Online Communities of Practice as Agents of Change in Curriculum Development

This paper examines how an online community of practice of tutors can be used to drive and engender change in the complex environment of undergraduate medical curriculum development. Parallels are drawn between the theories that underpin communities of practice and change management and comparison made of the role of the community with that of individuals as drivers and agents of change in curriculum practice. The paper is based on a case study within the University of Manchester Medical School, which aimed to create an online system for hospital based tutors. A major issue with such a geographically disparate group of practitioners is the ability of the University to manage and gain feedback from the group, as well as engage them in any meaningful collaborative task, such as curriculum review. To resolve these issues, the project team created a social-network based application that allowed tutors to collaboratively work together to review and update the medical curriculum. Through the use of these technologies, the community of tutors can share and adapt practices in medical education and improve good practice within the emergent Community of Practice. Through a cyclic process of intervention and evaluation, the project team have captured the behaviour, activity and impact of the community as it emerges and develops online, improving the practices of those involved. However, in order for any changes to the curriculum and to practice to be adopted across the wider community, the group needs to act as an agent of change, catalysing and driving change throughout the whole community. The research question addressed by this paper is to what extent an online community of practice can act as an agent of change? In analysing the data from the community of practice, this paper draws parallels between these theories and the change process catalysed by the community.