Some Modern Inventions through Communities of Practice

Some Modern Inventions through Communities of Practice

In this Blog I will discuss some positive examples of Communities of Practice in modern day. First I will briefly define Wegners Community of practice and then highlight some examples from everyday life, concluding with some examples of modern inventions.

Wegners idea of Communities of practice builds on Tomasello's ideas of “the ratchet effect”. They both make the same statement, that it is social interaction between humans that is the driving force behind learning. Tomasello used the term “the ratchet effect” as a metaphor to describe the ability of a humans to pass on, and improve on their own knowledge. Vegner describes a community of practice as a place where people can learn trough participation by sharing knowledge about the same subject.

In E. Wegner book, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, a good community of practice has all members sharing a desire for for the same subject (domain), where they can partake in joint activities (the community) on a continual basis (the practice). When we are apart of this group, we feel excited, we feel like we belong, we feel like they understand us and share our interest. These are all elements that make up a good community of practice.

We can all remember being in groups, where members were excited about the same things, and were eager to listen to one another. When you were a kid, a community of practice was a club with secret handshakes and playhouses in the woods. When you were a teenager it was bonding over boy-bands and hair trends. When you are in your early twenties is was about dating and drinking with friends. As we develop, our communities of practice groups continuously change as we learn from them and they change us. Throughout our lives we have woven ourselves through different learning groups (COP) based on our current needs and desires.

Instead of learning taking place in a more traditional sense where we acquire our knowledge from a source that is often one way communication, learning in a community of patrice is much more situated. Learning here takes place in the same environment where it is practiced and social relationships are formed. Communities of Patrice are established when people come together to problem solve, request information, seeking expertise, and meetings. These are a few examples taken from Wenger's website. (Wenger's Website June, 2006)

It is through a “Community of Practice” where an outcome can be much larger then the sum of it's parts. The idea of coming together to create something bigger then yourself is fascinating. Some examples of it in our everyday life range from getting married, adopting children, going to University or Collage, and volunteering with a community group. These are some simple examples of a everyday community of practices where our human desire to socially interact with one other to produce something that we can't achieve by ourselves.

Research institutes are often places when people can come together to share knowledge that leads to some amazing solutions to everyday problems. Some examples in modern history of when we had collaborative research that led to some amazing inventions are inventions that were discovered through NASA research.

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was started in 1958. Its plan was not only to explore space but to have it's research benefit all society. This community of practice has joined forces with various companies to produced new products from its ongoing space research. These solutions ranged from improving health care, creating communication satellites and creating some really cool sneakers. As NASA researchers continue to solve problem in space, they are solving problems on earth.

Some examples of the inventions that used NASA technologies are:

	Product Name	Need	Nasa Related	Why it works
	Invisible Braces	To help teengers everywhere to have a social life.	The product, TPA, that the braces are made from, was orginally used to protect the infrared antennae of heat-seeking missile trackers.	It discovered that TPA would be strong enough to withstand use and is translucent, making it a prime material for invisible braces.
	Scratch-resistant Lenses	To stop glasses from being scratched when dropped or mishandled  especially by toddlers.	NASA needed a special coating to protect space equipment, particularly astronaut helmet visors.	Sunglasses manufacturer Companies licensed the NASA technology for its products.
	Memory Foam	Better sleep and to prevent bed sores in people that were bedridden in hospitals.	Temper foam was created for use in NASA aircraft seats to lessen impact during landings providing  shock absorbency.	Doctors can customize the foam to support patients while reducing the pressure on certain parts of the body to ward off bedsores.
	Ear Thermometer	A need to reduce the amount of time nurses spend taking temperatures.	The company Diatek took advantage of NASA's previous advancements in measuring the temperature of stars with infrared technology.	In 1991, infrared thermometers that you place into your ears use the same technology.
	Shoe Insoles	Better shoes for atheles.	Today's athletic shoes have borrowed the technology of the moon boots that first took that leap.The space suit designed for the Apollo missions included specially-made boots that put a spring in astronaut's steps while providing ventilation	Athletic shoe companies have taken this technology and adopted it to construct better shoes that lessen the impact on your feet and legs.