Communities of Practice to Improve Knowledge Management and eLearning in SMEs

1. SIMPEL - Improving eLearning in SMEs Final Conference 14.04.08 Communities of Practice to Improve Knowledge Management and eLearning in SMEs Anke Petschenka, Steffi Engert (University Duisburg-Essen) Ileana Hamburg (IAT Gelsenkirchen)

2. Table of Contents • Definition and Specifications of CoPs • eLearning and VCoP • Idea of CoP for SIMPEL • Conclusions

3. 1991 Jean Lave Etienne Wenger 1. Communities of Practice – an approach to learning • The term „Community of Practice“ was first used in 1991 by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger

4. 1.1 Communities of Practice (CoP) „We all belong to communities of practice. … At home, at work, at school, in our hobbies, we belong to several communities of practice at any given time.“ Etienne Wenger 2001 Emphasis:learning situations in daily life, at work, at home and throughout society.

5. 1.2 Communities of Practice (CoP) „Communities of Practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour.“ Etienne Wenger 2004 Emphasis:learning peer-to-peer interacting/collaborating in a social network focussed on practice and exchange of experience.

6. 1.3 Communities of Practice (CoP) nach E. Wenger http://www.4managers.de/fileadmin/4managers/folien/communityofpractice_01.pdf

7. 1.3 Specifications for CoPs • its members share a domain of interest and they are committed to this domain voluntarily • they collect and share information resources • shared or complementary competences among members • common ideas and/or joint activities • absence or near absence of hierarchies • orientation towards exchanging experiences on • developing best practice/agreement on standards for best practice • Web 2.0 applications and concepts regarding „social networking“

8. 1.4 Informal Learning Informal learning can be characterized as follows: • it does not take place in special educational establishements apart from normal life and professional practice • it has no curriculum and is not professionally organized • it is not planned in a pedagogically conscious, systematic manner according to subjects, test and qualification • CoP allow informal learning and facilitate knowledge management !!! Jay Cross (2006) pointed out that formal trainings and workshops account only for 10-20% of what people learn at work!!!

9. 2 eLearning - VCoP • new media technologies enable time and place independent exchange • fast transfer of knowledge • efficient organisation of workflows • reduction of workload • documentation: collecting and accessing information repositories • eCommunication, eCooperation • Communication channels (synchronous/asynchronous)

10. 2.1 face-to-face meetings and VCoP • CoPs often start in face-to-face-settings • benefit from information technologies for collecting and accessing information repositories • many CoPs grow into a VCoP or work in a “blended“ mode, combining the best of both worlds

11. 2.2 Working in a VCoP has a number of advantages • members can access the community and share their work largely independent of time and location • it is easy to bring together people of different backgrounds and levels of expertise • it is cost-effective • people may be less inhibited to take part in the discussion than in face-to-face situations

12. 2.3 Working in a VCoP has to be balanced against possible disadvantages • to keep up motivation may be harder than in a CoP meeting face-to-face • missing face-to-face meetings may give rise to feelings of social isolation • a certain level of technical equipment and technical expertise (‘e-competence‘) is required from the community members.

13. 3 The idea of CoP for SIMPEL • CoP took place on a model of a “blended“ CoP combining workshops, seminars and “virtual“ collaboration (LMS MOODLE) • especially the elaboration of the “Guidelines on eLearning in SMEs“ • cumulated eLearning experiences by SIMPEL partners • cumulated eLearning experiences of wider expert network

14. 3.2 Learning Management System: Moodle • Learning Management System Moodle to house the SIMPEL CoP • Philosopy: Social constructivist pedagogical concept and not primarily developed out of software-development considerations • The community was used for • Distributing information materials on CoPs and other issues • Presentation of successful models of e-learning • Elaboration of the Guidelines by using the Moodle WIKI • Documentations of events (workshops, conferences) • Toolbox: links to tools for e-learning; manuals for Moodle

15. 4. Conclusions • combining face-to-face meetings with ongoing work on a virtual platform • CoP can easily be started to build a community of knowledge exchange, know-how and problem-solving ideas • it is important that the members of the CoP are networkers conversant with training conceptions, blended-learning methods and eLearning • Networking • in an individual SME or department • between several SMEs on a branch or a regional level • from different levels might network into a kind of „meta-CoP“. • CoPs can fulfill an important function as part of the training strategy

16. University of Duisburg-Essen Institute for Work and Technology Thank you for your attention! http://www.uni-due.de/e-competence http://www.iat.eu