Space versus Place

I have recently been learning about communities of practice (CoP) as part of my university courses. I have come to understand CoP's as extremely important commodities when it comes to learning environments; especially in online units!

An eCoP has great power. I have learnt a lot from my fellow participants in both EDFD460 and EDFD459. Without the CoP, an online learning environment can feel quite impersonal and isolating, but with, it can become a network that empowers the participants to pursue something that perhaps they would not have without it. It has helped me to develop my own self-efficacy and to persevere when I have felt overwhelmed.

Whilst researching for an assignment I came across this interesting article by Wahlstedt, Pekkola & Niemela (2008), which extends on the significance of a CoP and I wanted to share it here!

Wahlstedt, Pekkola & Niemela (2008) suggest that without the social interaction, online learning environments are like buildings; just a space, rather than places, like schools, where people spend time interacting and learning. They believe that the focus of e-learning environments needs to shift toward 'places' where "social interaction, e-learning environments adopt environmental and social characteristics and become more like places of learning—but still without physical restrictions" (Wahlstedt, Pekkola & Niemela, 2008, p.1022)

I have posted the pdf link to the page if you have the time to read it.

Wahlstedt, A., Pekkola, S., & Niemela, M. (2008). From e-learning space to e-learning place. British Journal of Educational Technology 39 (6), 1020-1030. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00821_1.x

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#learningspaces #education #CoP #communityofpractice #edfd459