Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as well as modern pedagogical perspectives have created new possibilities to facilitate and support learning in higher education (HE). Emerging technologies bring opportunities to reconsider teaching and learning. New ideas and concepts about …

Communities of practice (CoPs) are presented in literature as an efficient tool for creating and sharing knowledge by professionals. In order to learn more about CoPs, four CoPs within Hanze University Groningen, the Netherlands, were studied. Hanzehogeschool is a university for higher professional education, …

The impact communities of practice (CoPs) make can be understood in several different ways, depending on which theoretical perspective is used. For example, CoPs have been studied from a learning-theory perspective, from organizational development theory, and from a small-group theory. To understand …

In this chapter I would like to introduce the knowledge management concept known as communities of practice (CoPs) and show a direct link between CoPs and human resource development (HRD). CoPs are a proven way to effectively manage knowledge as well as promote organizational learning, so it is a logical …

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are social learning systems that can be, to a certain extent, designed. Wenger (1998) proposes the following paradox; “ no community can fully design the learning of another, but at the same time, no community can fully design its own learning” (p:234). My interpretation …

In this paper we discuss the design process that took place while creating social software for Amsterdam University of Professional Education (AUPE) and the interactive knowledge platform, called ‘Theme-sites’. Themesites are used collaboratively by nine universities bound by a consortium, Digital University …

This paper proposes a framework for designing human resource development interventions that facilitate change in professional organizations through promoting learning at the individual and group level. The framework proposed is based on a theory of organizational learning developed by Etienne Wenger …