Implementing Communities of Practice in Higher Education: Dreamers and Schemers

In this edited collection, the authors pick up the communities of practice (CoP) approach of sharing practice in their reflection on the experience of taking their CoP vision from a dream to reality. Their stories articulate the vision, the passion and the challenge of working within and/or changing existing institutional culture and practice. The book discusses strategies that worked and considers the lessons learnt to inspire future dreamers and schemers. The multiple perspectives provided in the case studies will assist higher education leaders, as well as academic and professional staff, in establishing or assessing CoPs. The book offers insights into implementation strategies, practical guidelines and ideas on how CoP theoretical underpinnings can be tailored to the higher education context.

Jacquie McDonald has worked with higher education academics designing online and distance-learning courses and professional learning programs for over 25 years. Her experience and research demonstrate the value of communities of practice (CoP) in building the social learning and teaching capacity of educators, and contributing to scholarly practice and publications. Since 2006 she has led the successful implementation of communities of practice at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. This initiative was recognised by a 2009 Australian Universities Quality Agency commendation and 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) citation. She has led a number of institutional and national fellowships and grants in CoP leadership, implementation and research. She has been invited by national and international universities to facilitate workshops and contribute to CoP projects.

Aileen Cater-Steel is a professor of information systems at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Her research interests include IT service management, IT governance, e-learning, and research supervision. At USQ she facilitates a community of practice for research supervisors. Aileen has led two Australian Research Council Linkage projects in the area of IT service management and is an active researcher in the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business Development. Aileen’s work has been published in many top-tier international academic journals. She has published three edited collections of research articles. Aileen is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society. Prior to her academic career, Aileen held senior IT positions in the public and private sector.