EDUCAUSE Virtual Communities of Practice

2003 NLII National Meeting

New Orleans, LA

Virtual Communities of Practice

• “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion for a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.” (Wenger 2002)

Creating Collaborations

• Discuss common problems and issues • Share documents, solutions or best practices• Collaborate on projects • Plan for face-to-face meetings; continue

relationships beyond face-to-face events

The Virtual Environment

• Worktools– Email integration– Resources exchange– Asynchronous discussion

Synchronous Events

• Multiple media– Chats– Video conferences– Conference calls– Web tours

Join One or More!

• Sign up sheets

• http://www.educause.edu/vcop/

• Lunch discussions today and tomorrow

TEACHING AND LEARNINGVIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF

PRACTICE

• What constitutes deep learning? How is it achieved?

• What are the characteristics of effective teaching? How do we assess it?

• What difference can instructional technology make? How can technology enhance teaching and learning?

Conduct and present a collaborative,

inter-institutional project(s).

Identify project(s) or subproject(s) possible

• What kinds of project(s) can we accomplish considering the capabilities of community members?

• What questions would this community be uniquely qualified to ask and answer?

• What kinds of methodology would bridge the disciplinary diversity of members and answer the research question posed?

• What project(s) can be completed by December 31, 2003?

Establish common understanding and language

• What common readings will help us communicate with one another and other interested parties?

• What experts might broaden our understanding of the pedagogical principles underlying technology, teaching and learning?

• Should we focus on establishing common readings and understanding we could share more broadly than the community?

Identify available resources on technology, teaching and learning.

• What areas of technology, teaching and learning have been researched?

• What area(s) are of interest to the Teaching and Learning Virtual Community of Practice?

• Should we consider a “clearinghouse” model?

Identify a variety of assessment efforts.

• What is available?

• What counts as evidence for what stakeholders?

• What standards are being used to evaluate resources?

Identify current inter-institutional projects in

process.

• What kinds of projects are being undertaken?

• What projects have been completed in what time frame?

• What do these efforts “tell” the Teaching and Learning Virtual Community of Practice Core Members?

Build a community focusing on the

intersections between teaching and learning

and Technology.

Create a community that has broad-based participants.

• Who should we target for membership?

• What can we do to facilitate satisfying member-to-member communication?

• How can we make novices and late arrivals feel part of the community?

• What kinds of technological tools do we need?

Create space to share challenges and successes. • Consult VCOP Core Membership and T and L Constituencies Group to select threaded discussion topics.

• Announce discussions simultaneously to T and L Constituents and VCOP members.

• Set time frame on discussions and product generation.

• Issue weekly digest of activities.

• Post final products

Create space to exchange project documents and

resources.

• What will we need to effectively and easily share documents and resources?

• Will we share works-in-progress more broadly then the community?

• How will we handle issues of intellectual property rights?

Facilitate interactions important to project

development/implementation.

• Would/could various core members serve as visiting scholars for a limited period of time?

• Should we host synchronous or asynchronous events with experts in specified areas?

Learning Objects Virtual Community of Practice

EPAC: The Electronic Portfolios Community of Practice

Electronic Portfolios

• Electronic portfolios are collections of digitally represented artifacts that– document practice– include reflection– integrate experience– map to goals and/or standards

• Student, faculty, and institutional• Generic and customized systems

Sustaining Engagement

• 2002 EPAC

• Ready2Net broadcast on e-portfolio

• NLII Fall Focus Session

• AAHE National Electronic Portfolio Leaders Meeting

Lots of Interest

• Over 150 members

• Four countries

• All subcommunities represented

Current Activities

• Defining common terms• Collecting and sharing resources• Discussing common issues

– Open source e-portfolio software: Common standards, diverse purposes

– Reflection: Why is it important? What makes it good?

• January 13th video/audio/web conference

The Challenge of Multiple Practices

• Fostering engagement between established community of tool builders and “users”– Faculty– Academic administrators and staff – Learning Researchers

• Novices and Experts

What is the New Academy?

• We will examine:• Commissioned Reports

– Institute on the Future of Higher Education– Greater Expectations Project—AACU – Beyond Dead Reckoning—Dept of Education, NCPI– UNESCO – HEKATE & the 2020 Vision Project

• Technology Source• Dinosaurs or Prometheans • The Fast Food Future of Higher Education

Articles Last Week…

• The Chronicle Review, January 17th, 2003– “What Teaching Literature Should Really Mean,” Elaine

Showalter says:• “We all know that the humanities are in trouble everywhere in terms

of enrollments and declining undergraduate majors” (p. 8).• “We should make our teaching as intellectually challenging and as

much a topic of professional critique and review as our research” (p. 8).

– “Pushing the Boundaries: Why We Need Independent Centers for Advanced Study,” Robert Connor says we have moved beyond:

• Knowledge transmission to creation and now to “questions that do not fit neatly into existing specialties.”

• “A need for fresh insights.”

Articles This Week…

• The Chronicle Review, January 24th, 2003– “Read One, Write One, Teach One: Are Graduate Programs

in Creative Writing a Pyramid Scheme?” Fern Kupfer says:• “Better get yourself a good day job. Because I’m not ready to give up

mine.”– “A Structural Logjam” (p 12), Rosalind Williams laments

the obsolescence of Engineering curricula. • “a design problem” and points to the need for the humanities

– “3 Rs and One D” James Conner:• Stresses the need for reform in schools of Education• Map to what we know about child development• Call for better community outreach• Notes the grass is greener in English, Science, Art, Music, Theater,

PE…

Why Now?

• Changing Demographics

• Disruptive technologies

• Incredibly shrinking budgets

• Competition

THE NEW ACADEMY VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF

PRACTICE• Goals

– Promote development of new leadership – Publish a prominent editorial – Stimulate discussion and surface issues for

Educause meetings – Generate new partnerships

• Student Learning Objectives

• NLII Framework for Action

• Channeling Forces

Why Transform Really?

• According to a study just released by scientists at Duke University, (2002, in Frazier, I. New

Yorker, December 9).

“Life is too hard.”

Years of studies suggest that life is…

• “a vale of sorrows”• “a woeful trial”• “a kick in the teeth”• “not worth living”• Before the study was undertaken,

researchers had assumed, by positive logic, that…

“Life could not be that bad.”

From the St. Johnsbury (Vt) Caledonian Record:

EDUCATION TESTS WHO MORE EFFORT NEEDED IN READING COMPREHENSION

Educating our Constituencies

Improving Learning Outcomes

Responding to Consumer Forces—Responsibly!

Sustaining Innovation, Sustaining Ourselves!

The Okavango Phenomenon