This document discusses the ascendancy of the Information Age and the driving forces behind the re-emergence of communities of practice. It notes that the Information Age relies on efficient use of information through knowledge workers. This has led to new media technologies that enable collaborative development and global communication. As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on rapid redesign and innovation. Communities of practice consist of groups of people with shared interests or passions who interact regularly to share information. The document explores how the Information Age has enabled the re-emergence of communities of practice through new communication technologies.

1. The ascendancy of the
‘Information Age’
How it is driving the re-emergence of Communities of Practice
Cameron Warne FET 8605
Building Communities
w0082323 of Practice

2. This resource aims to inform about the ‘Information
Age’ and describe the driving forces behind the re-
emergence of a Communities of Practice in this age.
Notes on Assessment Requirement

3. Current Beliefs about the Information
Age
Notes

4. Communities of Practice (CoP)
• Consist of
– Groups of People with shared concern or passion.
– Regular but not necessarily synchronous
interaction

5. The Re-emergence of Communities of Practice
as a result of the Information Age
Video Sourced from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHKl76xiiqk&feature=fvw

6. Reflections on Existing Communities of Practice that utilise Information Technology Tools
Annotations:
Video 1: Caterpillar: Collaboration
through communities of Practice
Video 2: Engaging Community Practice
Video 3: Communities or Practice
Explained
Video 4:
Critique
Source: www.youtube.com

7. Critique as related to Context
McLoughlin, C. et al. (2008). Peer-to-peer: an e-mentoring approach to developing
community, mutual engagement and professional identity for pre-service teachers.
[Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, 26-29 November
2007] compiled by P L Jeffrey. Australian Association for Research in Education.
Melbourne. Available online at: http://www.aare.edu.au/07pap/mcl07393.pdf

8. Current Beliefs about the Information
Age
The ‘Information Age’ or the ascendency of ‘Knowledge Economies’ within
our world is commonly considered the next evolution from the Industrial
Age, taking place over most of the 20th Century.
The ascendency of the Knowledge Economy has been attributed to a
variety of key driving forces for Knowledge Management, most notably
‘Information Intensity’, which companies having increasingly come to rely
on efficient use of information through reliable and productive ‘Knowledge
Workers’(Olssen & Peters, 2005). This driving force then almost through
necessity has developed two other forces; New Media and
Interconnectedness (Hudson, 2009; Olssen & Peters, 2005). New Media
technologies rely on collaborative development in the production and
distribution of and access to knowledge, resulting in collective use of
intelligence. This use of technology has also developed a need to interact at
a much greater pace than in the past, allowing also for global
communication. These driving forces have also led to an increasing
emphasis on rapid redesign and innovation.
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Notes

9. Assignment 1 - Online resource contribution
Students are required to select a relevant resource which is to be made
available to other students via the web.
Taking one of the key drivers that impact on the (re)emergence of CoP above,
explore some of the prominent literature and select a useful article or
develop a useful resource that you will make available to the course
participants. You should annotate the resource you develop and publish,
This resource aims toon the relevance and contribution to the central or
providing a critique inform about the ‘Information
Age’ and describe the drivingCommunities of Practice. Suggestions could
foundational dimensions of forces behind the re-
include:
emergence of a Communities of Practice in this age.
a powerpoint presentation,
URL with summary/critique to accompany the resource,
Short article which summarises a range of references
Mind map or concept map which capture key issues, themes
Link to an E-journal or ‘zine’ which contains the relevant information and your
critique
Weighting 20% (15% resource; 5% online contribution/participation)
Due date: End of week 3
Assignment 1 Marking Criteria Matrix
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Notes on Assessment Requirement

10. 2001 Study of technology for
communities of practice
Etienne Wegner
The following pages are excerpted from Etienne Wegner’s study of available
technologies for Communities of Practice. While the study took place in 2001 and
the majority of content (as in the available technologies) are outdated, pages 45-46
detail 13 elements which he deems crucial to the success of a community of
practice. This resource has been included as a valuable tool for critiquing the
effectiveness of an online Community of Practice.
The following pages in the document go on to detail specific examples of successful
Communities of Practice. The document is available freely by email registration
here.
http://www.ewenger.com/tech/index.htm

11. http://www.ewenger.com/tech/index.htm

12. http://www.ewenger.com/tech/index.htm