CoP) are created through a community of people who have common interests. In communities of practice, Eckert (2006) explains "a community of practice develops ways of doing things, views, values, power relations, and ways of talking" (p.1). CoP's have a way of providing a personal identity and a way of speaking within a CoP.
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    Communities of Practice: Eckert describes a community of practice (CoP) as a group of people who interact ongoing with a common goal or endeavor. Sometimes they come about by similar interests, the workplace, and education. She concludes that communities of practice are very powerful inside and outside the community.
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    Penelope Eckert discusses the value of a community of practice in linguistic studies, giving a definition for a community of practice and distinguishing it from a more conventional linguistic construct: speech communities. Communities of practice link broad social patterns with concrete, observable behavior in individuals. They emphasize individual experience over demographic generalities. They address dynamic, fringe effects within a community. They build on social constructivism as groups of people engage in active sense-making.
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Communities of Practice - 17 views

  • A primary focus of Wenger’s work is on learning as social participation – the individual as an active participant in the practices of social communities, and in the construction of his/her identity through these communities. From this understanding develops the concept of the community of practice: a group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing/continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities.
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    Great short clip that explains communities of practice for educators.
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    This is a great resource with videos about communities in practice. I really enjoyed the table about communities of practice vs teams.
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    This resource had both videos and a visual table to explain communities of practice. I liked how they described it using the terms: "Communities of Interest and Communities of Action". I think that is important because people can access their own specific interest catered directly to them.
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    I think this is a great resource to have for Communities of Practice. It provides a clear definition of Communities of Practice and also provides videos and visuals to provide further clarification.
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    CoP's a great place to share ideas, resources, post questions/concerns with other professionals within your contetn area. Great video and explanation of CoP!
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    This is a great place to get started because there are videos as well as text. The diagram toward the bottom of the page by Heather Smith and James McKeen from the School of Business at Queen's University is particularly useful. Often knowing what something is is easier when you know what it is not! Good stuff, thanks.
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    This article discusses that the idea of communities of practice (CoP) is that learning occurs in social contexts that emerge and evolve when people who have common goals interact as they strive towards those goals. It mentions the negotiation of meaning which involves two components: reification and participation. The article also compares communities of practice with teams and community of practice as knowledge management.
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    This article describes in detail the development of CoP and the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. There is a short video embedded that gives an example of CoP in the workplace at Caterpillar University. At the bottom of the article it shows a table that contrasts teams and CoPs. This gives a good visual on what the differences are in each category.
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    I especially like the way that this resource outlines the difference between teams and CoPs. It makes complete sense and is very intuitive but it is extremely useful to have it outlined in the chart format.
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    Lave & Wegner are the originators of the idea of 'Situated Learning' which is described as being fully engaged and "learning to talk instead of learning from talk." Within CoPs, participants engage in frameworks with structure. Alcoholics Anonymous was a good example from this article.
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    Sometimes when I spend time researching and learning about new concepts, I get lost in the details of definitions and citations. What I liked about this article was the table comparing CoPs to Teams. It breaks it down and compares the two in a way that makes sense.
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    As many have already commented on, this article gives a nice foundation for what CoPs are and their framework and purpose in society. I especially like the analogy chart made between CoPs and teams, showing what makes up each, how they may be similar, but how they are different.
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    This article summarizes the work of Lave and Wenger on the theory of communities of practice. It discusses how participation in communities of practice leads to learning and contributing to community goals. The article also includes a helpful chart that outlines the differences between communities of practice and other types of teams or focus groups.
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    This article explains the idea of communities of practice (CoP) and has some great videos to further explain giving examples. There is also a nice chart that shows the difference between a team and a CoP, which can be a common misconception that they are not the same thing.
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    This article gives insight to Wenger's components of learning, and then discusses the differences between teams and CoPs. I found this very helpful, as it can be easy to confuse the two at first. Through this chart, one can better understand the objective, membership, organization, termination, value proposition, and management of CoPs and compare this information to that of teams.
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    The communities of practice concept is explained in detail with many references to the work of Lave and Wenger. The article speaks to communities of practice as social learning in the workforce for organizational development, change management, and knowledge management.
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    This article offers an introduction to communities of practice. It also examines impacts on learning, makes distinctions between teams and offers direction for benefits for knowledge management.
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    Communities of practice, credited to Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, is a concept that claims that learning occurs through social interactions when people have a common goal and they interact while moving towards obtaining the goal. These communities are best ran with reification and participation. The alignment of these two concepts are what directs the communities of practice to their common goal. A community of practice is different than a team. A team has a goal, but their goal is to finish a specific task or project while a community of practice's goal is to share knowledge and learning on a particular subject. Teams also have a leader and disperse once the goal is completed while communities of practice are self organized and only disband when there is no interest left in learning that topic.Communities of practice facilitate the exchange process of knowledge.
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    A CoP evolves when people (educators) have common goals and collaborate to meet those goals. The chart comparing CoPs and teams was really helpful. The objectives, membership, and values are all distinctive differences when comparing CoPs and teams. Thanks for a great link!
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    This short article outlines what communities of practices are and provides a useful table showing the differences between them and teams. This chart is from Heather Smith and James McKeen from the School of Business at Queen's University (2003). They discuss the objective, membership, organization, termination, value proposition and management through the lenses of communities of practice and teams.
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    This article is a good, brief description of a CoP. I found analyzing the chart helpful for a a better understanding of a CoP. I previously considered a CoP to be a formal learning group. Now, based on the article you've provided, I can see how a CoP can be informal and include marginal group members.
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    Re"construction of his/her identity through these communities" Finding your voice and place in a CoP is important, as you need to be an active member to achieve the greatest return.
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    This brief but detailed summary of Wegner's 1998 idea of Community of Practice gives a basic understanding of the idea. The videos included can be useful for seeing how the idea can be helpful in education.
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    This resource explains what CoP is and when the theory was developed. The concept of CoP was developed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. The author uses quotes directly from their book to explain CoP. There is a video that illustrates how CoP can be used in a K-12 classroom and another video that shows how CoP can be applied in other fields. The article also differentiates between Communities of Practice and Team members. The categories include objective, membership, organization, termination, value proposition, and management. My take away from the chart was that the major difference between CoP and being a team member is this: what will be the outcome of the participant?
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Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger) CoPs - 17 views

