Creating Virtual Communities of Practice for GIS Education

Dr. Michael N. DeMers

The Busy GIS Professional

Ability of Online to Deliver

Need for Realism and Experiential Learning

Need to Understand Workplace

Workflows

Need to Understand Workplace

Time demands

Need to Understand Workplace

Culture

Need to Understand Workplace

Expectations

Enter Communities of Practice

Dimensions of CoP

Enterprise

Shared RepertoireEngagement

Wenger 1998

Can They Go Digital?

Review of Research on Virtual CoP

Guidelines for e-CoP

• Voluntary Involvement• Problem-focused• Distributed Leadership• Accessibility• Shared Identity• Sustainability

Kendall, et al 2010

Benefits of e-CoP for Learning

• Enhances learning through collaboration (Johnson 2001)

• Common ground through sharing (wenger et al 2002)

• Continuous, cyclical & fluid learning (Gannon-Leary and Fontainha 2007)

• Learning “to be in” practice (Brown & Duguid 2002)

• Identity formation (especially for the newcomer)

Barriers to e-CoP

• Disciplinary specialized expertise (Bos et al 2007)

• Academic culture of independence (Hollingshead 1998, Ozdemir, 2007)

• Weak motivation due to existing collegiality (Smith 2005)

• Shifting membership (Wenger 2005)

• Institutional trust (Stokos et al 2003, 2005)

• Selective use of ICT (Schwen and Hara 2003)

• Whether the CoP is task-based or practice based (Fowler and Mayes 1999)

• Absence of non-verbal cues (Gibson and Manuel 2003)

What is Adaptable to GIS&T?

Who Are the Community Members?

How Do You Locate Them?

How Do You Link Learners and Practitioners?

What Is The Measure of Success?

Promoting Sustainability

Mutual Benefit

Rebuilds The Base of the GIS Educational Pyramid