Conceptual and practical issues related to the design for and sustainability of communities of practice: the case of e‐portfolio use in preservice teacher training

According to Barab et al. (2004 Barab, S. A., MaKinster, J. G. and Scheckler, R. 2004. “Designing system dualities: characterizing an online professional development”. In Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning, Edited by: Barab, S. A., Kling, R. and Gray, J. H. 53–90. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), the ideal community of practice (CoP) is a ‘persistent, sustained social network of individuals, who share and develop an overlapping knowledge base, set of beliefs, values, history, and experiences focused on a common practice and/or mutual enterprise’ (p. 55). Thus, a CoP has a social purpose of supporting peers and colleagues by sharing knowledge and artifacts that serve authentic practice. E‐portfolios, online versions of longstanding practice in teacher education, would appear to be ideal candidates to undertake such a task. Nevertheless, the authors argue that conceptual and practical issues must be addressed before significant changes can occur. In the end, a healthy critique of the conceptual and practical aspects of supporting communities of practice online will result in more authentic, effective training of our next generation of teachers.