 | Communities of Practice In this book about communities of practice in the international, higher education sector, the authors articulate the theoretical foundations of communities of practice (CoPs), research into their application in higher education, leadership roles and how CoPs sustain and support professional learning. Research demonstrates that communities of practice build professional and personal links both within and across faculty, student services and administrative and support units. This book describes how community of practice members may be physically co-located and how social media can be used to connect members across geographically diverse locations. It positions higher education communities of practice within the broader community of practice and social learning literature, and articulates the importance of community of practice leadership roles, and the growing focus on the use of social media for community of practice implementation. The multiple perspectives provide higher education leaders, academic and professional staff with the means to establish, or reflect on existing CoPs, by sharing insights and critical reflections on their implementation strategies, practical guidelines and ideas on how community of practice's theoretical underpinnings can be tailored to the higher education context. Jacquie McDonald has worked with higher education academics designing online and distance-learning courses and professional learning programs for over 25 years. Her experience and research demonstrate the value of communities of practice (CoP) in building the social learning and teaching capacity of educators, and contributing to scholarly practice and publications. Since 2006 she has led the successful implementation of communities of practice at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. This initiative was recognised by a 2009 Australian Universities Quality Agency commendation and 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) citation. She has led a number of institutional and national fellowships and grants in CoP leadership, implementation and research. She has been invited by national and international universities to facilitate workshops and contribute to CoP projects. Aileen Cater-Steel is a professor of information systems at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Her research interests include IT service management, IT governance, e-learning, and research supervision. At USQ she facilitates a community of practice for research supervisors. Aileen has led two Australian Research Council Linkage projects in the area of IT service management and is an active researcher in the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business Development. Aileen's work has been published in many top-tier international academic journals. She has published three edited collections of research articles. Aileen is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society. Prior to her academic career, Aileen held senior IT positions in the public and private sector. |
