Connect with me: Virtual communities of practice

Abstract

This case study focuses on the opportunities and challenges of using a social media platform to build a virtual community of practice (VCoP) of faculty members at a Swiss university of applied sciences. Building on the literature surrounding social learning theory, communities of practice, and workplace learning, the online community is analyzed after being active for two years in order to explore the types and quality of user generated content created and shared. The findings uncovered during the case show that there is hesitation to participate in an online community and many members prefer to remain outliers contributing little to the group, but participating as an “active viewer.” The dynamics of internality/externality of a VCoP, content sharing categories (informative vs. actionable), and levels of interaction are visited, leading to the question: How can we courage participation in VCoPs and promote the user generated content as future resources for teaching and learning?