6.2) Sometimes it is difficult to think about community in different ways. For this task, I want you to think carefully about "joint enterprise". It is easy to belong to a community on the web, but for us to consider the community a community of practice there needs to be a joint enterprise - something that members are actively engaged in with progression and a goal in mind. Usually this means that the members have a vested interest in getting better at something together.
I think a good eg of “joint enterprise” in online communities of practise can be seen looking at online support forums such as mental health forums.
Such forums are used for personal problem solving. All members have been drawn to use the forum as a result of their own problems and questions, and use their knowledge of the topic to build on others posts with their own experiences and knowledge. There is an overall feeling of desire to recover and to help others recover and solve their own problems. Mutual understanding and this shared goal (joint enterprise) provides a SOC and the actions taken within the forum to reach the goal render such communities as a CofP.
The forum can be seen as a collective effort for all members to recover and help others to recover and this is the driving force behind membership and posting.
Do you think this can only be applied to forums dealing with people with "problems"? I think, as mentioned in my blog, people attempting to get better at a hobby together?
ReplyDeleteYeah I definitely agree. I think many things where the aim is 'getting better' are CofPs. The only difference is that as Wegner states these must be seperate from 'organizational units' or official units.
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