Communities of Practice

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Communities and collaborative spaces are incubators of innovation, knowledge and intellectual capital creation. This course will explore collaboration and communities from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. On the theoretical side, we’ll explore the structural elements (network design and structures, community identity, domain definition, and the cultivation of interest and practice), their natural life cycles, their cultures of collaboration, and key roles and models that lead to successful outcomes. On the practical side, we’ll explore enabling technologies, knowledge flows, and the strategic placement of communities, and measurement of the impacts of communities. We will explore local communities, emergency and disaster management communities, e-science and invisible colleges, homesteading and gardening communities, beekeeping, journalism, sports, and spiritual/religious communities. Assignments involve modeling, analysis and critical assessment of communities of practice.