Week 3 - Blog Posting #6 -Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice like Tapped In, are spring-up all over the web, as the growth of web 2.0 takes off companies are seeing the benefits of not only allowing but encouraging their employees to be involved in these communities of practice.

What makes communities of practice any different then any other social network, like facebook? It is as Wegner points out, "Knowledge is shared with the community, which gives group members a sense of identity." (2002). It is the sharing of knowledge that sets apart communities of practice from other social networks. The almost instant since of belonging and identity, that one gains from being a member, makes these communities of practice very appealing. This is not to say that communities of practice are not social because they are, Wegner even points this out when he says, "Learning is social. They talk about their lives, interests, and ambitions. They even mentor and coach each other". The advancements in web 2.0 applications have given these communities of practice a power to effect change even greater then they have ever seem before. Now professionals can work together, doing things over the internet and in the process learn not only from hearing and seeing but from doing and teaching others. Learning through doing and teaching others is far more powerful when it comes to retension of information, in fact according to William Glasser, we learn 95% of what we teach as apposed to only 10% of what we read(1998). So the real power of communities of practice comes when these communities combine the knowledge and skills of the people with-in the communities with the power of web 2.0 applications.

Through the graduate program at Full Sail I feel like I belong to a very strong community of practice. That of the community of students, course directors and other support personnel. It seems clear to me now that this is, and alway has been, one of the primary goals of the program. Even as I joined Tapped In, I noticed a group for action research. I have not looked into this group yet but I love the fact that I noticed this group right away and felt a connection to this group even before I joined the group. To feel a since of connection to a group of people who I have never even met is quite different for me but I really like it.

Glasser, William. (1998) Retrieved from FSO Week 1 - Blog Posting #2 - Learning 2.0

Wegner E. & Snyder, R. (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice McGraw-Hill Europe