CSU Interact enabling a community of practice

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Catherine Newell & Linda WardCharles Sturt University, Learning & Teaching Services

Sharing practice in the Faculty of Education

Situating the Faculty of Education Geographically disbursed faculty Historically working as campus based schools

Context changed Cross campus and faculty courses and teams Flexible/blended CSU strategic goals New platform CSU Interact

Need for whole Faculty approaches Faculty level Learning & Teaching Committee

Our Goal or vision

A distributed community of practice mediated by technology, with CSU Interact as both the place & means for the community to interact alongside & complementary to formal work and existing structures.

AuSakai Conference 2009

Twin challenge

1. How do we move from school based CoP to a distributed Faculty CoP?

2. How do we build capacity in Flexible/Blended approaches & use technology to support this and our strategic goals?

What could Interact contribute?

Exemplars of Innovation and Flexible Learning Working Group EWG proposed:

an Interact site to support the L&T Committee and working groups

a Sharing of Practice Showcase on the site

Faculty of Education Community of Practice

Domain – Identity defined by a shared interest & passion in learning & teaching

Community — members engage in joint activities & discussions, share information & build relationships.

Practice — Practitioners sharing resources & stories to address learning & teaching problems

Distributed CoP - unable to rely on face to face meetings & actions as primary means for connecting members

Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder (2002).

Building a community of practice

1. Establish the showcase & process for collecting & presenting exemplars of innovation & flexible learning

2. Virtual seminar on ePortfolios

Tools enabling our CoP

Announcements

Resources

Test centre

ForumOther tools;•Audio files•Screen capture software

Let’s look at the Showcase site…..

Site stats

Features of a successful CoP

Image source: http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/communities_of_practice/

Features of a successful distributed CoP1. Communication - technology used is an accepted form

of communication & allows a higher level of personal interaction.

2. Culture in the use of technologies exists.

3. Purpose - correlation between the technology and the aim of its use.

Campbell & Uys (2007).

Issues

Conclusions Interact has the potential to enable a CoP by

providing a place & the means to communicate.

However, other factors impact on the success & effectiveness of a distributed CoP

Future directions

Investigate through FLI fellowshipHow can the Faculty of Education develop a successful CoP in a distributed technology mediated environment?

References Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of practice

a brief introduction. Retrieved September 6, 2009 from;http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Campbell, M. & Uys, P.M. (2007). Identifying factors that influence the success of ICT in developing a learning community: the CELT experience. Campus-Wide Information Systems (CWIS). Emerald, UK, 24(1).