THE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE Pasqua Maddaluno 25.06.2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction: the Communities of Practice...3 2. Differences between CoP and other formal structures...4 3. The organizational structure...5 4. The importance of technology within a CoP: the Web 2.0 success...6 5. Technological tools supporting a CoP...6 5.1. Tools suitable to every kind of CoP...6 5.2. Tools for synchronous remote communication...8 5.3. Tools for asynchronous remote communication...8 6. An example of a successful CoP: Linkedin...9 7. Moodle as supporting tool for a CoP... 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY... 12 ONLINE RESOURCES... 13 Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 2
1. Introduction: the Communities of Practice The Communities of Practice, abbreviated as CoP in the following, are groups of people who join to share information and knowledge or to find solutions to common problems concerning their job. The members of a CoP share the same ways of action and interpretation of reality, thus creating an informal organization within wider formal organizations, more articulated and complicated. The participants in the activities of the CoP bring their contribution to increase their sense of professional identity, and create a network that also provides opportunity for renewal processes. A CoP is in fact an important and effective way to update professional skills, because the topics discussed in a community meet the needs of effectiveness, timeliness and contextualization of learning. The World Wide Web provides the opportunity to make CoPs more active, overcoming geographical limits and creating a rapid and multilateral communication. In fact, practices allowing knowledge sharing are becoming increasingly common on the Web. Among the most important ones, there are the wikis, which allow every user to add new contents, as in a forum, but also to modify the already existent contents posted by others. The word, that in Hawaiian language means "fast", indicates a software application for online contents publication, easy to use and, most important, open to everyone s contribution, so that people come to think it natural to pour their own wisdom and share it to the benefit of all. Nowadays there is a growing perception of the importance of CoPs for business training too. The sharing of information, key concept of knowledge management, has become one of the most important tools of competitiveness for large organizations. In a world where markets are globalised, ever-changing and unstable, businesses are forced to carry out processes of innovation entailing deep changes in organizations and skills. In this context, CoPs can represent a form of self-learning for the organizations, through which their know-how can be spread and therefore become a true asset. CoPs allow to carry out processes of flexible and continuous collaborative learning, that represent a valid replacement of formal training, usually very expensive and not always effective. A CoP is made of a combination of 3 main elements [Wenger 2007]: 1. Domain: it creates a context and a common sense of identity. 2. Community: it creates the social background of learning. 3. Practice: it is the core of the Communities of Practice, a set of ideas, tools, pieces of information, languages, experiences and documents that the members of the community share. In other words, the value of community consists of their expertise luggage, the knowledge acquired on the job. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 3
Fig. 1: Graphic representation of a Community of Practice 2. Differences between CoP and other formal structures Below there is a lists of the main characteristics of different types of professional aggregations. 1. Workgroups: a formal aggregation, generally limited in time and scope, aimed to carry out a project or find the solution to a problem. 2. Communities of Practice: as already discussed, they are characterised by the spontaneous aggregation of their members who allow balanced learning processes through their knowledge sharing. 3. Communities of best practices: this is an aggregation which has the purpose to share best practices. 4. Group of interest: an informal aggregation whose purpose is to widespread pieces of information, to keep in contact those who share the same interests. 5. Informal networks: they are not a real aggregation, rather channels finalized to the spreading of materials, documents and information within a professional network. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 4
Fig. 2: Relationship between CoP extension and its level of cohesion 3. The organizational structure A possible organizational structure for CoPs has been proposed by Formez [Formez, 2002]. Within a community they identifiy the following roles: 1. Promoter: conceives the community, organizes socialisation moments among the members, facilitates their activities and their relationships, and promotes their image too. 2. Community manager: is the first representative of the community and responsible for its functioning: receives members proposals, listens to their problems and seeks to meet their different needs. 3. Content manager: in charge of finding, creating, selecting and spreading material useful to the members of the community, and of storing it in appropriate repositories. 4. Expert: exerts his/her authority and leadership in the key arguments of the community Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 5
