Benefits and challenges of communities of practice in HE

Want a quick briefing from an expert in the field? Our one day online briefings assume no prior knowledge and get you up to speed quickly. They are also useful background experience for some of our longer courses.

This seminar asks whether 'community' is simply the new discussion forum.
As we discovered through the early days of online learning the use of discussion forums first blossomed and then began to choke the conversation. Clearly the provision of online communication tools does not automatically engender community - whatever it may be.

We then consider the nature of different kinds of community: communities of purpose, communities of practice, communities of circumstance, residential communities and intentional comunities.

Finally we look at the differences between constructed and emergent communities of practice and ask at what scale they can become useful in Higher Education. Should we be describing the group of people who study a module as a community? Should we consider an undergraduate year cohort as a community? Should we consider the subject discipline as the basis of the educational community of practice? To what extent should there be a central university view of "community" and how can multiple communities coexist, overlap and co-operate?

The course will be conducted using the Elluminate environment, which combines audio, video, slide presentations, text discussions and drawing tools. The fee includes a short, practical, hands on introduction to using the Elluminate environment, to prepare you for this course.

Assessment

OCSLD online courses are not formally assessed or accredited. We do offer Certificates of Attendance to those who participate in each of the course's main learning activities.