30.7: Recommendations

To help you begin to create your own community of practice, here are useful recommendations taken from the preceding case studies.

General

• Select tools that match your specific community requirements and context. There is no single ideal community platform, so plan for a good foundation to build as new uses and needs emerge.
• Document observations in the community.
• Support movement between communities.
• Avoid heaping in lots of content. Rather, model how it can be done and encourage members to contribute.
• Begin working on your own research needs early on. What should you keep track of? What type of agreement do you need with your members to conduct research?
• Research new communication technologies and trends both outside and inside your community. Be creative and responsive in experimenting with tools to support community activities.

How Do I Get Started?

• Identify an existing gap or need for the target stakeholders (e.g., needs assessment of Co-op students).
• Establish an overall vision or value statement to meet the target stakeholders’ needs.
• Actively involve the development team from the inception of the idea to create a community, including participation in brainstorming activities.
• Elicit input about specific needs / requirements / wishes from the stakeholders. Conduct surveys with the stakeholders pertaining to topics for the learning modules and the types of activities they would find useful in an online community.
• Involve stakeholders in planning, design, development, and implementation of the online community.
• Ensure that resources are in place for the project. (This is not an initiative done on the side of one’s desk.)
• Build enthusiasm and excitement both internally and externally so that everyone feels they have contributed towards, believes in, and is committed.
• Maintain ongoing project evaluation.
• Monitor and analyze stakeholders’ use patterns and satisfaction levels.
• Ensure resources are in place to implement future technical upgrades and development changes as the community grows.

Who Can Help (Human Resources)

• A development team with multiple perspectives and roles, i.e., Co-operative Education staff, discipline-specific Co-operative Education coordinators, learning designer, instructional designer, experience designer, programmers and systems administrators, intellectual property coordinator, editors, new media designer, project managers, facilitators, and most importantly, students’ (Co-op and work-study) involvement in planning, hosting, moderating, and providing input and feedback.

What Other Resources are Needed?

• An online community platform with content management and discussion capabilities
• Server and back-up

What Funding is Needed?

• Funding for the multitude of staff roles and expertise, i.e., a community coordinator, community host, marketing materials, and promotional events and prizes, as well as funds to ensure the continued development of existing and new features.

How Do I Plan?

• Identify the overall scope for the online community and different phases as needed.
• Allocate extra time for testing, launching, and unforeseen events.
• Provide promotional items to departments, internally and externally.
• Secure support and buy-in from stakeholders (key for success).
• Ensure that orientations and training are part of the plan. Allot generous time for training.
• Identify milestones within the scope of the online community plan and celebrate accomplishments.
• Conduct a phased-launch approach whereby you advertise then launch the online community to one group of stakeholders at a time to assess their interactions and uses, etc.
• Dedicate a minimum of one full-time staff member/student to administer/monitor the online community.
• Expect that it will take time for the online community concept to take root, and even longer for stakeholders to engage with the online community. Ensure you indicate the direct value each stakeholder group may experience.

Outline the Key Steps in the Delivery of the Online Community

• Plan events and promotions (marketing plan).
• Ensure necessary resources are in place to support and maintain the online community.
• As much as possible, make the delivery of the online community appear seamless to the target group.
• Plan to collect feedback from the target group for modifications to the existing processes, features, content, functionality, and the environment (i.e., user interface).
• Ensure continued development and upgrades to the current features and continual updates to content.
• Obtain student (and relevant stakeholder) involvement at all levels: planning, implementation, and contributions.

How Do I Ensure an Impact on Learning (Evaluation)

• Gather data from Co-op students while at university and after they have graduated.
• Embed reflective elements whereby students can record/showcase their learning outcomes (i.e., discussion forums, comment boxes, community profiles).
• Encourage a pull vs. push approach (enable self-directed learning) whereby stakeholders are required to think about how the information they are seeking influences them personally, rather than providing them with directive instructions. Allow for inquiry-based acquisition of content.

How do I Let Others Know? (Communication Plan)

• Attend conferences, events, departmental initiatives, etc.
• Host information sessions and informal presentations.
• Online promotions (email) are effective, as well as electronic newsletters.
• Ensure a marketing strategy/plan is in place, specifically designed to target individual groups.
• Incorporate the online community URL and relevant information within existing marketing materials (department-level and/or program level).
• Incorporate the various tools into your regular processes (i.e., online event registration, creation of profiles for new intakes, etc.).
• Publish your initiative and findings in academic journals and/or special-interest publications.