5. System Administrator: in charge of technical management of the community and of the software environment utilized. Mainly concerned with the right functioning and integrity of the IT systems. 4. The importance of technology within a CoP: the Web 2.0 success Technology has a fundamental role for a CoP ever since its preliminary planning, because it is necessary to implement an efficient virtual environment that can host the online activities of its members and, most importantly, can effectively meet their needs. Communities have today a major role as creative engines for organizations that consider innovation as the only means of differentiation to reach a recognisable competitive advantage and to continue to create value for the whole surrounding ecosystem (Vincenzo Cammarata, Quaderni di Management cfr. Approfondimenti in rete n.6). This new approach to the concept of community has been brought about by the latest, so called 2.0 version of the World Web. Web 2.0 in fact has promoted and increased the natural process of aggregation which takes place when some people recognize themselves as linked by the same interests. There has been a shift from the substantive Web (Ross Mayfield, Socialtext, from: Il Sole 24 Ore), static and established by others in a top-down approach, to a dynamic Web, a verb Web, where everybody can act. Some Italian organizations have been the first to understand the possibilities offered by the new emerging tools. This is the case of FIAT: through the Web site www.quellichebravo.it or the Web site for the Fiat 500 start-up phase they have been able to give prospective customers active participation and to establish a dynamic and constructive dialogue with them. 5. Technological tools supporting a CoP The technological tools supporting a CoP can be divided into 3 groups. The first one includes those tools suitable to every kind of CoP, the second one includes those for the synchronous remote communication, and the third tools for the asynchronous remote communication. System Administrators can select among the tools described below those best suited to fulfil the needs of the CoP that they intend to create. 5.1. Tools suitable to every kind of CoP Members list Members profile Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 6
Presence awareness Personal calendar Events calendar Personal calendar synchronization: tool by which a community member can synchronize their own calendar with events in the community s one. Diary: tool showing days of the week and of the month with space to note daily engagements organised by hours. Polls Layout manager: allows to personalize the user interface both from the graphical and content point of view. This tool can personalize every kind of community. System news: tool for distribution of system news (new messages, new downloadable files, new site sections) on the home page of the site. System statistics: systematic collection of log files and statistic data (connections number, log-in duration, number of exchanged messages, etc.) to check the development of the community. Authentication module, including the registration form to get login details. Location of documents: management of the different copies of a single document. Glossary or vocabulary: list of terms belonging to a specific field. Repository: space where the community memory and the explicit knowledge assets of the group are stored; here members can find documents, links to Web sites about professional topics, FAQ, etc. Learning Objects Repository: space where self-learning materials are stored. Differentiation of access rights: tool through which some access rights are given to the different users of the community. Restricted access areas: these are areas which can be seen only by those who have access rights. Personal Blog: It is a self-managed web site where thoughts are registered as entries in a logbook, like in a personal diary, and can be shared with direct interaction with other bloggers. Database of query answers and mechanisms: repository where all the answers given to some users questions are stored; further query mechanisms are implemented in order to simplify and make effective the search of answers to some questions. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Research mechanisms: automatic systems which analyse a collection of data and give back an index of available contents classifying them according to ad hoc research algorithms. Forwarding of questions to external consultants: function that allows to ask a question to an external consultant of recognized expertise in the field. Rules, guidelines and Netiquette: space where all the documents regarding rules, guidelines and Netiquette are stored. Forwarding of invitations by the administrator: function that allows administrators to send the user an advice, so as to invite him/her to participate in the community. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 7
5.2. Tools for synchronous remote communication Virtual Café: off-topic chat, i.e. chat where the only rule is never deal with matters regarding job. Chat. IM (instant messaging): Tool of textual synchronous interaction one to one / one to many, useful to exchange private messages. Through some IM it is also possible to realize a group communication, which unlike the chat, does not provide channels or rooms. Broadcast: Tool of textual synchronous interaction one to many. It allows to visualize immediately, through a pop-up or sound advices, urgent messages addressed to all the users or to specific groups. VoIP call : tool of synchronous sound interaction, one to one, which utilizes the VoIP (Voice Over IP) protocol. The data, sent in digital form, are coded through algorithms not diffused, so assuring a grade of protection similar to that of the most common cryptographic standards. Streaming audio/video: tool which allows one to many synchronous sound/video interaction. It utilizes the proprietary VoIP protocol to send a stream of audio or video data transmitted from a source to one or more destinations through a telematic network. Multiple VoIP call: tool of synchronous sound interaction, many to many, which utilizes the proprietary VoIP protocol to transmit multiple calls, to communicate in group. Multipoint VoIP videoconference: tool of synchronous sound/video interaction many to many. Particularly useful when the products with which the community is concerned are mainly analogical, or when members cannot meet physically. 5.3. Tools for asynchronous remote communication Email Forum Newsletter Mailing list: tool of asynchronous textual interaction many to many : a message sent to a special e-mail address is automatically sent to all the members of the list. E-board (bulletin board): tool of asynchronous textual interaction one to one : it is a sort of electronic board where every user can post notices about news and next events or events just happened. Wiki: online space which allows every user to add contents or modify those already existent posted by other users. It also records every modification and who makes it. Podcasting: tool which allows the asynchronous sound (or sound/video) interaction one to many. It is a function which allows to upload/download resources (mainly sound/video) called podcast, in order to give those who could not participate in an event the opportunity to benefit from it. E-conference: system of many to many synchronous interaction, that allows discussion by textual exchanges or videoconference. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 8