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    This is a more technical site that better describes CoPs.  It talks about what a CoP is and what the requirements are.  I particularly like that the it states that the learning is not necessarily the primary reason for the existence of a CoP.  It also gives some sources for further study.
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    Fabio, I agree, good find. Always helpful to have a firm understanding of what makes up the CoP. I keyed in on the requirement that members must not simply be interested in the topic, but needed to be practitioners as well!
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    This article has an interesting take on a community of practice. With the current nation wide movement to adapt the Common Core Standards, educators are required to focus on student achievement. In order to be successful, educators will have to form Communities of Practice in order to collaborate and effectively. This means that CoPs must focus on professional development as well as learning issues.
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    This site breaks down the required components of a community of practice, based on the views of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. The site also gives some background regarding the origination of the term "communities of practice."
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    SUMMARY: Communities of Practice are defined as informal social partnerships of like-minded practitioners who want to work together to improve current issues or states of learning. Three required components are proposed to constitute a CoP: "a domain of interest, a community, and practice."
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    This is a "webliography" (my new word of the day) that describes the idea of communities of practice by theorists Lave and Wenger. It is a good at describing what the terms are. Wenger says that" learning is central to human identity" and people continuously create their identity by engaging in and contributing to communities.
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    In this article, the author cites Ettiene Wenger (one the two theorists who coined the term 'Communities of Practice') and summarizes its definition. The quote she includes succinctly and clearly explains communities of practice as: "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."
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    Some history on learning theories and the origins of communities of practice.
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    This site gives a brief, easy-to-understand summary on the definition of Communities of Practice. It tells how COPs work and the distinctive components of a COP.
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    A nice summary of the basics of CoP. Gives history of the theory, definition, descriptions, and the building blocks of a successful CoP. My biggest take-away: "The learning that takes place [in a CoP] is not always intentional. This helped me to develop a deeper understanding.
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    This provides another basic overview of communities of practice. There is a brief description followed by the history of the term and the development of the theory. It continues to outline the three required components of CoPs.
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    There are 3 necessary parts: 1. A group of people share an interest (high school Math) 2. All members contribute 3. All members put into practice the resources that are shared as a group.
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    This is a solid description of what a Community of Practice is in reference to learning styles.
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    I love how succinct this is. Sometimes less is more and I think this is an example of that. It also helped me realize that this isn't a new or complicated idea, but something that we have done in my school for years (Learning Communities). We are organized by department, meet regularly to compare data, offer up examples of work, share sources, etc. I am already a part of a CoP and did not even realize it!
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    I find the term community of practice being used in professional development and having structure imposed top down. This website clearly lets you know it is not a club or a fan group but a practicing community that is formed voluntarily.
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    This blog post from Learning-Theories.com explores Communities of Practice and provides a clear and concise explanation of components of Communities of Practices, and what constitutes CoP and what does not.
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    This is a summary of the Communities in Practice learning theory. It is a very concise view of the theory. It covers the three required components as well as the key terms involved.
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    This site speaks specifically about the three "must haves" in order to determine if something is a community of practice or not. They are: having a common interest, having a community, and practicing that specific skills/interest.
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    Summary: Communities of Practice occur when people have a common interest in something. This becomes a collaboration with peers to engage in discussions as well as sharing ideas, strategies and solutions.
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    This article defines what a community of practice is and the three required components of CoPs. There needs to be domain, community, and practice. The domain is a common interest where the members are committed to it. The community is where members interact and engage in shared activities. The practice is developing a shared repertoire of resources over time.
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    This article describes what a CoP is and specifically what it is not. It describes three major components of a CoP and details how participants can help or hurt a CoP. The author also provides two resources to gain more knowledge about CoPs.
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    This article is an outline of Communities of Practice with description of relevant terminology outlined and defined. Identifies the three components of CoPs - domain, community and practice. This article says that the central component of this learning theory is to draw participants deeper into the community through the attractiveness of developing skills relative to the domain.
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    This one I didn't summarize, only because I really had a hard time grasping the three elements of the CoP, and I thought this site encapsulated it nicely. Incidentally, my creative assignment for this week was inspired by the reference to Star Trek fans in this post. Here are the three elements make up CoP, and again, this information below is taken straight from the source (long quotes), because the definition is so good: 1. There needs to be a domain. A CoP has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest (e.g. radiologists, Star Trek fans, middle school history teachers, Seahawks football fans, etc.); it's not just a network of people or club of friends. Membership implies a commitment to the domain. 2. There needs to be a community. A necessary component is that members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities, help each other, and share information with each other. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. In this way, merely sharing the same job does not necessitate a CoP. A static website on hunting in itself is not a community of practice. There needs to be people who interact and learn together in order for a CoP to be formed. Note that members do not necessarily work together daily, however. Wenger points to the example of Impressionist painters who sometimes met in cafes to discuss their painting styles. He indicates that even though these men normally painted alone, these kinds of interactions were essential to making them a CoP. 3. There needs to be a practice: A CoP is not just people who have an interest in something (e.g. sports or agriculture practices). The third requirement for a CoP is that the members are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources which can include stories, helpful tools, experiences, stories, ways of handling typical problems, etc. This kind of interaction needs to be developed over time. A conversation with a random stranger who happens to be an exp
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Edutech Wiki: Communities of Practice - 4 views

