The Webheads and Distributed Communities of Practice

Vance StevensPetroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Presentation made as panelist on a colloquiumheld March 27, 2009 at the

annual TESOL Convention in Denver

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 1

Global and local visions: Evolving communities of practice

Panelists: Vance Stevens, Suresh Canagarajah, Yuko Goto-Butler, Toni Hull, Perin Jusara, Golge Seferoglu,

Takako Nishino, and Jane HoelkerMarch 27, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at the

Annual TESOL Convention in Denver

Colloquium abstract: Whether learning or teaching English in the EFL context, the model of Communities of Practice moves individuals and groups forward in their development. Examples of shared practices implemented in elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions as well as in programs of teacher professional development conducted on worldwide communication networks are discussed.

Presented at the colloquium, entitled:

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 2

The Webheads and Distributed Communities of Practice: Abstract

• In these times of globalization and worldwide communication networks, distributed communities of practice (e.g. any CoP that cannot rely on face-to-face meetings and interactions as its primary vehicle for connecting members) are becoming more common.

• This presentation discusses CoPs implemented for educational technology specialists, many particularly concerned with language learning, in ongoing teacher professional development, – foremost through Webheads in Action http://webheads.info – and in various other communities and offshoots from these, such

as TESOL-sponsored EVO (Electronic Village Online). • The concept of distributed CoPs has been addressed by

Etienne Wenger. How Wenger’s concept of CoPs has evolved after his encounter with the Webheads online will also be discussed.

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 3

Characteristics of CoPs

• They promote knowledge of a domain

• They revolve around a practice

• Community aspects– They form spontaneously, voluntarily– They have particularly defined community

spaces in which they interact

Most frequently understood to be defined by Etienne Wenger; e.g.

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 4

Configurations for sharing and dissemination of knowledge

• Groups

• Communities

• Communities of practice

• Connectivist perspectives– Personal learning networks– Distributed learning networks– Rhyzomic learning

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 5

Configurations

• Groups

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 6

Configurations

• Groups

• Communities

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 7

Configurations

• Groups• Communities• Communities of

practice– Domain– Practice– Community

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 8

Configurations

• Groups• Communities• Communities of

practice• Networks

can include overlappingcommunities

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 9

Configurations

• Groups

• Communities

• Communities of practice

• Networksand sampleConnections

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 10

Webheads in Action

• WiA formed as result of 2002 EVO sesson

• Educators who engage in – Helping each other pursue lifelong, just-in-

time, informal learning– Through experimentation in use of social-

media and computer mediated communications tools

– Webheads in Action Online ConvergenceWiAOC 2005, 2007, 2009 http://wiaoc.org

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 11

Webheads: is it aGroup? Community? Network?

• Started out as a Yahoo Group• Developed sense of community• Conceived itself as a community of practice

– EVOnline workshop: Reflection through experience and experiment with a communities of practice online: http://vancestevens.com/papers/tesol/baltimore2003/copractice.html#workshop

– Colloquium: "Case study of a community of practice": http://vancestevens.com/papers/tesol/baltimore2003/copractice.html#colloquium

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 12

Webheads as a CoP

Chris Johnson • joined Webheads in order to study the community as a

possible example of a distributed CoP• Etienne Wenger on his doctoral committee • found that Webheads fit most of the criteria outlined by

Wenger, except possibly on not having a defined space for interaction

• Conclusion: Webheads was almost a CoP (came close)– Johnson, Christopher. (2003). Annotated Bibliography: Web

version. Communties of practice bibliography created for Webheads in Action EVOnline sessions, at http://sites.inka.de/manzanita/dissertation/biblio_COP.htm

– Johnson, Christopher. (2003). CoP Theory Overview. Retrieved February 12, 2004 from: http://sites.inka.de/manzanita/cop/

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 13

Wenger on Webheads as CoP

• Cristina Costa said she felt that she was a member of a CoP when she realized her practice had begun to change

• I asked Etienne whether his concept of CoPs had evolved after his encounter with the Webheads online– Referred to Cristina’s comment as one indication that Webheads

was a CoP– He said that the fact that Webheads met in so many spaces

while clearly being a CoP was a revelation to him, that he realized he could redefine his previous thinking on constraints on SPACE occupied by distributed CoPs

Etienne Wenger in keynote “interview” with Suzanne Nyrop at 2007 WiAOC (Webheads in Action Online Convergence) http://wiaoc.org (WiAOC 2009 is May 22-24 this year).

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 14

Knowledge dissimenation through communities and networks

• Downes on distributed learning networks– Knowing ( where’s Waldo?)

Once you know, you can’t not know– Knowledge exists throughout nodes in a network

• Wenger notes (2002:6)– Increasing complexity of knowledge requires greater

… collaboration; whereas …– Half life of knowledge is getting shorter

• Cormier - rhizomatic learning to deal with increasingly rapid obsolescence of knowledge

• Siemens – connectivism stresses importance of pipes over content

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 15

Jack Richards plenary Denver TESOL 2009 (March 27)

• About what teachers need to KNOW in order to practice effectively

• Research indicates that teachers tend to revert to traditional methods rather than activate what they are exposed to in training curricula

• Derick Wenmouth (also from NZ) mentioned similar research findings at K-12 Online 2008

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 16

Implications for PD: Communities or Networks?

• PD can mean personal or professional development

• Perhaps a matter of scale, number of participants

• Evolution of Webheads is instructive– Community members interact within the domain– Networks imply widespread, perhaps opportunistic,

contacts, looser characterization of domains and practices

• Which is more productive? Given spontaneous and voluntary nature, probably a moot question.

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 17

References• Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice Learning as

a social system. Retrieved April 22, 2005, from: http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml

• Wenger, E. (2002). Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder. Cultivating communities of practice. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 284 pages.

• Wenger, E. (2004a). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved April 22, 2005 from: http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm.

• Wenger, E. (2004b). Cultivating communities of practice: A quick start-up guide. Retrieved April 22, 2005, from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/start-up_guide_PDF.pdf

Find this slide show online at http://slideshare.net/vances

Vance Stevens TESOL 2009Vance Stevens TESOL 2009 18