COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
Overview
Etienne Wenger summarizes Communities of Practice (CoP) as “group of people who share a concern a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.
Origins & Major Contributors
The term CoP was first used in 1991 by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger who discussed the notion of legitimate peripheral participation. In 1998, the theorist Etienne Wenger extended the concept and applied it to other domains, such as organizations. In 2000, Wenger developed a simple formula to explain a CoP: Competence + Experience + Engagement = a Community of Practice.
Characteristics
According to Wenger, CoPs should have the following three crucial elements:
Case Study
In the study by the University of Florida, virtual CoPs were found to be more effective than other programs in maintaining ongoing engagement among graduates and with faculty. It was reported by Colle and Holmes (2002) that the graduated audiologists from the University of Florida benefit from the university's online CoP approach. Faculty co-learners reported: "Not only do students attend the course meeting at their site, they have a corresponding virtual meeting room. The cyberspace meeting place supports both chat and message posting activities" (p.27).
References
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems Thinker. Retrieved March 18, 2006 from:http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml
Wenger E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, l 7, 2, 225-246.
Colle, J., & Holmes, A. (2002). Communities of practice: The leading edge in professional skills development. Audiology Today, 14, 4, p. 26-27.
Etienne Wenger summarizes Communities of Practice (CoP) as “group of people who share a concern a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.
Origins & Major Contributors
The term CoP was first used in 1991 by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger who discussed the notion of legitimate peripheral participation. In 1998, the theorist Etienne Wenger extended the concept and applied it to other domains, such as organizations. In 2000, Wenger developed a simple formula to explain a CoP: Competence + Experience + Engagement = a Community of Practice.
Characteristics
According to Wenger, CoPs should have the following three crucial elements:
- Domain
- Community
- Practice
Case Study
In the study by the University of Florida, virtual CoPs were found to be more effective than other programs in maintaining ongoing engagement among graduates and with faculty. It was reported by Colle and Holmes (2002) that the graduated audiologists from the University of Florida benefit from the university's online CoP approach. Faculty co-learners reported: "Not only do students attend the course meeting at their site, they have a corresponding virtual meeting room. The cyberspace meeting place supports both chat and message posting activities" (p.27).
References
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems Thinker. Retrieved March 18, 2006 from:http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml
Wenger E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, l 7, 2, 225-246.
Colle, J., & Holmes, A. (2002). Communities of practice: The leading edge in professional skills development. Audiology Today, 14, 4, p. 26-27.