Communities of Practice (CoP)

This discussion forum analyzes the usefulness of learning communities and communities of practice.

Part 1: Address the following:

What does "Community of Practice" mean to you?

Based on your professional aspirations, describe what your community of practice would look like or if you are already a part of a community of practice please describe it.

If you were an online instructor, would you make being a part of a learning community optional or mandatory? Give support for your answer.

Part 2: Locate examples of Communities of Practice. Here are some examples of Communities of Practice relevant to the Online Instructor:

Blackboard - elearning

TeachingOntheNet.org

Conduct a web search and locate three examples of learning communities that you would join (or you are already a part of). For each example, explain why you feel it is considered a learning community and what you would gain from each of them. Describe how you might create connections between each of the communities to develop a community of practice? What relationships already exist between them, if any?