Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustaining a Community Computing Infrastructure for Online Teacher Professional Development: A Case Study of Designing Tapped In

  • Published:
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Community computing has recently grown to become a major research area in human–computer interaction. One of the objectives of community computing is to support computer supported cooperative work among distributed collaborators working toward shared professional goals in online communities of practice. A core issue in designing and developing community computing infrastructures – the underlying socio-technical layer that supports communitarian activities – is sustainability. Many community computing initiatives fail because the underlying infrastructure does not meet end user requirements; the community is unable to maintain a critical mass of users consistently over time; it generates insufficient social capital to support significant contributions by members of the community; or, as typically happens with funded initiatives, financial and human capital resource become unavailable to further maintain the infrastructure. Based on more than nine years of design experience with Tapped In – an online community of practice for education professionals – we present a case study that discusses four design interventions that have sustained the Tapped In infrastructure and its community to date. These interventions represent broader design strategies for developing online environments for professional communities of practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barab S.A., Duffy T.M. (2000). From Practice Fields to Communities of Practice. In Jonassen D., Land S. (eds.) Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

    Google Scholar 

  • Benassi, M., F. De Cindio and L. Ripamonti (2004): Online Communities: A Costs vs. Benefits Analysis. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Bjerknes G. (1993). Some PD Advice. Communications of the ACM, 36(6):39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J.S., Duguid P. (1991). Organizational Learning and Communities-of-practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning and Innovation. Organization Science, 2:40–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J.S., Duguid P. (2000). The Social Life of Information. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll J.M. (2001). Community Computing as Human–Computer Interaction. Behaviour & Information Technology, 20(5):307–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll J.M. (2005). The Blacksburg Electronic Village: A Study in Community Computing. In van den Besselaar P., Koizumi S. (eds.) Digital Cities 2003, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3081. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 43–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Clement A., Shade L.R. (2000). The Access Rainbow: Conceptualizing Universal Access to the Information/Communication Infrastructure. In Gurstein M. (ed) Community Informatics: Enabling Communities with Information and Communication Technologies. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 32–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Clement A., van den Besselaar P. (1993). A Retrospective Look at PD Projects. Communications of the ACM, 36(6):29–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cothrel J., Williams R. (1999). Online Communities: Helping Them Form and Grow. Journal of Knowledge Management, 3(1):54–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, P. (1992, May): Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities. In Proceedings of the 1992 Conference on the Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, Berkeley, CA. Available at http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/curtis92mudding.html/

  • Day, P. and R. Cupidi (2004): Building and Sustaining Healthy Communities: The Symbiosis Between Community Technology and Community Research. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Derry S.J., Gance S., Gance L.L., Schlager M.S. (2000). Toward Assessment of Knowledge Building Practices in Technology-mediated Work Group Interactions. In Lajoie S. (ed) Computers as Cognitive Tools II. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 29–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Doody, M. (2004): Social Capital and Community Networking: Ethno-Cultural Use of Community Networking Initiatives in Canada (Phase I). Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Dourish P. (2001). Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. London: MIT Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery M. (1993). Participative Design for Participative Democracy. Canberra: Australian National University, Center for Continuing Education

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery F.E., Trist E.L. (1960). Sociotechnical Systems. In Churchman C.W., Verhurst M. (eds.) Management Science, Models, And Techniques, vol. 2. London: Pergamon Press, 83–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Farooq U., Fairweather P.G., Singley M.K. (2006). Grounding CSCW in Social Psychology. In Ghaoui C. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction. Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group Reference, 257–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Fusco J., Gehlbach H., Schlager M. (2000). Assessing the Impact of a Large-scale Online Teacher Professional Development Community. In Willis J. (ed.) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 2178–2183

    Google Scholar 

  • Garet, M.S., A.C. Porter, L. Desimone, B.F. Birman and K.S. Yoon (2001, Winter): What Makes Professional Development Effective? Results from a National Sample of Teachers. American Educational Research Journal, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 915–945

