Communities of Practice — Selecting and Joining
Entering a Community
You may enter a community by viewing the list of Communities of Practice that appears when you click on "Communities of Practice" located in the sidebar on the left side of the screen.
Click on "Communities of Practice" located on the sidebar on the left side of the screen.
Click the "enter" link located below the community you wish to enter.
Community Charter
The community charter displays the by-laws of the community and is collaboratively developed, written, and agreed upon by community members. The charter may outline specific expectations for participation, guidelines for submissions, topic delineations, and/or procedures for prospective members to consider before joining.
The charter is dynamic and always open for discussion and revision. If, after participating in the Community, you have suggestions for revisions, please add a topic to that effect.
Community Membership Status
You may check your community membership status by viewing the screen containing "Communities you have joined" and "Communities you have not joined."
Click on "Communities of Practice" located on the sidebar on the left side of the screen.
Joining a Community
When you join a community, you can both read information shared within the community and contribute to the discussions and publishing processes within that particular Community of Practice. There are two ways to join a Community of Practice.
Click on the "join" link under that community's description on the "Communities of Practice" page or
You may also join by clicking on the community title and then the "Join" bubble that appears to the right of the community title on the "Community Home & Discussion" page as described below.
Click the community title or the "enter" link to enter a Community of Practice.
Click the "join" bubble on the "Community Home & Discussion" page.
Click the "join" link under that community's description.
Unjoining a Community
If you choose to focus your attention on fewer Communities of Practice, you may unjoin any community by clicking the "unjoin" link under that community's description on the "Communities of Practice" page.
Click the "unjoin" link under the community's description on the "Communities of Practice" page.
Discussion
Each Community of Practice facilitates in-depth discussions of topics relevant to the literacy concept for that community. These concepts relate to sections of the Online Teacher Reading Academies. Individual topics may be as elementary or as complex as the community requires, considering that the Community is comprised of teachers of all experience levels and backgrounds. The discussions may cover basic definitions of literacy terms and concepts through doctoral-level research topics.
Click on the title of the community or click the "enter" link to add a topic to the discussion.
Follow the instructions for "adding a topic" located in the Home Room section of this user's guide.
You may enter any community, but if you try to "add a topic" in a community that you have not joined, the system automatically brings up the "join" page. You may either "join" or "cancel."
Topics Have a Lifetime
The Community's environment facilitates discussions of topics that are relevant and useful to teachers and reading specialists. If a specific topic proves neither relevant nor useful by inactivity, that topic disappears. In order to prevent the environment from becoming cluttered with irrelevant topics, the system automatically deletes inactive topics after 28 days of inactivity. Conversely, topics that inspire questions and comments prove relevance by continued activity, and the system does not automatically delete topics with continued activity.
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