Brainstorming: The brainstorming is a group creativity technique aimed to find ideas for the solution of a problem. The main result of a brainstorming session can be the final solution to a problem, a list of ideas for an approach to a successive solution, or a list of ideas which become a work programme to find the solution later. 6. An example of a successful CoP: Linkedin LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is an online social networking service used mainly for professional networking. In March 2008 there were approximately 20 billion LinkedIn users in North America, Asia and Europe, and the network is growing by 100,000 new users a week. It covers approximately 150 different economic fields and more than 400 economic regions. The main purpose of LinkedIn is to allow registered users to keep a list of people well known and considered reliable in their job field. People in the list are defined connections, and they actually are the connections of a knot (the user) in the social network. Users can increase their connections by inviting people of their liking. The network of contacts available for the user is made up of all the user s connections, all the connections of his/her connections (secondlevel connections) and all the connections of the connections of second level (third-level connections). LinkedIn can be used in many ways: to get a desired introduction to somebody through a reliable and mutual contact; to seek job offers, people, business opportunities with the support of a member of one s own contact list or of the wider network. Employers can also publish job offers and search for potential candidates, and job-seekers can read recruiters profiles and find out whether among their personal contacts they have somebody who could introduce them directly. Other examples of online business communities dedicated to professionals who wish to develop their personal network of contacts are www.neurona.it in Italy, www.xing.com in Germany, www.viadeo.com/fr/connexion in France. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 9
Fig. 3: Linkedin page presented after the login 7. Moodle as supporting tool for a CoP An example of a community of practice built thanks to the support of the Moodle open source platform can be viewed at the address https://i-teach.unige.it/. Many surveys on job market perspectives have recognised as main factors in today s knowledge economy not only the technical competencies, but also the so called soft skills, such as knowledge presentation, efficient research of information, evaluation, project work, workgroup. These soft skills can be considered as an essential component of technological skills, and therefore can be defined ICT-enhanced skills. The Innovative Teacher (I*Teach) project has the purpose to develop methodologies, approaches and tools to be daily used by teachers and the teachers trainers who wish to develop those ICT-enhanced skills. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 10
I*Teach has developed the tools useful for the innovative teacher of the future Europe: a methodological manual a repository of learning materials tools for the management of new learning materials, also available online virtual learning centres in every country. The latter were proposed by the Italian participants of I*Teach to create teachers communities of practice. Fig. 4: Home page of I*Teach web-site Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 11
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Etienne Wenger, Communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity, Cambridge University Press, London, 1998. 2. Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, William M. Snyder, Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2002. 3. Guglielmo Trentin, Apprendimento in rete e condivisione delle conoscenze, Ruolo, dinamiche e tecnologie delle comunità professionali online, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2004. Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 12
ONLINE RESOURCES 1. The knowledge in knowledge management by Fred Nickols (http://home.att.net/~opsinc/knowledge_in_km.pdf) 2. Intervista a Luca De Pietro su "Apprendimento in rete e Comunità di pratiche". Interview vith Luca De Pietro, by Salima Salis [in Italian] (http://db.formez.it/storicoarchivionews.nsf/forpapubblichenotiziepertipo/6027e77348124b79c1256cc300349 d39?opendocument) 3. Una conversazione con Etienne Wenger sulla coltivazione delle "comunità di pratica" by D. Lipari [in Italian] (http://db.formez.it/archivionews.nsf/a578eb75b67ad00bc1256e220031865b/796e7793266daeeac125728f004b e601/testo/m2/intervista%2520%2520lipari-%2520wenger%2520.pdf?openelement) 4. Comunità di pratica e reti professionali by Massimo Tomassini [in Italian] (http://www.webquest.it/comunita_di_pratica.pdf) 5. Communities of practice, a brief introduction by Etienne Wenger (http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm) 6. Quando la communtity si fa pratica by Vincenzo Cammarata, Quaderni di Management [in Italian] (http://www.open-knowledge.it/cms/media/documenti/v. Cammarata review Community management.pdf) 7. Le comunità di pratica favoriscono il Knowledge Management by Mario Bianchini [in Italian] (http://www.datamanager.it/itconsult.php?idricercato=15912) 8. Linkedin Definition by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/linkedin) 9. Che cosa significa usare internet nella didattica by Guglielmo Trentin (http://www.garito.it/areastud/studentipsico06/3/02_che cosa significa usare internet nella rete_g. Trentin.doc) Tel. +39 080.4602093 - Fax +39 080.4670562 - info@grifomultimedia.it 13