COD Library: Communities of Practice: Collaborative Space

Create a space for collaboration

A community of practice typically requires at least two different kinds of technologies to support their activities:

a software application or platform for live (i.e., real-time) online meetings and webinars (Zoom, Blackboard Collaborate, Teams)
a dedicated 24/7 online space for collaboration, discussion, archiving meetings and webinars, and sharing resources (such as a Blackboard Organization, Teams, or free website builder).

What a collaborative space could look like

When designing the collaboration space, consider creating distinct areas for:

member profiles, including photos
schedule of events
archiving past webinars, hand-outs, slides, and meeting notes
library of resources
discussions and reflections of participants.

Migrating content from private to public

When the work of a community is generating new content that educators beyond the community might benefit from, it may be efficient to have, in addition to the ‘members only’ space, a public site that is added to regularly throughout the year.

In addition to making new content available in a timely way, this ongoing building of a public resource can be a positive motivation for the community as a whole. It is a tangible way to demonstrate that members’ contributions are valued. Seeing their work posted will increase their confidence and validate that the work they are doing is worthwhile and can benefit others.