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    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.
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    Angela another great pick. I think the biggest key to this resource is a practical demonstration of a PLN for us to utilize. As information is presented we should not only be able to explain but use the resources! Living the theory is just as important as knowing it.
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    This is a very thorough breakdown of what makes up a community of practice. Also some good links in there (though a few were broken which I find common in Wiki's). Thanks to you posting this site/CoP which I had never heard of http://www.tappedin.org/.
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    Angela, While doing the research I came across this site as well but did not incorporate it my finds. I'm a big fan of Wikipedia and use it quite a bit for definitions and attaining public domain images. This Edutech Wiki is very complete with definitions and examples. A great resource.
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    I've never seen the edutech wiki site. I will have to remember this. I also like using wiki from the basics like definitions. This has some great definitions and break down of communities of practice.
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    I love to gather information from WIKIs. CoP networks are present in almost everything we do. Thanks for sharing!
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    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!
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    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.
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What Is Creative Commons and Why Does It Matter? | Common Sense Education - 0 views

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    This blog explains what creative commons is, why it matters within the classroom, and spells out the ins and outs of what teachers and students should and should not use for resources.
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Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger) - Learning Theories - 6 views

  • collaborate over an extended period of time
  • earn how to do it better as they interact regularly
  • does not require intentionality
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  • problem solving, requests for information, seeking the experiences of others, reusing assets, coordination and synergy, discussing developments, visiting other members, mapping knowledge and identifying gaps.
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    Throughout this website, Etienne Wenger describes Communities of Practice as "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." It strongly conveys the importance of working together and emphasizes teamwork as a vital component for success. I could not agree more.
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    This is a summary of the work of Lave and Wenger on communities of practice. It focuses on the need for social participation for learning. The article also highlights how learning is central to human identity.
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    Wenger and Lave first used the term Communities of Practice (CoPs) in 1991 and furthered their explanation in 1998. CoPs are a process of social learning in which a group of like-minded people regularly collaborate with the objective to learn something. Wenger specifically notes that this definition does not include "intentionality," stating that learning can happen incidentally. This article goes on to explain the three components of a CoP: domain, community, and practice. Finally, the summary ends with a list of methods commonly seen to collaborate in a CoP including problem solving, seeking others' experience, discussing developments, and mapping knowledge
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    This article also explains how participation is a huge part of communities of practice. It states that these communities are groups that have something in common and people can learn from one another through the interactions taking place. One big focus is how the participation that is going on needs to be active and continuous. A person's active participation can then help motivate them and others in the community to continually want to learn.
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    This quick overview of CoPs gives a plain-English approach to the definition and components of CoPs. This allows for a quick understanding without having to dissect the meaning of each word of the definition. Wenger's simple definition is given, as well as the required components for a CoP, and it is concluded with the concept of social participation as a learning focus.
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    Since I hadn't heard of CoPs, I thought I should find out what it is. For those in the same boat, there are 3 things necessary to have a CoP: 1. domain (common interest), 2. community (engaging together in activity and sharing of information), and 3. practitioners (members are not just people with a shared interest, but practicing).
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    Introduction to and required components of a community of practice.
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    This article outlines the components of a community of practice as well as discussing what a community of practice is not to help learners better understand what is necessary to have a community of practice.
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    Communities of Practice were first used in 1991 by Jena Lave and Etienne. A CoP is social learning aimed around a specific subject with people who have common interests and collaborate over a large period of time in an online community. The learning that takes place is often natural and happens through the social interactions. There are three requirements for a proper CoP. The first is that there needs to be a domain. The people involved in the CoP need to have shared interests. The second is that there needs to be a community. The people involved need to interact and engage in activities to help and share information with each other. The final necessity is that there needs to be a practice. This means that they are actively engaged within the community and work to inform everyone involved. CoPs work using social interactions to create the learning community. 
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    This short but informative article helps get to the root question of "what are communities of practice?" The article describes the three main components of the communities of practice theory which domain (shared, common interest), community (sharing of info, activities), and practice (members of COP need to be practitioners of the domain and not just casual observer). To be a true COP, the above components must be present. The article breaks down Wengers belief that "groups of people who share a concern of a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as the interact regularly". It discussed how COP's are becoming more present through online communities formed through the Internet and social media. COP's are being seen as avenues that promote innovation and building of social capital through the spreading of knowledge.
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    In this article Etienne defines Communities of Practice (CoP) as "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." This learning that takes place is not necessarily intentional. Three components are required in order to be a CoP: (1) the domain, (2) the community, and (3) the practice.
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    This short summary did a really good job of making this concept simple to understand. It explains that you need three things for a COP: a domain, a community and practice. Great short explanation
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    This article is an overview of CoPs. The highlight for me is that it must be a collaboration over time, not a one-time Professional Development.
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Communities of practice: a brief introduction - 1 views

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    In this article, Wenger defines Communities of Practice (COP) as a "tribe learning to survive," (p. 1) although learning isn't always the goal of the group but can be an outcome. Members are committed to their community and create a shared practice of networking for a specific purpose. Originally associations and groups, the Internet is extending the reach of COPs and increasing the flow of information.
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    Etienne Wenger seeks to simplify communities of practice by elaborating on three distinct features that make a a community of practice different than a community. A community of practice is defined by its' domain, the shared connection based on a common interest; the community; a group of individuals that interact with each other through collaborative activities; the practice, common experiences and resources to take on similar problems. The text is particularly user friendly in that it offers provides charts that contextual types of activities that would make a community a community of practice such as: visits, mapping knowledge, problem solving, etc.
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    Wenger identifies CoP's as"groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly". Here it is indicated that three main things must be present to call it a CoP: the domain, the community, and the practice. One item that stood out to me is that a community is not by default a CoP. Rather, a CoP must not solely be a community of interest but a CoP is a community that is built on the acquisition of skills, knowledge, or practice within the community. CoP's can come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and domains. All are vested in the "bettering" of individuals.
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    This article looks at the bones of communities of practice. This is an easy read, an introduction to communities of practice, which explains important characteristics, activities, concepts behind, and concepts applied in the case of communities of practice. It looks at traditional classroom learning compared to communities of practice.
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    For those who have never heard of communities of practice, this resource explains it well. What are communities of practice, what do communities of practice look like, where does the concept come from and how it is being applied is all covered.
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    This is a brief but comprehensive introduction as to what communities of practice are by Etienne Wenger. One important aspect addressed is that learning is a product of a community of practice whether intentionally or not. It also gives multiple examples of what a common community of practice can look like such as problem solving, discussing developments, and visits. The concept came to be as a learning model by Wenger and Jean Lave. The concepts has many applications but a couple common places these communities are seen are organizations, government, education, and technology.
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A Visual Guide To Creative Commons Licensing - 1 views

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    This is a great infographic to explain Creative Commons. Especially useful, I think, is the information on how to cite from CC.
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Category:Images - Wikimedia Commons - 1 views

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    More free images usuable under the creative commons license
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Personal Learning Environments in the Learning Commons: EBSCOhost - 0 views

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    This is one article in a series geared toward teacher librarians. This article is short and deals with both the "why" and "hows" to PLEs. (Although the term Personal Learning Environment is used instead of PLN, I felt it could still be helpful.) The article sets up the need for PLEs by recognizing the vast amount of information available to us today. It follows by breaking down Personal, Learning, and Environment in a concise form. The second half of the article focuses on the "hows." I have included the reference only because I had some difficulty retrieving some of my previously bookmarked pages from Ebscohost. "Personal Learning Environments in the Learning Commons. By: LOERTSCHER, DAVID V., KOECHLIN, CAROL, Teacher Librarian, 14811782, Dec2011, Vol. 39, Issue 2"
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Weighing In: Three Bombs, Two Lips, and a Martini Glass -- NCAC - 0 views

  • If you had asked me a year ago what bombs, lips, and martini glasses have in common, I would have answered, “A fraternity party.” Now I have a different answer. It’s called Common Sense Media. This not-for-profit Web-based organization is in the business of using a “rating” system to review all types of media that target children, but their “ratings” of books are especially disingenuous. They claim that they want to keep parents informed. Informed about what? What their children should read or what they shouldn’t read?
    • anonymous
       
      I put a link to Common Sense Media on the library web page for the Internet safety information. Now, after reading about the book ratings, should I remove the link?
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The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - P21 Common Core Toolkit - 0 views

  • P21 Common Core Toolkit A Guide to Aligning the Common Core State Standards with the Framework for 21st Century Skills
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Common Sense Media - 0 views

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    This is a fantastic resource for students, educators and parents. This website hosts curriculum for online learning and social networking information that can be used in classrooms and in homes. According to it's site summary: Common Sense Media improves the lives of kids and families by providing independent reviews, age ratings, & other information about all types of media.
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    Took me a little bit of digging, but I can see the benefit of this website. My school just went to 1:1 iPads and I can see the benefit in sites like this.
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The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons – The Edu... - 0 views

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    This resource explains copy right and fair use rules regarding images on the web. It discusses the problems associated with using copyrighted work and talks about the Creative Commons. This is a great reference for educators and students to use in an effort to avoid copyright infringement.
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Introduction to communities of practice | Wenger-Trayner - 22 views

  • 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.
    • nstringham
       
      Teacher Instagram is exactly this! We learn and grow from each other as we interact with each other.
  • Membership therefore implies a commitment to the domain,
  • he domain is not necessarily something recognized as “expertise” outside the community.
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  • members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information.
  • They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other; they care about their standing with each other.
  • ut members of a community of practice do not necessarily work together on a daily basis.
  • hey develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems
  • they have developed a set of stories and cases that have become a shared repertoire for their practice.
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    This page on the Wenger-Trayner website, there is an in-depth explanation of communities of practice as well as a brief history of its inception. I really appreciated the part of this site that gave examples for how to effectively use communities of practice (CoP). It was interesting to read myths about CoPs as well as to be provided with links to further reading on the topic. I also found it incredibly insightful that the site explained how CoPs are being used in a variety of forums, not only in education.
  • ...24 more comments...
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    This article provides helpful information on the topic of communities of practice. I was also interested in seeing how CoP are used outside of education. I question whether CoP that develop with "cultivation" are as effective as those that are self-organizing.
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    This is a great resource for communities of practice. It breaks down the characteristics of a community of practice between the domain, the community, and the practice. This resource also provides a table of examples of what makes a good CoP. It is very helpful in understanding where CoPs are commonly used and how they can be beneficial. Very helpful resource when first learning about CoPs.
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    This resource is a basic overview of the concept of communities of practice. It discusses the background from which it was created, and gave some specific examples of COPs in the real world. The best portion dealt with how COPs are used in other areas aside from education. There are also some excellent links.
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    This page look at the definition of a community of practice and includes there critera that are essential: the domain, the community, and the practice.
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    As others have also suggested, this article gives a good overview of CoPs applicable to real world integration. For example, I tend to focus on the realm of current day educational CoPs at a school or district level. This article goes beyond that by providing examples of other forms of CoPs. One that struck my interest was the "tribe learning to survive" example. This definitely gives a broader perspective on the reach of CoPs, in that, they can be traced back to the primordial beginnings of human interaction.
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    This article, by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner in 2015, gives a wonderful introduction of what a community of practice is and why researchers and practitioners find them to be a valuable way of communicating and learning. You get a good perspective of what communities of practice looks like, where the concept comes from, and where the concept is being applied. Myths about communities of practice and suggested readings are also included.
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    What are CoPs? This article breaks down the terminology for Communities of Practice and explains what they are (and aren't). One common theme that appears throughout the article are the ideas of intention and implementation. CoPs are not just interest groups for casual entertainment. They are formed with intent and with the purpose of implementing ideas. Social media has removed the boundaries of who can form/join CoPs, and the sources of information are virtually endless.
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    This overview from 2015 is written by one of the anthropologists who coined this term when studying apprenticeships. It describes the 3 crucial characteristics: domain, community, and practice; its origin; its uses in a variety of settings; and refutes various myths about COP. A pdf is available.
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    This is a great overview of COPs. The author defines COP's and gives the three major characteristics: domain, community, & practice (and goes on to clearly define each of these). He explains the origins of COP's, describes them and gives examples of COP's today, addresses common myths of COP's and provides an influx of resources. A great site with a lot of valuable info!
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    This article outlines what communities of practice are and what they look like. It also describes how these communities are used in a variety of fields.
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    Wenger-Trayner give an overview of what constitutes a community of practice (CoP). It differentiate between a community and a CoP. Three features of CoP are given: domain, community, and practice. It is more than common interest; it involves interaction among practitioner who want to learn from each other. The article is helpful to understanding how to develop a PLN.
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    Often times grasping a new concept is difficult without examples to show what what a particular concept might look like. This article has a sub-head that reads: "What do communities of practice look like?" There are boxes with questions like "requests for information," "seeking experience," and "reusing assets." If you click on the plus/ minus sign on the boxes, you get taken to a short example.
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    In this fairly in-depth article, Etienne and Beverly Wenger- Trainer, focus on many different aspects of Communities of Practice. Some of the key elements they name regarding CoPs are: they are intentional, they can improve performance among members, the members have a shared domain of interest, the members have a commitment to the group, and the members build relationships that enable the to learn from each other. The 3 main element of a CoP are the domain, the community, and the practice.
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    Great share @MrsLieberman356! It's quite in-dept but chalk-ful of excellent information on CoPs and their objectives.
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    Thanks Joanna! When reading about CoPs myself, I love how they say that they're intentional. Through reading this article as well as others, I really see why that's an important piece to it!
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    According to this article, three characteristics are crucial in order for a community to be considered a "community of practice." A community of practice is not merely a club, it has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. A community of practice is not merely a community of interest-people who like certain kinds of movies, for instance. Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared collection of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems -- a shared practice. http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
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    A brief overview and introduction of the concept and uses of communities of practice. This article shares theories and what it should look like instead of the "How" it should be done. They share the background of the concept and how it fits into the teaching environment.
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    This article gives a brief overview of the concept of communities of practice. Communities of Practice are groups that share a passion for what they do and share how they can do it better. The domain is a network of connections between people. The community is the activities and discussions share among the group. The practice is sharing the tips and tricks of how things work.
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    This delivers an overview of CoP's and discusses what a CoP would look like. It discusses the background and how it would fit in the learning environment.
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    This site breaks down what distinguishes Communities of Practice from communities.
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    This resource illustrates a CoP first, and then it uses this example to explain the components of CoPs: domain, community, and practice. It further provides examples fo what CoPs look like.
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    A great introduction into communities of practice. These communities require three things: commitment to the mission/goal, a community, and a shared role (or practice).
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    This website was created to explain CoP by the developers of the practice. The website explains what CoP is and what it looks like. The websites explains where CoP came from and how it can be applied in the workplace in different environments. The authors also diffuse any myths about the CoP so that others can understand what it is.
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    This article goes in depth on the three requirements for a CoP. It also goes through several examples of what a CoP looks like in various activities.
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    This article provides examples of where COP can exist!
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    I like how it emphasizes that the three components of COP are domain, community, and practice. You need each of these to have a successful COP. Thanks for sharing.
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The role of communities of practice in a digital age | Tony Bates - 25 views

  • The role of communities of practice in a digital age
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    A new chapter in Tony Bates' open source textbook, this one dealing with COPs - what they are, designing effective ones and learning through them.
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    I guess I shared this link in a previous course, but it is a good one! Tony Bates discusses designing, learning from and defines communities of practice in the digital age. EDTECH543, Communities of Practice.
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    I appreciate the substance of this article as it goes beyond simply defining communities of practices and discusses the theoretical framework for developing effective CoPs. The seven tips offered for designers of CoPs provides structure and guidance for those interested in implementing this practice. I also found great value in the text's analysis of communities of practice in a technology rich generation. The digital age is dominating culture and as people seek to re-evaluate programs, organization, and life they tend to think they need to dump the old and start from scratch. This article, however, points out that communities of practice will be a powerful tool in the digital age by "it is probably a mistake to think of them as a replacement for traditional forms of education." Great perspective!(
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    A Community of Practice is essentially a group of people who share a common interest and learn how to polish and perfect that passion by regularly interacting with one another. Communities of Practice apply various theories of learning as the group members interact and glean from one another. Researchers argue that a Community of Practice differs from other types of learning communities in that the group members share a common interest, they engage in activities around that common interest, and all group member are practitioners of that interest. As a result, the learning that occurs in a Community of Practice comes from the sum of all group members.
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    This article focused on what traits a successful community of practice has and how they are taking shape in the digital world. Of particular interest in this article is the role that MOOCs are beginning to play in digital learning and also how the design of a community of practice can impact how long it stays useful and relevant to its users.
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    In this article, author Tony Bates refers to MOOCs as communities of practice, and then makes a distinction between "instructionist" MOOCs and "connectivist" MOOCs, the latter being designed to function as communities of practice. This has prompted me to look for more information on the distinction, as I am only familiar with instructionist MOOCs. In addition, I find the article of interest because of the subsequent and continuing scholarly conversation that ensued in the comments.
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    Very interesting article. I like how Bates explains the theory behind communities of practice and then provides the definition. It helps provide context for CoPs. I also found the "Designing effective communities of practice" section to be very helpful. It outlines what a good CoP should look like and encourages the diversity that can be within a community. Thanks for sharing!
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    This article from Tony Bates provides another great overview of CoPs. One of my favorite parts of this article is the section on designing effective communities of practice. Bates provides a list of key design principles (adapted from Wenger) for creating an effective CoP.
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    I love how this article recognizes that 1 plus 1 is not 2. That the sum total of knowledge exceeds what was put in.
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    This blog post discusses what communities of practice are, the learning theories behind CoPs, designing effective CoPs, and learning through CoPs in the digital age. It goes into depth about the seven key design principles for creating effective and self-sustaining CoPs. It also discusses the importance of Massive Open Online Courses.
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    In this post, Tony Bates discusses communities of practice including what they are and their characteristics. He also discusses ways to create and sustain effective communities of practice. Finally, Mr. Bates discusses how we can learn through communities of practice specifically through the use of MOOCs.
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    This article by Tony Bates gives examples of CoPs in companies like Xerox and how they work together within the company to create projects. It also provides a visual from Wenger assists companies with integrating a CoP within the workspace.
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    This post disusses what a community of practice is and the theories behind them. It also addresses the design of a community of practice and the three criteria involved, domain, community, and practice. Finally it discusses MOOC's.
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    This article gives some background and insight to the different parts of a Community of Practice. What I found to be most relevant about this article is the fact that it is based around digital learning. There is an image included in the article that displays the different websites that can be used as a tool for a CoP. This image is helpful in visualizing all of the ways to meet and communicate with peers in the digital realm.
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    This article looks at corporations that are encouraging CoPs like Google & Apple. Xerox was able to save $100 million by collecting tips that repair men were sharing over breakfast and sharing them on a larger level. CoPs can enhance organizational effectiveness and profitability by increasing knowledge sharing.
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    He is writing a textbook, Teaching in a Digital Age, and this is his discussion about communities of practice. It explains what communities of practice are, how they work, and how they can be successfully used. He argues that they are not a replacement for other forms of education but does mention that they can be great tools.
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    This article is a chapter for a book, Teaching in a Digital Age. It gives a good summary of the principles behind communities of practice. While the author does not fpbelieve that CoPs should replace other forms of learning, he sees value in them.
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    The author, Tony Bates, reviews what makes a community of practice by clarifying the main components of an effective one. My favorite part of the resource is the graphic organizing the tools and activities associated with a community, which also integrates the technology available. The article focuses on the idea that communities of practice is a method of informal learning and discusses how to use online learning to its highest potential.
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    To me the most interesting part of this resource is the comments. Very interesting arguments being made by various players especially Downes and Harasim. I often learn more from comments sections than from the main paper.
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    @Terrence. I too liked the comments section which is ironically appropriate seeing that the article was about communities of practice. I think that Downes is viewed as a kind of expert in connectivism and social learning. I have read a few things on his blog through the process of this research and they are quite good. He also co-teaches an MOOC on connectivism with Siemens through the University of Manitoba.
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    I found this interesting at the end when the questions were posted. It made me think of things that I hadn't yet....Can we force these communities or do they just happen naturally and do I think they can replace other forms of education. I have not sorted those out in my own mind yet but I like that they stopped me to think about.
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Community of Practice - 8 views

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    By Etienne Wenger, this site offers her defintion and categorization of communities of practice.
  • ...18 more comments...
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    This site explains in plain terms communities of practice. For example, it explains that a community of practice is not just a club. It is a group of people who are committed to a certain domain of interest.
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    This was a concise, but well written overview of the definition of communities of practice.
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    Communities of practice are used across a variety of groups of people. According to Etienne Wenger, there are three characteristics that constitute a community of practice: domain, community, and practice. Communities of practice exist on small local scales, to worldwide networks. This allows people to share and obtain knowledge about common practices with others who are actively engaged in the same domain.
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    Allows the reader to determine the general guidelines to what a community of practice is. Cites examples ranging from artists seeking transformation to surgeons trying to discover new methods. The article is very simple, yet effective in describing a community of practice.
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    by Etienne Wenger CoPs are formed by people who are engaged and interested in common domains. These can be done in many domains as long as there is an underlying interest. CoPs provide a new way to learn from one another in a safe environment. All members take responsibility with their members to access knowledge while sharing new ideas.
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    In this article, Wenger provides a quick overview of what a Community of Practice is. I like how she discusses the three components of a CoP and gives an example of what is not considered a CoP in each component. She addresses that just because something is a community, doesn't make it a Community of Practice. She also discusses where the concept of a CoP is being applied. It is helpful to see that it is being applied in many different fields including: education, government, organizational design, and businesses.
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    This website, from the National Center for Dissemination of Disabilities Research, identifies 3 characteristics of strong communities of practice: the domain, the community, and the practice. It briefly identifies what makes COPs unique and identifies specific applications. There are additional links in the sidebar that provide more information about COPs and prompts for further research.
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    This article gives an overview as to what communities of practice CoP are. It describes the characteristics of CoP: domain, community, and practice. The article stresses that CoP are not just like-minded people, but they are where people can interact with others to learn with and from others. CoP rely on active participation. Sharing and learning are at the heart of CoP.
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    Provides a good, crisp explanation of CoP. This is more of a recap, but sometimes saying something in another way helps to get the point across better. What I particularly liked about this one is that it emphasizes how these communities interact based on a passion that they'd like to learn more about or to improve skills.
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    This article discusses communities of practice in a very understandable, clear way. It describes communities of practice as individuals working together in collaboration with a common goal, or passion, in mind. I feel that one of the most vital parts of my job as an educator is to collaborate with other teachers about best practices to use in the classroom. It was fun to read this informative article!
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    This is a great overview of Communities of Practice. I appreciate that it distinguishes between a community and a community of practice because "not every community is a community of practice." I also appreciate that it gives where the concept can be applied.
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    The article provides a definition of communities of practice and gives examples of these communities. It also gives the three "crucial" characteristics of communities of practice.
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    Wenger's excerpt focuses on a crucial aspect of CoPs - the difference between a community and a CoP. Wenger outlines the three characteristics of a CoP and the role each plays in executing a CoP. (1) The domain in a CoP is not just a group of people. It is a network of people with similar interests and commitment to the growth of that interest. (2) A community engages, shares, and collaborates in order to learn from one another. (3) The practice of a CoP involves creation. The members act as "practitioners" that develop and share over time and through continuous interaction.
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    This article discusses how the community of practice is a shared domain between its members or those who engage in the community. It also says not all communities are all communities of practice. To explain that, it lists the three important parts that help show it is a community of practice. It states those parts are the domain, the community, and the practice. With that, it explains that all three should be developed within the community itself.
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    The author of this article explains that a community of practice is more than just a community. Communities of practice have to have three elements. The three elements are the domain, the community, and the practice. The domain is a shared interest. The community is people engaging in joint activities and discussions while helping each other and sharing information. The practice is the members of practice are practitioners. Communities of practice are being applied in business, organizational design, government, education, etc. Communities of practice have become a learning system throughout the entire world. They help practitioners take responsibility for managing knowledge, create a direct link between learning and performance, and create connections without formal structures.
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    Kayden, what a great site and explanation of communities of practice. I particularly like the distinct description of what a community of practice is including what it is not!
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    This site gives an outline of three factors that make a community one of practice vs. a non-specific group of people. The domain, community, and practice all combine to create a community of practice. The site then goes to explain where the concept of a community of practice is applied furthering the idea of "practice," as well as why they are catching on in workplaces and organizations.
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    An introduction to and application for communities of practice.
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    This article provides a simple definition of the term - "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better." Businesses, organizational design, government, educational, professional associations, civic life and development projects use the concept of community of practice to focus on people and the social structures that enable people to learn from each other.
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    This article focuses on defining communities of practice and includes several examples. I like that they break up the words and meaning to simplify and better understand the meaning and benefits of communities of practice. For example, we might live in a community neighborhood, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we live in a "community of practice."
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Learning in 140 - Character Bites - 0 views

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    Professor asks students to use Twitter to send in questions, answers the most common questions at the end of class.
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