A Virtual Community of Practice to Introduce Evidence-based Pedagogy in Chemical, Materials, and Biological Engineering Courses

Background: The Toronto Stroke Networks (TSNs) Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) was developed to connect stroke healthcare providers (HCPs), enhance professional and organizational stroke expertise, foster implementation of best practices, and improve patient outcomes in stroke care. The VCoP is a secure social media platform fostering cross system interprofessional collaboration (IPC). Purpose: To use formative developmental evaluation to inform further improvement of the VCoP’s content and performance and to measure its efficacy as a KT tool to support IPC. Methods: An evaluation framework was developed based on “Promoting and assessing value creation in communities and networks” (Wengar, 2011). Stroke HCPs from 15 organizations in the TSNs were provided VCoP training to build virtual competence and to seek feedback for enhanced utility. The TSNs Education and KT Implementation Plan for 2013-2014 integrated activities that encourage VCoP use. These activities include co-development of educational material across sites, information sharing between meetings, and to support implementation of specific activities. Qualitative (e.g. value stories, narratives) and quantitative indicators (e.g. membership and usage) data are evaluated. Results: The TSNs VCoP currently has: 287 members and 26 groups (open and private groups with 4-19 members). There are 8 interprofessional discussions, with a total of 20 pre-populated and requested forums. Feedback from the membership has prompted investments to improve search features and identification of members within the site for more efficient collaborations. Uploading of Provincial Stroke Rounds, provision of a Research and Knowledge Translation Widget, and securing a space for HCPs to submit recommended presentations were added to increase the value-add of the site as a one-stop shop for Stroke HCPs seeking stroke care information. Qualitative analysis of value stories demonstrating the efficacy of the VCoP for IPC is in progress and will be available at time of publishing. Conclusions: The VCoP is an innovative approach to enhancing the system of stroke care. This formative developmental evaluation approach has enhanced the utility of the VCoP as a source for stroke information and HCP connections.

Download Full-text

The Search for the 'Hidden' Virtual Communities of Practice

Virtual Community Practices and Social Interactive Media ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-340-1.ch003 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 42-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Richard Ribeiro ◽

Chris Kimble

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Community Of Practice ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Electronic Networks ◽

Virtual Community Of Practice ◽

Seci Model ◽

Virtual Communities Of Practice ◽

Fully Functioning

This chapter examines the possibility of discovering a “hidden” (potential) Community of Practice (CoP) inside electronic networks, and then using this knowledge to nurture it into a fully functioning Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP). Starting from the standpoint of the need to manage knowledge and create innovation, the chapter discusses several issues related to this subject. It begins by examining Nonaka’s SECI model and his notion of Knowledge Transfer; the authors follow this by an investigation of the links between Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Knowledge Management; the chapter concludes by examining the relation between Nonaka’s Communities of Interaction and CoPs. Having established this the authors start their examination of the characteristics of “hidden” Communities of Practice. Following on from the previous discussion, they look at what is meant by “hidden” CoPs and what their value might be. They also look at the distinction between Distributed CoPs (DCoPs) and Virtual CoPs (VCoPs) and the issues raised when moving from ‘hidden’ CoPs to fully functioning VCoPs. The chapter concludes with some preliminary findings from a semi-structured interview conducted in the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network (UK). These findings are contrasted against the theory and some further proposals are made.

Download Full-text

Designing, Setting Up, and Facilitating a Knowledge Sharing Virtual Community of Practice, between Social Work Lecturers in the UK and India

International Journal of Knowledge Management ◽

10.4018/jkm.2012100102 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 22-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Isabel Williams

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Action Research ◽

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Community Of Practice ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Small Scale ◽

Virtual Community Of Practice ◽

One Year ◽

The Uk

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual Community of Practice (vCoP) which was developed between social work lecturers in two University settings – one in the UK and the other in India. The design and methodology draws on qualitative data collected from online discussions and semi-structured questionnaires arising from the involvement of twelve participants over a one year period. An Action Research method was adopted which allowed the shift of power from the designer to the participants over the year. This paper illustrates how a vCoP can be an ideal tool to aid communication and knowledge sharing between universities within an international context. It adds value by increasing the knowledge of participant lecturers to more than local perspectives and gives a greater understanding of social work from an international, cross-country, perspective. Although one of the limitations is that this is a small scale study, it does raise important considerations necessary for ensuring the success for vCoP’s and offers a model to aid successful online collaboration as well as important messages for those who are developing online courses and teaching within an international environment. It further gives insight into adopting Action Research as a research methodology that can be usefully used for online collaborative research.

Download Full-text