4.5 Communities of practice

In communities of practice, people with similar job profiles, responsibilities or interests come together to share experiences, challenges and lessons. It can be more structured – with common assignments, reading lists, or reflection and application tasks. It can be less structured as primarily a forum for thoughts, ideas etc.

Advantages:

Can be organized through social media or messager app groups (e.g. WhatsApp or Skype)

Helps share new information quickly

Gives depth and background

Inexpensive

Creates support and community for learners – a safe space to exchange ideas

Disadvantages:

Likely to stop functioning after some time without a moderator or facilitator to keep it together

Needs significant organizational effort and time commitment – from organizers and participants

May need participants to stick to a meeting schedule

Unlikely to learn specific skills or pieces of information

What a learner gets out of it will vary based on the group members.  Some groups may be very helpful or have a lot of ideas – others won’t

Not a fast process