Online Communities of Practice

The term "community of practice" is used for knowing and learning from each other (communities) through online.
What are communities of practice?
Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better by interacting regularly.
Learning could be the reason for creating a community. Three characteristics are crucial for CP:
The domain: a shared domain of interest.
The community: In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information.
The practice: Shared practice.
What do communities of practice look like?
It can be small, large, formal, informal, often with a core group and many peripheral members. Some are local and some cover the globe. Some meet mainly face-to-face, some mostly online. Some are within an organization and some include members from various organizations.
Where is the concept being applied?
Organizations. This term is often used in business because of the recognition that knowledge is a critical asset that needs to be managed strategically and learning with/from each other.
Government. Like businesses, government organizations have adopted communities of practice for much the same reasons in the way of open knowledge sharing about typical government problems such as education, health, and security that require coordination and knowledge sharing across levels of government.
Education. Schools are using it in order to improve the students; internally, externally and over the lifetime of students
Associations. High-value learning activities. The peer-to-peer learning activities typical of communities of practice offer a complementary alternative to more traditional course offerings and publications.
Social sector. Building communities among practitioners.
International development. A financial challenge. It emphasizes knowledge building among practitioners. Some development agencies see their role as conveners of such communities, rather than as providers of knowledge.
The web. it expands the possibilities for community and calls for new kinds of communities based on shared practice.