Comm.unities of Prac.tice 2.0 Export

@phdthesis{citeulike:3271147, abstract = {This thesis deals with the question whether social software offers facilities that support learning in practice in communities of practice (cop). The objective is to formulate hypotheses that explain the relation between the two concepts. The context of this study can be characterized as social software being applied in small, existing communities where participants already know each other and work together. This approach differs from the majority of the existing literature on social software, which normally describes social software from an individual's perspective where communities emerge gradually. To achieve the research objective, several steps have been taken. Firstly, a review of the literature on cops has been conducted. cops are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder, 2002). Learning, meaning making, participation, and engaging are the main objectives. Learning in practice consists of three main processes, namely evolving forms of mutual engagement, understanding and tuning the enterprise, and developing a shared repertoire. To support cops, it is important that an architecture is available that supports the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Secondly, a review of the literature on social software has been conducted. Social software can be defined as software that is aimed at simplifying the achievement and enduring of networks among people (Gorissen, 2006). In this study, three social software services were examined, namely weblogs (blogs), wikis, and social bookmarking. It is argued that social software and cops share several important characteristics, which makes it interesting to study this relation more closely. Thirdly, a review of the literature on the relation between communities (of practice) and social software has been conducted. This theoretical study rei Abstract sulted in a description of the facilities offered by blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Fourthly, an empirical study was carried out. This empirical study consisted of two parts. Ten interviews were held with students at the University of Amsterdam, which were all familiar with both social software and the theory of cops. This study resulted in a refinement of the theoretical description mentioned earlier, which explains the facilities offered by blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Furthermore, these insights were summarized in a single conceptual framework, which was discussed in a focus group interview with a group of experts on the subject. The participants of the focus group validated the conceptual framework, but they also brought interesting contextual prerequisites to light. Several lessons have been identified after conducting this study. Firstly, this study proves that social software can be applied within small groups of people (e.g. existing cops). Secondly, this study shows that social software does offer facilities that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. In fact, it is argued that social software is only supportive of learning when it is applied within cops. However, contextual factors, as acceptance of open source values, and the willingness to participate are key to success. Thirdly, this study shows that every service offers its own unique contribution to the design framework, which implies that a combination of the three services offer the most potential to support cops. To answer the main research question, ten hypotheses are developed that deal with the relation between social software and communities of practice. Finally, limitations and suggestions for further research are described.}, author = {Kloos, M.}, citeulike-article-id = {3271147}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.martinkloos.nl/thesis-M.Kloos.pdf}, keywords = {community, folksonomies, social-information-retrieval, social-metrics}, month = {August}, posted-at = {2008-09-16 07:20:12}, priority = {2}, title = {Comm.unities of Prac.tice 2.0}, url = {http://www.martinkloos.nl/thesis-M.Kloos.pdf}, year = {2006} }

TY - THES ID - citeulike:3271147 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3271147 N2 - This thesis deals with the question whether social software offers facilities that support learning in practice in communities of practice (cop). The objective is to formulate hypotheses that explain the relation between the two concepts. The context of this study can be characterized as social software being applied in small, existing communities where participants already know each other and work together. This approach differs from the majority of the existing literature on social software, which normally describes social software from an individual’s perspective where communities emerge gradually. To achieve the research objective, several steps have been taken. Firstly, a review of the literature on cops has been conducted. cops are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder, 2002). Learning, meaning making, participation, and engaging are the main objectives. Learning in practice consists of three main processes, namely evolving forms of mutual engagement, understanding and tuning the enterprise, and developing a shared repertoire. To support cops, it is important that an architecture is available that supports the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Secondly, a review of the literature on social software has been conducted. Social software can be defined as software that is aimed at simplifying the achievement and enduring of networks among people (Gorissen, 2006). In this study, three social software services were examined, namely weblogs (blogs), wikis, and social bookmarking. It is argued that social software and cops share several important characteristics, which makes it interesting to study this relation more closely. Thirdly, a review of the literature on the relation between communities (of practice) and social software has been conducted. This theoretical study rei Abstract sulted in a description of the facilities offered by blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Fourthly, an empirical study was carried out. This empirical study consisted of two parts. Ten interviews were held with students at the University of Amsterdam, which were all familiar with both social software and the theory of cops. This study resulted in a refinement of the theoretical description mentioned earlier, which explains the facilities offered by blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. Furthermore, these insights were summarized in a single conceptual framework, which was discussed in a focus group interview with a group of experts on the subject. The participants of the focus group validated the conceptual framework, but they also brought interesting contextual prerequisites to light. Several lessons have been identified after conducting this study. Firstly, this study proves that social software can be applied within small groups of people (e.g. existing cops). Secondly, this study shows that social software does offer facilities that support the work of engagement, imagination, and alignment. In fact, it is argued that social software is only supportive of learning when it is applied within cops. However, contextual factors, as acceptance of open source values, and the willingness to participate are key to success. Thirdly, this study shows that every service offers its own unique contribution to the design framework, which implies that a combination of the three services offer the most potential to support cops. To answer the main research question, ten hypotheses are developed that deal with the relation between social software and communities of practice. Finally, limitations and suggestions for further research are described. TI - Comm.unities of Prac.tice 2.0 KW - community KW - folksonomies KW - social-information-retrieval KW - social-metrics AU - Kloos, M PY - 2006/08// UR - http://www.martinkloos.nl/thesis-M.Kloos.pdf ER -