Applications of Virtual Communities of Practice

Group Members: Beenish AslamIbad Ur RehmanMuhammad Samad HassanUmair Javed

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Recap- COP and Virtual COP

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. (Etienne Wenger, 1998)

A virtual Community of Practice is a network of individuals who share a domain of interest about which they communicate online.

(Leary & Fontainha, 2007)

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Introduction The latest generation of Web-based tools, namely wikis,

blogs/photoblogs and podcasts/vodcasts, offer powerful information sharing and collaboration features.

They have the added advantage of taking the technical skill out of these features.

These web based tools carry the potential of complementing, improving and adding new collaborative dimensions to

Web-based Medical/health education Continuing Professional Development Research Services

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WEB 2.0

The phrase "Web 2.0" can refer to one or more of the following:

A social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and "the market as a conversation”

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

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Wiki

A wiki (from Hawaiian wiki, swift) is a collaborative Web site whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it.

Content management system

Perhaps the best example of a wiki in action today is Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia

Wikis can significantly transform the Internet information age; they have grown very popular in recent times.

http://www.answers.com/topic/wiki

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Wiki Components

Pages community members can add to or edit

Discussion area for each page

List of all of the changes made to a particular page

List of all changes made to all pages.

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Medical Wiki ExamplesMedical Wiki Examples

http://ganfyd.org/

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Medical Wiki ExamplesMedical Wiki Examples

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Wikis: Easy EditingWikis: Easy Editing

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Wikis: Article DiscussionsWikis: Article Discussions

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Use of Wikis in Collaboration

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Blogs

A blog is a Web site that contains dated entries in reverse chronological order (most recent first) about a particular topic.

They can be written by one person or a group of contributors.

Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and images as well as a search facility may also be included.

http://www.answers.com/topic/bloghttp://www.answers.com/topic/blog

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Health/Medical Blog ExamplesHealth/Medical Blog Examples

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Each post to the blog is also a standalone Web page with a unique URL. This facilitates linking to and organising content within the same blog and from external sites.

Blog FeaturesBlog Features

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Blog Features: Easy PostingBlog Features: Easy Posting

Posting a clinical photo from your digital camera directly to your blog after optimisation and adding your comments can also be made at the touch of a button using a free Google product called Picasa.

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Wikis vs. Blogs

No one owns content No specific organization

(hyperlinks) Anyone can edit other

people’s work Perpetual work in

progress Good for collaborative

group work

A person owns their post Organized in reverse

chron. order Only author can edit their

own work (others can comment)

Posts are permanent Good for disseminating

info/starting a dialogue

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Advantages of Wikis and Blogs Two main advantages:

Ease of use Availability of many Open Source/free/low-cost software

and hosting options. Examples of the latter include

MediaWiki Google Blogger

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Disadvantages of Wikis and Blogs Wikis and blogs are sometimes prone to serious quality

issues as they are easy to access and can be edited easily.

In an Open Collaborative Web environment, anyone can

Easily post copyrighted material Post otherwise unsuitable or misleading content Edit existing content in a way that reduces its quality/accuracy Delete a good wiki entry

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Darwikinism).

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Monitoring and Moderation of Open Wikis and Blogs

Monitoring and moderating posts, deleting/ reverting edits as necessary; protecting key/stable content; controlling who can post; blocking problematic users IP addresses.

Wiki and blog software packages have built-in Administrator’s functionalities to support these tasks.

Can be very time-consuming and human resource intensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Counter_Vandalism_Unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Counter_Vandalism_Unit

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Forums Have been around

for a long time

Via e-mail or online

Hard to get going

Large user capacity

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Podcast

A Podcast is a media file that is distributed by subscription (paid or unpaid) over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.

Video Podcasts - vodcasts

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

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CoP Softwares

Group-Office

ProjectwareGroup Ware

eGroupWareeGroupWare

TikiWikiTikiWiki

PhpGroupWare

CodeBeamer

Collaborative Virtual

Environment

Collaborative Virtual

Environment

OpenGooOpenGoo

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Group Ware-eGroupWareE-GroupWare is a free open source groupware software intended for

businesses from small to enterprises. Its primary functions allow users to manage contacts, appointments, projects and to-do lists.

It is used either via its native web-interface, making access platform-independent, or by using different supported groupware clients

Calendar (including support for scheduling of groups, resources and contacts)

Infolog, an application for tasks and notes Resources management (inventory) and booking tool integrated into

eGroupWare calendar Time-tracker application integrated with project manager Wiki

Source:Wikipedia(2009)

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Group Ware-TikiWiki

TikiWiki can be used as a structured wiki, a bug tracking system, a collaboration platform, a knowledge base, ablogging system or an Internet forum

Source:Wikipedia(2009)

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Group Ware-Group-Office

It contains a calendar system, an email client, an inventory system, and a number of other features.

Source:Wikipedia(2009)

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Project Ware-Croquet Project

Applications created with the Croquet Software Developer's Kit (SDK) can be used to support highly scalable collaborative data visualization, virtual learning and problem solving environments, 3D wikis, online gaming environments, and privately maintained/interconnected multiuser virtual environments.

Source:Wikipedia(2009)

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Social Networking Sites

A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together.

Members communicate by voice, chat, instant message, videoconference and blogs, and the service typically provides a way for members to contact friends of other members.

The "social networking site" is the 21st century term for "virtual community.”

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Application of Virtual COP at NAAE

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Reinventing the Classroom…

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Limitation of CoP Applications

Many of the applications do not provide flexibility in Language Selection. French person may find it hard to use the software written in EnglishSoftware [ Groupware, projectware ] are expensiveSome Software are difficult to operate.Some people do not like the concept of CoP and so it will be hard to persuade them to use ApplicationsCultural Difference may prohibit people to collaborate through the application.

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Additional Success Factors

Motivated & tech-savvy subgroup within your local academic community.

Appropriate IT-infrastructure (broad-based high-speed Internet, IP-based videoconferencing program at the desktop, ongoing support structure, etc.)

A strong benefit from VCoP resources should be provided.

A culture within the academic community that can assume long-term ownership of a launched VCoP initiative.

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