27 November 2007 What gives life to our community?

Criteria Conditions Aims Background Stance Position Platform Activity Future

Emerge is an innovative, 28 month, user-centred, investigation-led, consortium-based project, funded by the JISC and guided by the principles of appreciative inquiry. There have been about 28 institutions, 45 project teams and 210 individual participants. The aim is to support the formation of an "effective and sustainable community of practice” around the Users and Innovation Development Model , using Web2.0 technologies ( def 1 , def 2 ). Emerge is the support project for the JISC Capital Programme , Users and Innovation strand

The wider aims of the U&I programme are for the JISC to receive a pool of high quality bids from which to be able to select for funding those that have the highest chance of producing projects which, with agile development techniques and end-user focus deliver value for money.

The wider aims of the U&I programme are for the JISC to receive a pool of high quality bids from which to be able to select for funding those that have the highest chance of producing projects which,

with agile development techniques

and end-user focus

deliver value for money.

Communities cannot be magicked into being We do not know how to make a CoP see, e.g.: http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/neilw/weblog/109.html It has to be enquiry-led It has to be fun The opening stance Was, in part, a stance …

Communities cannot be magicked into being

We do not know how to make a CoP

see, e.g.: http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/neilw/weblog/109.html

It has to be enquiry-led

It has to be fun

Team active in many communities Typology of communities Experience with community of practice, theory and practice User-centred development model (UIDM) and user trials experience Open source software community model Appreciative inquiry evaluation from the start Working hypotheses Understanding of actor networks A site model based on aggregation A software platform Deep events experience & unconferencing approach Emerge has a position

Team active in many communities

Typology of communities

Experience with community of practice, theory and practice

User-centred development model (UIDM) and user trials experience

Open source software community model

Appreciative inquiry evaluation from the start

Working hypotheses

Understanding of actor networks

A site model based on aggregation

A software platform

Deep events experience & unconferencing approach

Communities of Practice and Purpose Communities share learning, interests, goals, tasks, values, adversity, place, identity …

A model of software development Explicitly adapted to community development

The act of research has a transforming effect on the subject of research. The aim of research is to bring about change. Appreciative Inquiry attempts to get beyond the essentialism, ethical foundationalism and hierarchies of identity politics to embrace a more radical constructionism in relational theory. (Gergen, 1999) By applying a rigorous, anti-essentialist, critical theory-led approach, appreciative inquiry can provide a firm foundation as a research method and evaluation methodology. Appreciative inquiry

Developing projects in a context where there is awareness of the wider activity in a field and an understanding of the alignments and gaps in that field will lead to better projects being developed. By using community development processes and social networking the general quality of educational (learning) technology development projects may be improved, bringing benefits not just to the JISC but more widely to all sectoral funding agencies and stakeholders. Working hypotheses

Developing projects in a context where there is awareness of the wider activity in a field and an understanding of the alignments and gaps in that field will lead to better projects being developed.

By using community development processes and social networking the general quality of educational (learning) technology development projects may be improved, bringing benefits not just to the JISC but more widely to all sectoral funding agencies and stakeholders.

Activities London Launch Online Activity Days Manchester Community Consolidation Nottingham Project Development (Dragon’s Den) Community-generated events supported by a Moodle and Elluminate…

Activities

London Launch

Online Activity Days

Manchester Community Consolidation

Nottingham Project Development (Dragon’s Den)

Community-generated events

supported by a Moodle and Elluminate…

and… ( here )

http://www.flickr.com/photos/josiefraser/tags/community/

Conditions for success Bounded openness Heterogeneous homophily Mutable stability Sustainable development Adaptable model Structured freedom Multimodal identity Serious fun

Bounded openness

Heterogeneous homophily

Mutable stability

Sustainable development

Adaptable model

Structured freedom

Multimodal identity

Serious fun

Criteria Multiple Contextualised Relative Real users involved in development teams Projects have real impact in institutions Ongoing, reflexively self-aware, purposeful community of collaborators Affectionate recollection Wider adoption - and adaptation - of the model Positive return on investment indicators

Multiple

Contextualised

Relative

Real users involved in development teams

Projects have real impact in institutions

Ongoing, reflexively self-aware, purposeful community of collaborators

Affectionate recollection

Wider adoption - and adaptation - of the model

Positive return on investment indicators

The Future of Emerge

In the future, Emerge (or its successor/inheritor) will be a community of – and a front-end for – people working on cutting-edge educational technology systems integration and development, realising the potential of academically-focused social-networking with a light-weight personal profiling system, community map and address book, which becomes an international resource, anticipating standards.

The Future of Emerge Emerge (and its platform) aims to support : the bazaar : project funding and funded project development: the ideas factory unconferences : blended events of centrally orchestrated, community generated activities on and off line, sharing ideas, disseminating results, exchanging knowledge and artefacts the dragon's den : a peer-review culture – critical, appreciative and reflexive, self-aware and aware of the network of actors and relationships in the CoP

Emerge (and its platform) aims to support :

the bazaar : project funding and funded project development: the ideas factory

unconferences : blended events of centrally orchestrated, community generated activities on and off line, sharing ideas, disseminating results, exchanging knowledge and artefacts

the dragon's den : a peer-review culture – critical, appreciative and reflexive, self-aware and aware of the network of actors and relationships in the CoP

Strengthening the present community through showcasing projects and providing active face-to-face and online fora for all the funded projects to keep communicating with each other Continuing to continue as a space to share practice, interests, thoughts, ideas related to learning and learning technologies Sharing a ‘repository for the exchange of ideas’, finding potential research partners, to feedback on experiences Focusing A series of smaller communities where the users have a higher profile and the community architects fade into the background. Widening /including to include groups and individuals outside the original community Encouraging projects teams and individuals and to seek funding through other calls and lines of activity which can again feed back into the Emerge community

Strengthening

the present community through showcasing projects and providing active face-to-face and online fora for all the funded projects to keep communicating with each other

Continuing

to continue as a space to share practice, interests, thoughts, ideas related to learning and learning technologies

Sharing

a ‘repository for the exchange of ideas’, finding potential research partners, to feedback on experiences

Focusing

A series of smaller communities where the users have a higher profile and the community architects fade into the background.

Widening /including

to include groups and individuals outside the original community

Encouraging

projects teams and individuals and to seek funding through other calls and lines of activity which can again feed back into the Emerge community

Thank you Thank you George Roberts Project Director [email_address] http://jiscemerge.org.uk Josie Fraser Steve Warburton Marion Samler Rhona Sharpe Joe Rosa Chris Fowler Isobel Falconer Graham Attwell Brian Kelly and all the jiscemerge people, projects, partners, steering groups and teams

Thank you