Communities of Practice

 Consider the concept of a “community of practice.” How can such a community offer opportunities for learning?


Communities of practice, Shirky states, are developing rapidly on the internet. Every latent community can become one of practice by someone posting a comment and getting a response. These communities of practice are basically where people can share common interests and work things out together. One of Shirky's examples is that of a community on Flickr where members share pictures using different photography techniques and comment on how they can improve them. This example offers a great opportunity for learning. An amateur photographer may be in this community with someone who has been doing it for years and can give them some very specific and helpful advice on how to better their work. These groups aren't just for hobbies, but there are communities for individuals struggling with certain diseases or hardships, working in the same field,  and travelling to the same places. They offer encouragement, support, feedback, and aid. These communities are often geared towards a very particular audience.


My dad works with security on computers. The companies he has worked for have the most thorough virus scanning software and firewalls that money can buy. He works with these products all day and then tries to install them on our computers. Seeing that our computers are not that great, they really bog down the speed and take forever to load and scan...it's a pain. We finally convince him of the inconvenience and he switches to normal software, but the normal setting are not good enough (he feels) to fully protect our and our computers' safety. Thankfully, he is a member to different online "communities of practice" designed for computer and safety-minded individuals to discuss how to get the most out of your anti-virus software while also having a computer that actually works. He can post what he's tried to do on our system and then other's (in his field of work) tell him how to modify it to get it working better. Personally, I am thankful to these online communities because it no longer takes thirty minutes for the computers in my house to load.