‘Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly……….. In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other.’ see Etienne Wenger;

The Centre for Learning and Teaching (CeLT) has established a number of Communities of Practice (CoPs) in themed areas in Learning and Teaching. These include:

• AID4A (Activexpression Interactive Devices for Assessment)
• assessment
• blended learning (including e-learning)
• community group
• diversity and inclusion
• learning spaces
• PDP and employability
• podcasting
• Programme Leaders
• second life
• science communication and engagement
• scholarship and learning
• improving the student experience
• web2.0 technologies

Membership of the CoPs is open to all interested parties involved in student learning and support for learning.

The aims of the communities of practice are to provide to practitioners at MMU:

• opportunities for learning through networking, discussion, dissemination
• advice and encouragement
• opportunities for development and evaluation of L and T activities across MMU.

The communities may wish to meet in person or electronically (there is a mailing list and a webpage for each community). It is also anticipated that the communities will disseminate their activities in other ways such as publication in Learning and Teaching in Action, seminars, contributing to CPD programmes, contributing resources to the CeLT website.

CeLT will support the communities in a number of ways. For example, we will:

• provide an active member for each CoP
• ensure that institutional information is circulated to the CoPs in a regular and timely way
• support convenors as they plan activities for their CoP
• maintain pages on the CeLT website for each of the CoPs
• establish space in the VLE for communications and resources, where required
• consult with a CoP when there are decisions to be made which relate to the activity of the CoP
• organise an annual conference in Learning and Teaching
• offer a route to dissemination and publication via the CeLT website and Learning and Teaching in Action
• work with CoPs to secure external funding

If you are interesting in joining one or more of these communities follow the links in the right hand column for further details and joining instructions for each CoP.