West Wind conducted a quick scan of the field to find information for the 2013 Global Implementation Conference about the use of social media in support of online communities of practice (CoPs). The following scan was prepared by Deb Hansen. This scan is not intended to be an exhaustive review of available resources; rather, it is a compilation of some of the resources we use most in our work.

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Written by Circe Stumbo and Mandi Bozarth

The design of the online components of a community of practice determines its potential and limitations even before any member has joined. Decisions must be made very early in the design stage that will impact the community’s usefulness, longevity, implementation, and success. This document outlines those decisions. We pose many questions you will want to ask yourself, but we do not offer answers to those questions, as each community of practice will have different answers. We have advice and experience to offer as you begin answering those questions and would be pleased to hear from you if you are interested in further conversation.

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In December 2011 the Iowa Department of Education asked West Wind Education Policy Inc. to develop an accessible format to share information about competency-based education with stakeholders across the state in real-time. The format was meant to promote community engagement begun at a conference of Iowa educators, higher education faculty, Iowa Workforce Development staff, national experts, policy makers, and state education agency staff. West Wind decided that the charge could best be met with the development of an online community of practice or collaboration site. The following is a case study of the deliberations that led West Wind to the design, creation, and implementation of the Iowa Forum on Competency-based Education.

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[box class=”grey_box”]Written by Mandi Bozarth, Alyssa Rodriguez, and Circe Stumbo[/box]

This document discusses the “Best Practices” for managing an online collaboration site in support of professional communities of practice. Collaboration sites can provide professionals the space to work together across great distances in real time, allowing for work to be shared with immediacy, critiques to be offered in a timely way, and professional networks to be enhanced meaningfully across organizations.