Communities of Practice

Online communities of practice and virtual networks are springing up all over the place, providing opportunities to connect and share practice concerns and ideas with people not just across Scotland but across the globe. They can provide valuable opportunities to expand our own practice and to contribute to the development of practice more generally.

Drawing on Lave & Wenger’s idea of learning through Legitimate Peripheral Participation, give this activity a try to explore the possibilities for CPD afforded by online discussion forums. Although the idea of ‘lurking’ can have negative connotations, many modern internet communities advise ‘newbies’ to lurk for some time to get a feel for the specific culture and etiquette of the community.

Choose two contrasting virtual networks from the list of relevant online Communities of Practice listed on the resource page.

Go to each site and find out as much as you can about the network, the participants and their concerns.

Become a member and spend some time ‘observing’ (or ‘lurking’) on the periphery.

• What issues are raised?
  
• What questions are asked?
  
• By whom?
  
• Who answers questions?
  
• Are questions and answers closed or do they open up new ideas?
  
• Do participants offer challenge as well as support to one another?
  
• Do you share some of the concerns under discussion?
  
• What do you notice about the language used?
  
• Are the terms in which things are discussed familiar or unfamiliar?
  
• Is this somewhere you could participate easily? If so why? If not, what are the barriers to your participation?
  
• How do the two networks compare?
  

Choose ONE of the networks which feels most relevant and accessible and try to establish your engagement with it.

• Bookmark the log in page
  
• Subscribe, if you can, so that you are regularly alerted to new posts
  
• Establish a routine of visiting the forum at least 3 times a week
  
• Contribute a response to someone else’s post
  
• Start a new topic for discussion.
  

After a month or two, reflect on your participation and what you have learned from it.