Virtual community of practice

Communities of practice involve a group of people with shared interests or goals who participate within the community. Online communities of practice can include affinity groups or forums. Community members provide and function as resources for new members by supporting new members in developing and participating in shared activities. Some researchers argue that virtual communities necessitate a different conceptualization of community, and that technology stewardship is a key element of virtual communities of practice by making virtual communities independent of any one technology. == Current research ==

Research suggests that through extended connections, reflections, and online discourse, OCoPs can support the growth of a collective community identity. OCoPs provide a virtual space for people who might otherwise never meet, in which they can collaborate and participate in shared activities related to the group's interests and goals. Some questions remain as to what level of participation in an online community constitutes legitimate membership of an OCoP. Two types of participation have been identified to distinguish between levels of activity. Active participation means that members regularly contribute to community discourse. Peripheral participation, also called “lurking,” means that members read without contributing. Some studies have concluded that some degree of peripheral participation is expected in online communities. Though these members may not contribute to the community discourse, they nevertheless learn from observing, which some researchers would characterize as legitimate membership. == Social networking ==

Web 2.0 applications and social networks have increased the ease by which OCoPs are created and maintained. The structural characteristics of a community of practice include a shared domain of interest, a notion of community, and members who are also practitioners. While Internet applications may incorporate one of these characteristics, they may not support a full community in practice. Social networks allow for the creation of clearly defined domains of interest in which the interactions between people can support communities with common and recorded histories. Social network tools allow members of OCoPs to create and share knowledge and develop cultural historical processes. == Advantages ==

An online community of practice enables participants to read, submit and receive feedback from the community. Peripheral participants (lurkers) can still develop the knowledge and skills from communal resources that are necessary for novice practitioners. Veteran community members support novices, resulting in an atmosphere of mentorship. As new practitioners develop their understanding and expertise, they can participate in expanding the community's field of knowledge. The asynchronous nature of many online forums (e.g. blogs, wikis) allows participants to be involved at their convenience. The forums maintain a record of ideas, discourse and resources, creating an archive of expertise for a field of practice that can be accessed at any time from nearly anywhere. Professionals who work alone or are the only person from their field of practice in a work setting have indicated a reduced sense of isolation after participating in an OCoP. The contributions of the group help identify characteristics of a practitioner, resulting in both a sense of the overall community's identity and the individual's identity within the group. == Disadvantages ==

Organizational Impact Establishing a VCoP within an existing organization may disrupt the organization's social, cultural, and political systems through questioning. Without a sense of connectivity with other practitioners, involvement may falter. Moderators of an OCoP forum may strengthen the OCoP through activities, events, and occasions in order to promote involvement. Individuals who return after a period of non-participation may feel overwhelmed or discouraged by the amount of new information and posts. Diversity of participants The varying levels of knowledge, skill and experience within an OCoP can deter less confident members from participating in the community. The diverse nature of a community can also create linguistic and cultural barriers to participation. Discourse and jargon can create confusion and misunderstanding, and clarifying communication errors online can prove difficult. == Examples of online collaborative tools ==

Online tools are the means for collaboration between individuals who may be located across the globe. They may include online tools specifically developed to address the needs of communities of practice or other types of tools used for OCoPs. Social networking sites The first social network site (SNS), SixDegrees.com, was created in 1997. Examples of social networking sites include: • LinkedIn • Facebook • MySpace Virtual worlds Virtual worlds, which are online community-based environments, are being used in both educational and professional settings. In education, these virtual worlds are used to communicate information and allow for face-to-face virtual interaction between students and teachers. They also allow students to use resources provided by the teacher in both the physical and virtual classroom. In professional environments, virtual training provides virtual visits to company locations, as well as flexible training that can be converted from in-person classroom to online virtual content. Virtual worlds provide training simulations for what could otherwise be hazardous situations. Companies are using virtual worlds to exchange information and ideas. In addition, virtual worlds are used for technical support and business improvements. Case studies document how virtual worlds provide teamwork and training simulations that otherwise be inaccessible. Examples of virtual worlds include: • Second Life • Whyville Information sharing Online tools are available for sharing information, which can be used to communicate thoughts or ideas, and provide a setting necessary for collaborative knowledge building. Activities associated with these tools can be integrated into the presentation of online classroom and/or training materials. Examples of tools for information sharing include: • Wikis • Google Docs • Blogs Decision making Online tools and platforms can also support deliberation and voting. These may be used by political organizations such as Podemos. Examples of tools and platforms include: • Loomio • Reddit • Appgree • Agora Voting ==See also==