Creating and Fostering e-communities of Practice (e-CoPs): Theory and Practice

Thang Siew Ming, UKM

thang@ukm.my

What is a community of practice?

Abbreviated as CoP refers to the process of social learning

that occurs and shared sociocultural practices that emerge and evolve when people who have common goals interact as they strive towards those goals.

Situated Learning(Lave & Wenger, 1991)

Difference between learning communities and CoPs

Learning communities are built around specific learning contexts whereas CoPs are work based communities that focus on organisational learning and are often more open-ended.

Nonaka and Takeuchi’s model

This model argues that organisational learning is usually accomplished through peers, individuals with similar occupational backgrounds, goals and problems. They socialise to exchange knowledge, experiences, support and best practices. Mostly through face to face interactions

Diagramatic representation of model

Tacit knowledge Explicit Knowledge

Tacitknowledge

Explicitknowledge

from

Externalization

Combination

Internalization

Socialization

Knowledge Creation Cycle Converted from tacit to explicit through forces of

socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalization

Externalization (tacit to explicit): applying personal knowledge to a new problem;

Combination (explicit to explicit): bringing two pieces of information together in a new way;

Internalization (explicit to tacit) learning by experience;

Socialization (tacit to tacit) learning by sharing experiences.

Evaluating E-Communities of Practices

Simplest way is by counting:1. Number of community participants2. Time spent per community participant3. Growth in number of community participants4. Number of goals or checkpoints met by the committee5. Number of emails or discussion threads posted6. Number of participants using and returning to use the

community 7. Improved job/skills performance8. Number of new ideas generated within community

(Allen et al 2003)

Knowledge Creation Cycle Converted from tacit to explicit through forces of

socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalization

Externalization (tacit to explicit): applying personal knowledge to a new problem;

Combination (explicit to explicit): bringing two pieces of information together in a new way;

Internalization (explicit to tacit) learning by experience;

Socialization (tacit to tacit) learning by sharing experiences.

Characteristics of Successful of e-CoPs

1. A common goal or purpose the need to have common, recognised

and shared needs the existence of common practice the goal to gain new or to improve

existing competencies

Leadership and moderation(organisation, social & intellectual)

Having involved leaders/moderators is very important (Bourhis, Dube & Jacob, 2005)

Necessary support from organisations management (Allen et al 2003)

Clearly communicated rules, norms and standard help to reduce anxiety & uncertainty (Archidivili et al 2003)

Trust and relationship

Trust that posted information will not be misused

Trust in reliability and objectivity of information

(Ardichvili, Page, & Wentling, 2003; Al-Alawi, Al-Marzooqi, & Mohammed, 2007)

Motivation and rewards of community members

Motivators for sharing of knowledge more likely to be intrinsic rewards (e.g peer recognition, self esteem boosting, altruistic motives) than extrinsic rewards (e.g. monetary and administrative)

(Ardichvili, Page, & Wentling, 2003

Participation (Salmon,2000)

Three groups of users:

1/3 read and contribute

1/3 reads contributions

1/3 neither reads nor contributes

Others factors contributing to the success of a e-CoP

Availability of Time Face to face interaction (at a regular basis) National and organisational culture – too

traditional then inhibits the flow of knowledge Providing valuable information and knowledge –

tacit knowledge, practical experiences, hands on solutions etc (Hinton, 2003)

ICT and Technology (easily available technology)

Examples of successful e-CoPs

Web design (www.sitepoint.com) A programming language (

www.zend.com/forums/) Software development (www.the

scripts.com/forum/) Moodle

Characteristics of these communities Mainly forums Membership informal Visitors welcome to browse, find support

and pose questions Informal code of conduct Provide general coding guides, solutions,

discussion regarding good practices

Egs of three controlled e-CoPs(1) Engaging Diversity project in UK

A project by the School of Education, University of Wales

aims at delivering effective diversity awareness training in Wales to a large number of people in a short period of time

Training delivered through a series of different modules

Training to addressed these diversity subjects – race, disability, age, religion, beliefs, gender, welsh languages & sexual orientation

Types of modules Multimedia presentation mixing photos, video,

audio, voice-over narration & animations Supported by an interactive quiz Modules delivered by 11 partners organisation

that includes several councils across Wales & public funded organisations

Training by training coordinators within each organisation who will also be moderators of the e-Cops.

Findings from interviews Numerous comments indicating the users

enjoyed the images & movement, music & the narrative.

Significant increase in awareness Create attitudinal changes Feeling part of a bigger community

(2) Study in a Japanese university

Schalow (2009) tried to establish a vibrant online social network at a Japanese university.

Participation was through blogs, video and audio resources, and profile information via the social networking software.

Initially a failure. Students participated in the network, but they were reluctant members

Seemed they believed their mobile telephone networks effectively met all of their information needs.

Reasons According to him the failure was due what

he called the "learning culture" (or actually its lack) created by the Japanese school system.

The American educational system is able to nourish inquisitive minds.

He posits that this is lacking in the Japanese educational system which puts teachers and textbooks as authorities.

(3) The CPDelt project

School Improvement project for Malaysian Smart schools to address problems currently faced by Smart schools.

Lee Kean Wah (2007) pointed out the Smart School CPD succeeded in raising awareness about the innovations but appeared less effective in equipping them with a clear understanding of the practices needed in the classroom level.

Research framework

Based on the Improvement Quality Education for All (IQEA) action research framework extensively used in the UK as a vehicle for school improvement (Hopkins et al., 1996).

e-CPDelt hub & spoke model

A critical relationship between a number of school-based cadres of change–agents (spokes) and a Higher Education Institutions (HEI)-based research team (hub).

Spokes -- 5 schools with four teachers (of English, Maths & Science) from each school.

Hub – Researchers from three universities: The National University of Malaysia, University Nottingham, UK & University of Sabah, Malaysia

e-CPDelt hub & spoke model

Online Communities of practice approach

Methods of sharing

Face to face interaction – workshops Online blog activities Online posting of video clips using an

Interactive Virtual Platform (ViP) followed by online sharing of best practices and problems

Poor response to blog activity

Communities No. of Members

No. of Blog Entries

No. of Comments

English 6 5 1

Science 9 4 0

Mathematics 5 5 4

Reasons?

Is it a cultural problem as proposed by Schalow? Participants attributed it to lack of time. Is this

the real deterrent factor? Maybe need more active participants from

moderators, Would that help? More guided activities/modules. Would that ease

the transition?

Remedial steps taken

More online support from moderators Face to face discussion and training

session

There seems to be some improvement but still far from satisfactory. So, is it a cultural thing?

In conclusion

Needs to further investigate and experiment to find solutions

The effect of culture on the success of e-CoPs in the Asian context need to be given serious consideration.

Thank you