Personal Learning Networks

Wordle of Mark K. Smith article ‘Communities of Practice’, in the encyclopedia of informal education

If one of our goals as educators is to help our students engage effectively and meaningfully in global communities of practice, then we, as facilitators of learning experiences, must be able to do so as well. We began our semester together with a discussion about social networking and how a communities of practice framework would guide our work. In our final session together we’ll reflect on our experiences learning and teaching in communities of practice that extend beyond the time and space constraints of traditional course environments.

Based on your experiences thus far, how could and will sharing and collaborating in these online environments shape our and our students’ learning environments?

What will we all gain?

What do we stand to lose?

Where will you go from here?

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for enriching my communities of practice and for helping me to grow as a learner and educator. I hope we continue to learn with and from each other!