Communities of Practice: A framework for fostering coherence in virtual learning communities

This paper presents a case study of an on-line workshop that was conducted via the WWW. Using the participant dialogues from the workshop bulletin boards, the author investigates whether Wenger's (1998) Community of Practice framework can be applied to this educational setting. The results indi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational technology & society Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 384 - 392
Main Author Jim Rogers
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published International Forum of Educational Technology & Society 01.07.2000
Subjects
Building Learning Communities
Collaborative learning
Communities
Community life
Community relations
Educational environment
Educational technology
Joint ventures
Learning
Learning experiences
Literary dialogue
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Summary:This paper presents a case study of an on-line workshop that was conducted via the WWW. Using the participant dialogues from the workshop bulletin boards, the author investigates whether Wenger's (1998) Community of Practice framework can be applied to this educational setting. The results indicate that participants interactions in the workshop demonstrated the characteristics of mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire. These three characteristics are what Wenger posits contribute to a cohesive community of practice. Using this framework, some principles are derived that educators can use to design more cohesive learning communities.
ISSN:1176-3647
1436-4522