Creating a faculty community from a distance

Abstract

A community of practice in higher education teaching is a network of lecturers/instructors who engage in meaningful conversations about teaching and learning, share ideas and resources and problem-solve together for the purpose of improving their teaching. Using a combination of best practices recommended for developing online learning communities, and best practices for developing communities of learners, this paper describes how a faculty training programme offered in a blended format (through a combination of face-to-face and online modalities) was designed to foster community development among eleven teaching staff members at a Caribbean Community College.