  • Gordon, A. and M. Gordon (2004): Sustainability and Community Technology: The Role of Public Libraries and Gates Library Initiative. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Greenbaum J., Kyng M. (eds.). (1991). Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

    Google Scholar 

  • Kensing F., Blomberg J. (1998). Participatory Design: Issues and Concerns. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). The Journal of Collaborative Computing, 7(3–4):167–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim A.J. (2000). Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraut R.E. (2003). Applying Social Psychological Theory to the Problems of Group Work. In Carroll J.M. (ed) HCI Models, Theories, and Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 325–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakhani K.R., Hippel E.V. (2003). How Open Source Software Works: “Free” User to User Assistance. Research Policy, 32:923–943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampe, C. and C. Johnston (2005): Follow the (Slash) Dot: Effects of Feedback on New Members in an Online Community. In Proceedings of the International SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work (Sanibel Island, Florida, November 6–9, 2005), pp. 11–20, New York: ACM Press

  • Lave J., Wenger E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman A. (1996). Creating Intentional Learning Communities. Educational Leadership, 54(3):51–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Ling, K., G. Beenen, P. Ludford, X. Wang, K. Chang, X. Li, D. Cosley, D. Frankowski, L. Terveen, A.M. Rashid, P. Resnick and R.E. Kraut (2005): Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 10, no. 4, article 10. Available online at http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/ling.html

  • Little J.W. (1990). The Persistence of Privacy: Autonomy and Initiative in Teachers’ Professional Relations. Teachers College Record, 91(4):509–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Loucks-Horsley S., Hewson P.W., Love N., Stiles K.E. (1998). Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

    Google Scholar 

  • Malina, A. and I. Ball (2004): ICTs and Community and Suggestions for Further Research: Lessons Learned from Scotland. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Merkel, C., M. Clitherow, U. Farooq, L. Xiao, J.M. Carroll and M.B. Rosson (2005): Sustaining Computer Use and Learning in Community Computing Contexts: Making Technology Part of ‘Who They Are and What They Do’. The Journal of Community Informatics (online), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 158–174. Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN), URL: http://ci-journal.net/viewarticle.php?id=53&layout=html

  • Mumford E. (1983). Designing Human Systems. Manchester: Manchester Business School

    Google Scholar 

  • Musgrave, S. (2004): Telematics in the Context of Community Portals. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century (2000): Before it’s too late. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Available at www.ed.gov/americacounts/glenn/

  • Oldenburg R. (1989). The Great Good Place. New York: Marlowe & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson G.M., Olson J.S., Carter M.R., Storrosten M. (1992). Small Group Design Meetings: An Analysis of Collaboration. Human-Computer Interaction, 7:347–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orr J. (1996). Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job. Ithaca, NY: IRL Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Prell, C., T. Harrison, J. Zappen and K. Hubacek (2004): Sustaining Community/Building Social Capital: The Case of Connected Kids. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), Panel on Educational Technology (1997, March): Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K-12 Education in the United States. Available at http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/k-12ed.html/

  • Putnam, R. (1993): The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life. The American Prospect, vol. 4, no. 13, pp. 11–18.

  • Rényi, J. (1996): Teachers Take Charge of their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success. NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education. Available at http://nfie.org/publications/takecharge.htm/

  • Resnick P. (2002). Beyond Bowling Together: Sociotechnical Capital. In Carroll J.M. (ed), HCI in the New Millennium. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp. 247–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Rheingold H. (1993): The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

    Google Scholar 

  • Rideout, V. and A. Reddick (2004): Community Digital Divide Sustainability: Who Should Pay and Why! Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Rosson M.B., Carroll J.M. (2001). Usability Engineering: Scenario-based Development of Human Computer Interaction. Redwood City, CA: Morgan Kaufmann

