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The Participant's Handbook

Although workshop participants are very much co-creators of the Foundations of Communities of Practice workshop, as the workshop has evolved, there's definitely more of a learning curve and some people feel that by the time they get completely comfortable, the workshop is over.

This handbook was designed with several purposes in mind. First it is meant to allow you to prepare yourself for the workshop. Second, it is a way to share explicitly the design of the workshop and its rationale. Finally it should serve as a reference as you become involved in various activities and conversations. We suggest that you look through it before the start date for the workshop.

Download the Participant's Handbook The table of contents is shown below:

PART 1 - Workshop overview Describes the overall idea of the workshop, the design, the kinds of people you will interact with, and the overall structure of activities.

PART 2 - The learning space Describes the various activity structures you are invited to engage in. Each activity space corresponds to an aspect of the life of real communities.

PART 3 - Groups you will be joining As a participant, you will be joining a number of different groups over the course of the workshop. This section explains what these groups are for and when you will be joining them.

PART 4 - Schedule of activities This section provides an overall schedule for the workshop, some information about what to do before, during, and after, as well as a description of each week. On each week’s page, you will find explanations of any new space and processes that may arise as we move through our cycle of community, domain and practice foci. The goals and related activities for each week are listed in a box at the top of each page. To support your ongoing activity, even in personally busy times we have also proposed a minimum level of activity that will keep you engaged in the main discourse for that week of the workshop.

PART 5 - Advice, wisdom, and FAQ’s This section provides some advice about how to maximize your engagement and learning, including some useful tips, advice from former participants, and frequently asked questions.

PART 6 - The Web Crossing platform This workshop is built on a specific software platform called Web Crossing. This last section gives you an overview of the features and functionalities of the workspace we will be using, some of which are inherent in the platform, and some of which we have built especially for the workshop.

Online workshop offered in Dutch

Graag maken we je attent op de online workshop 'Grondbeginselen van communities of practice'. In deze workshop verkent u samen met de andere deelnemers wat communities of practice zijn, wat er nieuw aan is en hoe ze zich ontwikkelen. De workshop is opgezet als een community of practice. Hierdoor ervaart u ook hoe het is om in een community of practice te participeren. U krijgt concrete handvaten mee om met communities of practice aan de slag te gaan in uw eigen organisatie, adviespraktijk of onderzoek.

Bestemd voor: managers, adviseurs, onderzoekers, opleiders, coaches en facilitators die zich interesseren voor kennismanagement, teamleren, de lerende organisatie en (online) communities.

Startdatum: 19 januari (duur: 7 weken met wisselende intensiteit)

Plaats: online workshop

Kosten: $ 495

CPsquare

tel. : 035-6319856 (Marc Coenders)

e-mail: m.f.delaat@ivlos.uu.nl (Maarten de Laat)

internet: http://www.cpsquare.org/edu/Fnd_in_Dutch/

Walk the talk

Ann Braun, from New Zealand, recently posted the following in a CPsquare discussion. It is such a great example of walking the talk that I asked her permission to post it here:

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People have many different motivations for engaging with communities of practice -- and their motivations change as a result their experiences. My initial motivation for joining, as a participant in a 2002 Foundations of CoP workshop, was to meet other community facilitators, to share experiences and to learn whatever I could to improve my own practice. I gained so much (concepts, inspirational ideas, new relationships, concrete process guidance..... to name a few) from participating in "Foundations" and in Nancy's workshop on online facilitation that my motivation has gained at least one more dimension. Receiving benefits is tempered by a concern to contribute something in return.