Some of the current information behaviour studies focus on concepts such as knowledge management, social networking, collaborative learning and communities of practice. Of these, communities of practice (CoPs) have become very important, especially studies focusing on how information is shared within and between organisations. However, there seems to be a lack of adequate technical support and usage to effectively meet collaborative learning needs among professionals and institutions.
This collection aims to fulfil this need. The book explores diverse technological, social and pedagogical issues pertaining to the design, implementation and testing of e‐learning solutions for CoPs, as well as to issues of individual and organisational learning. A diverse range of 14 chapters, discuss issues, such as: quality e‐feedback, the reuse of documents, and e‐mail‐based interfaces for social software. In addition to these chapters, the book includes a further six chapters which are considered to be selected readings. The aim of these chapters is to support the book's concepts, principles and results through supplementary reading.
The reuse of information in virtual CoPs is a major concern. Chapter 2 outlines the importance of structuring documents in order to facilitate the reuse of their content. The authors show how explicit structure representation facilitates the understanding of the original documents in automating the reuse process. They describe two tools that are useful to perform automatic document structure transformation: one tool uses matching techniques to automatically structure transformation, and the other performs structure and instances evolution in a transparent and automatic manner.
Chapter 3 discusses eLogbook. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne developed eLogbook as a web‐based collaborative environment to provide for the needs of CoPs. The collaboration spaces on eLogbook, can be customised by users, to serve as task management tools, asset management systems, social networks, and discussion platforms. These facilities allow CoPs to share documents and provide much‐needed awareness services. Chapter 3 also discusses the access users can have to eLogbook while using their smart phones.
Apart from reusing documents and offering collaboration spaces, web‐based social networking and groupware technologies provide collaborative learning opportunities. Chapter 14 describes how augmented reality technology is applied in science education. This chapter also highlights the challenges virtual visitors to museum websites pose to educators and curators. Specific research programmes have applied this technology to selected formal education and informal learning scenarios. These and the empirical effects related to intrinsic motivation and cognitive learning of students are discussed in some detail.
The technological developments reported in this book are aimed at augmenting current learning‐related practices in diverse CoP contexts, as well as the advancement of research in technology‐enhanced learning. The book covers a large number of web‐based learning‐ and CoP‐related topics. The individual chapters are well researched and read easily. This makes the book a valuable resource for academia and industry‐based researchers, as well as for those persons interested in technological developments aimed at the establishment of virtual CoPs.