    Google Scholar 

  • Schank, P., Z. Harris and M. Schlager (2002, November): Painting a Landscape onto Tapped In 2. Paper presented at the CSCW 2002 Workshop on the Role of Place in Virtual Community, New Orleans, LA. Available at http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/papers/2002/TI2PlaceCSCW.pdf

  • Schauder, D., L. Stillman & G. Johanson (2004): Sustaining and Transforming a Community Network. The Information Continuum Model and the Case of VICNET. Paper presented at CIRN 2004: Sustainability and Community Technology, Monash University, Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Schlager M., Fusco J. (2004). Teacher Professional Development, Technology, and Communities of Practice: Are We Putting the Cart Before the Horse? In Barab S., Kling R., Gray J. (eds.) Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 120–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlager, M. and P. Schank (1997): Tapped In: A New On-line Teacher Community Concept for the Next Generation of Internet Technology. In R. Hall, N. Miyake and N. Enyedy (eds.): Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 231–240. Available at http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/papers/1997/NextGenCSCL.pdf

  • Schlager, M., J. Fusco and P. Schank (1998): Cornerstones for an On-line Community of Education Professionals. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Special Issue: Wired Classrooms: The Internet in K-12, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 15–21, 40. Available at http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/papers/1998/CornerstonesIEEE.pdf

  • Schlager, M., J. Fusco and P. Schank (2002): Evolution of an On-line Education Community of Practice. In K.A. Renninger and W. Shumar (eds.): Building Virtual Communities: Learning and Change in Cyberspace. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 129–158. Available at http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/papers/2002/TIEvolution.pdf

  • Schlager, M., P. Schank and J. Fusco (1999, May): Online Communities (Position Paper). Presented at the CHI ‘99 “Online Communities” Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA

  • Schuler D. (1996). New Community Networks: Wired for Change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuler D., Namioka A. (eds.) (1993). Participatory Design: Principles and Practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

    Google Scholar 

  • Smylie M.A., Allensworth E., Greenberg R.C., Harris R., Luppescu S. (2001). Teacher Professional Development in Chicago: Supporting Effective Practice. Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago School Research

    Google Scholar 

  • Spillane J.P., Halverson R., Diamond J.B. (1999). Toward a Theory of Leadership Practice: A Distributed Perspective. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein M.K., Silver E.A., Smith M.S. (1998). Mathematics Reform and Teacher Development: A Community of Practice Perspective. In Greeno J.G., Goldman S.V. (eds.) Thinking Practices in Mathematics and Science Learning. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 17–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatar D.G., Gray J., Fusco J. (2002). Rich Social Interaction in a Synchronous Online Community for Learning. In Stahl G. (ed.) Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson S.M., Berne J. (1999). Teacher Learning and the Acquisition of Professional Knowledge: An Examination of Research on Contemporary Professional Development. In Iran-Nejad A., Pearson P.D. (eds.) Review of research in education, 24. Washington, DC: AERA, 173–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin R.K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Melissa Koch and Larry Hamel for their contributions to our work and thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper, Aaron Becker for helping us create an attractive and usable interface, and BJ Berquist, Kari Holsinger, and countless other volunteers for their ongoing help in making Tapped In a success. Critical revisions to the original manuscript would not have been possible without the valuable insights of several anonymous reviewers. This material is based on work supported by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants REC-0106926, REC-9725528, and ESI-0314484. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer-Supported Collaboration and Learning Laboratory and Center for Human-Computer Interaction, College of Information Sciences and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Umer Farooq

  2. Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Patricia Schank, Alexandra Harris, Judith Fusco & Mark Schlager

Authors
  1. Umer Farooq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricia Schank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alexandra Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Judith Fusco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mark Schlager
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia Schank.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Farooq, U., Schank, P., Harris, A. et al. Sustaining a Community Computing Infrastructure for Online Teacher Professional Development: A Case Study of Designing Tapped In. Comput Supported Coop Work 16, 397–429 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-007-9049-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-007-9049-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation