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Christopher Hoadley defines communities of practice, explains underlying theories of CoPs, compares CoPs to other types of learning communities, and discusses the use of technology in the support and development of CoPs.

This chapter dives deep into communities of practice. It begins with an overview of the history of CoPs and discusses theoretical underpinnings the concept is based on. The author explores CoPs in relation to other types of learning and related technology.

In this resource, Christopher Hoadley helps to define community of practice with two approaches. The first approach to the definition is what he calls the "feature-based definition" and the other approach is the "process-based" definition. He attributes these definitions based on Lave and Wenger's book on situated learning. This resource provides a good starting point to understanding what CoP is and the theoretical approach it involves.

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

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

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

SUMMARY: Connectivism teaches students skills that are not attached to time or space. Rather they are necessary in the fast-paced, ever-changing whirlwind we live in. The chart near the end clearly compares major educational theories and helped me see the connections and disconnects between them.

Great article. Chaos theory is so interesting. The study of pattern shifts is so real to this day and age. For example, I think the role of memes play a big part in our culture and this absolutely propels the chaos theory. Nice share Natalie!

Summary: The most useful part of this resource comes after the definition of Connectivism cited from Siemens. The author includes a graphic that compares Connectivism to other learning theories. In addition, a section is devoted to critics of Connectivism as learning theory who instead see it as a pedagogical view.

I chose a definition site as my final resource. I think it is important that we are able to clearly and succinctly define what we are exploring. According to this site, "A personal learning network, also referred to as a PLN, is a powerful professional development tool that allows teachers and administrators to connect with other teachers and administrators across the country. These connections are typically made through social media outlets including Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc."

I like the quote "you get out what you put in" it describes the relationships in a PLN perfectly. This post gives many good examples of PLNs that I'm sure many people don't even realize are PLNs. Many teachers like to use Pinterest for lesson plan ideas or decorating their classroom, and what they don't realize is they are working with other people to gain this information. I think I'm a better educator because I am an active user of PLNs and I try to contribute as much as I use others ideas.

This article discusses how developing a PNL will make you a better teacher by challenging you to change the way we think about our classroom. PNLs are great because they save time and allow for quick and easy communication in various formats. Educators get to decide which areas they are interested in developing a PNL. I love that this article states that you will get out of it what you put in.

This blog post is an attempt to discover the definition of a Personal Learning Network as compared to Personal Learning Environment.  Ironically, the author uses his PLN to help determine the definition. Great example of a PLN in action.

Excellent blog post in which the author ponders what a PLN really is. He asks for a definition and compares PLNs to PLEs. Worth a read and review of the comments.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

A very easy to read and follow article written by Mark van Harmelen. Great overview of what Personal Learning Environments are and how they may impact learning theories.

This article attempts to define personal learning environments by offering multiple definitions and distinguishing PLE's from related terms. Three PLE system examples are provided.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This article focuses on the novice experience in MOOCs, and how the theory may badly serve some of its participants. The author tries to explain this in relation to the theory of connectivism. It explains how technology and learning novices, and their sense of confidence interact with Connectivist theory. This article is worth the read, if you are looking at the limitations of connectivism.

Thanks for posting this article. In my job as an online teacher I see many students with low self efficacy and can definitely relate experience with the author about this.

This was really a fascinating look at the "other" side of connectivism. Having learned a bit about cMOOCs while working on this assignment, I agree that a connectivist MOOC is probably not the most suitable place for a novice learner, and it assumes that participants will enter with a certain level of prerequisite knowledge.

This project involves students using Twitter to address a calculus level problem. In this project, students are asked to define what a limit is in calculus. These are very complex ideas that can be explained in many different ways. Students need to have a solid foundation with these concepts because the rest of the course builds on them. As students were researching their definitions, they tweeted questions live using the class hashtag. This allowed the teacher and other students to answer questions that were raised. Once students had their explanation they had to tweet it out to the whole class. Doing this in 140 characters or less can be very difficult. Once students all had a definition posted, they were able to go in and comment and retweet definition posed by their peers. I like this because it can be applied to many different situations. Students can be asked to define a topic or articulate their understanding of a concept in a clear and concise way. It also allows students to see their peers thinking and expand their own. This has numerous applications for students at numerous levels. I could see myself doing something like this when wrapping up a unit to check for understanding.

This article talks about how communities of practice are all around us and that more than likely, everyone is in multiple groups or communities. It also discusses how knowledge is what holds the communities together rather than tasks doing so like on a team. As it explains what a community of practice is, it also goes into how to develop the community as well as how to maintain it. To help a community of practice to succeed, it says no member needs to be on the outside of the community, but for all members to be fully inside the community and fully committed.

It is nice to see how communities of practice are used in areas outside of education. I feel this really highlights the importance of them beyond the theoretical value and into real-world application.

This article provides characteristics of communities of practice and examples of where they can be seen but what stood out to me as being useful information is how to keep CoP's productive and "nurtured." The focus of implementing CoP's is not in education but rather business; however, the information is still relevant and applicable.

This webpage breaks down what a PLN is among teachers and also has some great videos. It provides some helpful resources that encourages teachers to join a PLN or create one. The simple break down of a PLN is helpful when someone is just starting out, or conducting research on a PLN.

This blog entry provides a basic definition for a Personal Learning Network(PLN) and links to supporting videos to conceptualize a PLN. This blog is appealing since it addresses PLNs from a teacher perspective. It further addresses how PLNs help educators stay connected.There is a nice visual of ways to create and grow a PLN.

This blog explains way more than simply the definition of a PLN, which makes it a great resource. This is a site that I plan to reference in the future in our 543 class as we proceed with our PLNs. I'm really glad I found this one.

By Etienne Wenger, this site offers her defintion and categorization of communities of practice.

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.

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."

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.

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

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.

This article provides a succinct definition of a personal learning network and provides a list of advantages of establishing your own PLN. The article also discusses ways to create your own PLN and methods to continue to make it successful.

This article is better at the set up of an PLN and how to use it. It does give 3 of the benefits of having PLN.

One of the things that really stands out for me in this article is the idea that you need to be consistent to get real results from PLNs. One of the reasons that I decided to take this class was to force myself to post regularly on social media. It's helps get your message out there and keeps you on people's radars. Cool article! Thanks!

This article by Stephen Downes provides a great insight into what an effective PLN looks like and how it functions. I enjoyed reading about his second stage of PLNs, which is the "personal learning environment." This idea is presented as the evolution of PLNs due to technology and connectivism in the classroom.

This article by Stephen Downes gives a definition of a community of practice and then discusses PLE's moving into networks and the characteristics of a learning network: diversity, autonomy connectedness and openness.

As I was relatively unfamiliar with learning networks before this course, I wanted to find resources that showed me what they looked like and examples of how they can be used. This article introduces the importance of using digital tools effectively and empower ourselves to gain the knowledge the web offers. The author states that "Learning therefore evolves from being a transfer of content and knowledge to the production of content and knowledge". Working in a network, PLE or communities of practice allow learners to be creative about information and knowledge, instead of just consuming information and knowledge. The article highlights the key benefits of a PLN: diversity, autonomy, connectedness, and openness.