What is a Community of Practice?

“Groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

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were first defined in 1991 by , and have grown in their popularity and application since that time. ��In educational settings, CoPs have become powerful models in . They help to build community, provide a sense of belonging, enhance cross-discipline collaboration, and promote knowledge and innovation.

CoPs center around a defined shared interest or experience faculty want to explore. CoPs in higher education can be topic based, for example faculty might want to learn more about issues of academic honesty, classroom management, or the scholarship of teaching and learning. CoPs can also be cohort based such as CoPs for adjunct faculty, faculty new to the 91���� community, or pre-tenured faculty. Regardless of the model, the topics of exploration and discussion are driven by the interests and needs of participating faculty.

A primary value of these communities is shared knowledge. Participants build relationships with each other while also creating a repository of resources such as physical materials, social networks, experiences, tools, stories, support tactics, and technologies. Though informal, CoPs are most effective when participants participate in sustained interactions, either face to face or virtual. CoPs can last one semester (≈4 meetings), but more often they extend through the academic year (≈8-9 meetings). ��Meetings are often facilitated to enhance the experience for the members. CoPs are similar in their aim and structure to , another popular collaborative educational development model, but CoPs are more flexible – participants can bring what they can to the conversations, share what they want, and engage as they see fit. ��Both models are effective ways to promote innovation, networking and supported reform.

We at CITL are excited to begin facilitating Communities of Practice at 91����. Our CoPs meet monthly, based on the schedules of the interested participants. ��Although participation is voluntary, it is expected that, to the best of their abilities, all members attend and contribute to the shared practice.

Our first CoP – the New Faculty Community of Practice –�� has been discussing learning theory as�� it relates to their own courses. Through dynamic conversations faculty are sharing tactics, changing their teaching strategies, creating shared resources and a foundational community.

Our second CoP will be offered in collaboration with the Rising Tide Center. The Difficult Dialogues Community of Practice stemmed from a group of faculty who attended a November workshop facilitated by Dr. Libby Roderick on managing difficult conversations in the classroom. ��These faculty wanted to continue the conversation and practice.

For more details on times, and to register please visit our website.

Do you have an idea about teaching and learning that you would like to talk through with other faculty members? ��Do you know of a group of interested faculty that need a space and time to collaborate? ��Let us know, email citlworkshop@maine.edu with your thoughts.

According to the , undergrads spend an average of about $1300 each year on books and supplies. Some textbooks can run upwards of $350 apiece, which can be prohibitively expensive for a student on a tight budget. To put it bluntly, . Many schools and universities, including 91����, have been working to replace expensive texts with high quality alternatives (more on that in just a bit).

At , a debate was held between Team Publisher and Team OER (Open Educational Resources) to discuss the issue. During the debate, the panelists discussed their own perspectives on the issue, resulting in an entertaining and informative session.

Team Publisher consisted of Cheryl Costantini from Cengage Learning and Peter Cohen from McGraw-Hill. Team OER members were Kim Thanos from Lumen Learning and Mark Johnson, a dean at San Jacinto College. Goldie Blumenstyk from The Chronicle of Higher Education served as moderator, so it shouldn’t be surprising that she wrote about the event as well: .

Here at 91����, the Textbook Alternative Program is an initiative to help match instructors with free and licensed resources as alternatives to traditional and expensive textbooks. A will be held on April 25th at Fogler Library from 10am to 1pm. During the workshop, Fogler Library Reference Librarians and Instructional Designers from the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning will work with faculty to find specific resources.

If you can’t make the workshop but you’d like more information about textbook alternatives, Fogler Library has a that provides links to resources that may be helpful.   

Sheridan Adams, MFA

Welcome to the website for 91����’s new Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning.

How did a center of innovation in teaching and learning happen at 91����?

In the fall of 2015, the Provost appointed a task force, chaired by Associate Provosts Monique LaRocque and Jeff St. John, to develop a plan to provide more comprehensive and coherent faculty development support in teaching. As a result, the idea for a Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning began to unfold. In April of 2016, the Provost held a faculty forum to discuss and gather feedback on the creation of this new resource center to cultivate, coordinate, and support innovative approaches to teaching and learning at the University.

Under the leadership of Associate Provost LaRocque and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CITL), Peter Schilling, phase I of the new Center started to come together on the ground floor of Fernald Hall in October 2016. CITL brings together under one roof the former Faculty Development Center, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment, and instructional design and faculty support staff and resources from 91����Online. Using existing resources and redesigning staffing needs, CITL will be comprised of the executive director, an administrative coordinator, learning designers, a manager of workshops, programs and training, and a trained pool of graduate and undergraduate student assistants. We hope to launch phase II (the completion of the CITL space) by early summer 2017.

The mission of the Center is to support faculty and graduate students seeking to explore new approaches to teaching in the context of 21st century information culture. This may include new technologies, and/or may include the application of new research in learning and memory to methods of teaching. The Center will work with schools, departments, as well as individual faculty on curricula that spans multiple courses, a single course, or just a part of a course. It will work with online, face-to-face, blended, and flipped classes. Its goal is to help faculty plan, develop, deliver, as well as assess innovative instruction.

CITL is not, of course, the only group that provides teaching and learning support to faculty and graduate students. Rather, CITL partners with departments, centers, and other groups across campus. We work to help faculty and graduate students learn the many ways that the University of Maine supports their teaching.

We are eager to start our first full semester working with faculty and students–especially as our chairs arrived over the winter break! Please stop by Fernald, explore the CITL website or just let us know what you think about this effort.

Peter Schilling, PhD