FOCUS - Technical Brief Number 11:
Communities of Practice: A Strategy for Sharing and Building Knowledge
Author: National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR)
Price: Online only
• Published: 2005 • 4 pages
This issue of FOCUS discusses the use of Communities of Practice (CoPs) as a knowledge transfer (KT) strategy. CoPs are "groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis" (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). By building on its members' shared knowledge, a CoP can be useful in developing new ideas and new strategies. The NCDDR's efforts to support a CoP for NIDRR grantees are also described.
