News

Learning for a small planet -- a research agenda

Conversations with him and about Etienne Wenger's 10-year research plan: 17th May - 20th June

Etienne has produced a 36 page research agenda entitled: "Learning for a small planet: a research agenda." He is proposing to expand the conceptual framework of communities of practice to theorize learning in terms of identity formation and large-scale social learning systems. The goal is to produce a future-oriented portrait of learning: what is learning becoming in the world today and what are implications for action, design, and institutions?

We're organizing a community-wide event where we’ll be discussing some of the issues raised in the document. Join us as we discuss the multiple facets of this research agenda: the theoretical framework, the hypothesized learning trends and design implications, as well as the methodology appropriate for such an investigation. We expect to develop questions and insights with a view to reaching a common understanding and we hope the conversations will lay the foundation for some collaborative relationships. In principle the conversations will be based on the five topics of the research agenda between these dates:

Topic	Time period
Theory:	17th - 23rd May
Trends:	24th - 30th May
Implications:	31st May - 6th June
Cases:	7th - 13th June
Methodology:	14th - 20th June

In a way this is like a baby shower, as Etienne makes a big transition from consulting to academic life, so we envision several festive teleconferences, the dates of which are still to be confirmed. The online conversations will be in the "Projects" area on the CPsquare website. The event is being organized by Beverly Trayner, Elizabeth Doty, John Smith, Mark Irving, Nick Noakes, Seth Kahan, and Ueli Scheuermeier. Although the organizers have not designed it with newcomers in mind, this conference could be a great introduction to the wonders and foibles of CPsquare.

To participate in the event, we're asking CPsquare members to sign-up before the 15th May: that means that you have to sign-up to be able to post in the discussion. (Of course, everybody in CPsquare can read.) We've experimented with this before and having people sign up beforehand helps clarify people's commitment to the conversation and is helpful in terms of clarifying the audience when you post.

Note: during May and June this conference will take the place of the Research Forum series.

A call to gather in Amsterdam

A small group of CPsquare members (and people who'd consider becoming members) will meet for a day-long, informal session in Amsterdam on June 13th, 2004, the day before the International Conference on Communities of Practice on June 14 and 15 (where several CPsquare members will present work on technology, learning, design, and improvisation). The CPsquare meeting is member-organized and facilitated and will include the following kinds of discussions:

• Getting acquainted with other CPsquare members -- leaders in the study and practice of cultivating communities
• Individual case studies and problem solving sessions: a case presentation and ensuing discussion could last a half hour or more
• Recently published or in progress research projects: what does the field look like? What's not being studied?
• Scanning the horizon: thinking about the future of CPsquare, of individual projects, of related organizations and initiatives.
• Networking and informal conversations over lunch, dinner, or drinks.

Write John.Smith@LearningAlliances.net for details. There will be a fee (for both members and our guests) to cover expenses and CPsquare's administrative costs.

The day after the Vir-Com conference (on June 16), Nancy White and John Smith are offering a one-day workshop on "Strengthening the Heartbeat of Distributed Communities: online events, planning and facilitation". See the flyer that describes goals and take-aways. Originally we were planning to hold the CPsquare Open House event in The Hague, but did not find a place for the envet, so it's being held in Amsterdam