The Benefits of CoP and How Technology can Support them

What is a CoP anyway?

CoP (Communities of Practice) are groups of people who come together to learn collaboratively with a common purpose. This "Community" sets to share best practices and knowledge with the common intention of advancing a "domain" of professional practice. Having a consistent relationship, whether it be in person or remotely is beneficial to CoP's.

While CoP's are not new, they have remerged and become a popular practice among government, educational and business organizations. Cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger adopted the term "community of practice" while conducting research on apprenticeships as a learning model.

CoP's Main Characteristics :

Community: A collective interested working collaboratively and sharing knowledge pertaining to a common interest or "domain".
Domain: A common interest, competence and commitment that enables meaningful learning and participation among members.
Practice: The specific focus around which members share common practices and resources, learn from one another and develop ideas that further knowledge of this specific focus.

Types of CoP

These are the most common types of communities:

Knowledge Stewarding Communities: Collect knowledge
Best Practice Communities: Members discuss practices, strategies and guidelines for best practices.
Innovation Communities: Members are interested in new practices, knowledge and inquiry.
Helping Communities: Members seek to support one another with everyday works needs.

Here is a CoP using technology to better science instruction:

CoP and Technology

With uncertain times (pandemic, riots, political upheaval etc. ) more people are having to rely on technology as a source to basic needs and connection. CoP's are no exception. CoP's are opting to collaborate through online social platforms such as ZOOM, Google Classrooms, Facebook, etc.

How can CoP's and technology support one another? Here are some ways technology is an essential tool for CoP's:

A door to more inclusive, collaborative opportunities: More inclusivity of people from different places all over the world that can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable practice
Closing Digital Divides: Finding ways to build more accessibility for all learners to have a equitable platform. Advocacy and innovative solutions can be researched more in depth in this domain.
Enabling Differentiation: Technology can support CoP's to find practices that support ALL learners with multiple intelligences.
Improving Technology: CoP's can better learning and teaching practices and create better technological platforms for both students and teachers.

References

Bates Thomas. (2020, September). The Roles of Communities of Practice in a Digital Age. https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/10/01/the-role-of-communities-of-practice-in-a-digital-age/

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. (2019, April). Community of Practice [Video].
https://youtu.be/92BQdxeGsAs

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. (2016). What is a Commmunity of Practice? http://www.communityofpractice.ca/background/what-is-a-community-of-practice/

Lab4U. (2020, August). Building communities of practice while implementing Lab4U [Video].
https://youtu.be/LeuhEbcaf0A

Levy, Lee Ann. (2018, July). 7 Reasons Why Digital Literacy is Important for Teachers. https://rossieronline.usc.edu/blog/teacher-digital-literacy/

Wenger-Trayner Etienne and Beverly. (2015). Introduction to Communities of Practice.
https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

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