ITEC 315: Developing 21st Century Skills Using Emerging Technologies

Communities of Practice Activity Report

Name: -Margaret Morgan

College: -San Francisco State University
Department: - English
Major: - Technical and Professional Writing
Name of the Network: -
Society for Technical Communicators (STC)
Technical Writing and Content Management
DITA Awareness Group
Lightweight DITA
PDX DITA

Communities of Practices Activities Report

This report follows up on my communities of practice proposal, discusses the groups joined,
reports on my activities since joining these groups, and assesses my original goals from my
proposal.

Groups Joined
I am writing a paper in lightweight DITA (new publishing software). I joined several special
interest groups on LinkedIn and registered as a member of the Society for Technical
Communicators. The groups I joined are as follows:

Society for Technical Communicators (STC)

Technical Writing and Content Management
DITA Awareness Group
Lightweight DITA
PDX DITA

Intended Outcomes
I joined the communities of practice mentioned above in order to network, ask questions, give
answers, find subject matter experts to interview.

Networking
I was very successful networking in the LinkedIn special Interest groups. I was able to
connect with the lightweight DITA subcommittee and talk to the people that are actually
developing the project I am studying.

I was incredibly impressed with how accessible people are, you just need to know where
to find them. After I joined the Lightweight DITA group I was able to locate the team
developing lightweight DITA and talk to five different experts.
 Ask Questions
I posted a few questions on a group wall and received answers within a few days. The
information I received was helpful and relevant.

Give Answers
I had intended to look through questions and try to provide answers, but I realized I
wasnt ready to provide answers. I needed to ask more questions first.

Locate Interview Subjects

I was very successful locating interview subjects using online communities of practice. I
used the LinkedIn Lightweight DITA awareness to connect with the original DITA
developer and the new lightweight DITA developers. I was able to locate five credible
interview subjects within two weeks.

Results
I was very impressed with the results I got from connecting with the online communities of
practice. I was able to locate, contact, and connect with industry experts. The connections I
made throughout the communities led to interviews that bolster the credibility of the report I am
working on. I was able to connect directly to the developer and have my questions answered by
experts.

Joining the online communities of practice had an unintended bonus. My membership in the
online community put me on the industry radar and I began receiving calls from recruiters. Since
joining, I have received 4 calls, and 2 interviews...not bad at all!