A growing number of Communities of Practice (COP) will be offered by the LTO. These COP are intended to progress the strategic learning and teaching priorities of the University, and support staff by providing a curated space for discussions, practice sharing, dissemination of resources and collaboration across a range of designated topics. COP are hosted in the ‘Communities’ area in Blackboard LMS and all ND staff are welcome to participate.

What is a Community of Practice?

Communities of Practice (COP) is a term coined by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave to describe a ‘community that acts as a living curriculum’ for practitioners to learn from one another irrespective of their position within the organisation (Wenger, 2009). In the learning and teaching environment, COPs form when people join together to collectively learn about a shared topic to enrich their professional practice. In order to qualify as a COP a community must share three crucial characteristics:

• A domain - the group’s identity defined by their shared interest
• A community - joint activities, regular interactions and ongoing relationships; and
• A practice - members are practitioners that develop a shared repertoire of resources (Wenger, 2009).

COP are intended to progress the strategic learning and teaching priorities of the University, as well as support the work of the Learning and Teaching Office (LTO).

Guidelines for Establishing Communities of Practice

How do I join?

Comprehensive instructions for joining any COP in the LTO are contained in the Guidelines.

Communities of Practice Registration