This group is for people interested in developing, managing, and supporting online communities of practice in education who want to be engaged with the Connected Online Communities of Practice project.

In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations, the Connected Online Communities of Practice project is increasing the quality, accessibility, and connectedness of existing and emerging online communities of practice through four types of activities:

* Launching and leading new online communities of practice that address pressing needs in education and help us learn more about how such communities work best
* Conducting design experiments within “testbeds,” online communities of practice run by collaborating organizations in which project staff will develop, facilitate, and evaluate selected content and activities that help address pressing questions
* Undertaking case studies of both interesting communities of practice and of individual educational professionals’ use of online communities and other forms of social media to connect
* Developing ideas about new designs and infrastructure that could better support educators in making productive connections

What the project learns from all of these activities will be reflected in a report on online communities of practice in education. A draft version of the report is now available, and revised versions will be published in October 2011 and October 2012. « less