Introduction
What is it?
Tapped In (TI) is an online educational community where professional educators, researchers, and students come together. Developed by the Stanford Research Institute, Tapped In’s vision is to transform teacher education online by creating a virtual world where members with different skills, interests, and backgrounds can learn from one another. Starting as an online conference center it has evolved out of the needs of the community, a “joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its members” (Wenger, 1998, para. 8). TI is a ‘community of communities’ (Gray, 1999, para. 4) and allows members access to resources and ideas often unavailable to them in their real life communities. “People everywhere seem more interested in communicating with each other than with databases” (Rheingold, 2000, chapter 8). TI not only provides data and information, but also brings people with common interests together and allows them to engage in “relationships of receiving, creating, and exchanging certain kinds of information” (Baker & Ward, 2002, pp. 208-209). Members participate in interactive forums such as online discussions and classes, professional development, joint activities, and virtual events.
One of the strongest features of TI is the potential for collaboration. Johnson (2001) describes two aspects of collaboration: ‘peer interaction and expert-to-apprentice interaction’ (p. 49). Members can interact with one another as well as with experts. TI also works to solve authentic problems using the concept of teams that include individuals with varied skills and experience referring to this as ‘social interdependence’ (p. 47). Members have shared goals that evolve out of their communication and process of solving real issues.
Organization
How does it work?
Tapped In is a graphical web interface, designed around a room metaphor. The first ‘room’ you enter is the Tapped In reception area. From there you can navigate throughout the ‘building’ to the event rooms, group rooms, public rooms, personal offices, and floor lobbies. There are different room types and numbers designed for specialty areas and sub communities. Within each room there are welcome, about us, notes, files, links, discussion, whiteboard, and passageways links. Volunteers manage the help desk.
After logging in, the first ‘room’ you enter is the Tapped In reception area. From there you can navigate throughout the ‘building’ to the event rooms, group rooms, public rooms, personal offices, and floor lobbies. There are different room types and numbers designed for specialty areas and sub communities. When you first log in your chat is immediately enabled. At this point you will be greeted by a volunteer moderator who will ask if you need help. All chat is archived in transcripts. Members receive a transcript of every chat session via email. See example transcript. The symbols below are helpful as you navigate through the system. If you want information on anyone who enters the chat room, you simply click on the green icon with the ‘i’ and the member information for that person will pop up. To make a member page, click on the ‘me’ folder and edit the profile. All members’ profiles are accessible from the ‘people’ menu. A member page can include offline and online information, shared links, and a photo.
In the room view users decide what they want to accomplish within the forum. Participants can navigate using the menu bar to about, people, places, groups, calendar, library, and jobs. The first decision is to determine which groups of interest to join. Within TI there are currently 877 groups of interest. Each group has their own discussion, file sharing, links and whiteboard. Passageways connect related groups of interest. The K to 3+ Resource Room was created to provide learning support for multiple subject credential teachers. The Artsites group lists as its focus the integration of the arts across the curriculum. Some organizations use the TI forum as a virtual meeting space. An example is the TI community for the Alabama A&M University Writing Project. Groups include listings of collaborating groups, shared links, and shared files. The K12 Teacher Wiki uses the group page as an entry point to their Wiki log in. All members are given the opportunity to create their own groups. Groups have owners and moderators as well of lists with links to all members. The Online Teaching and Learning room is designed to share effective strategies for teacher training. In this room participants are welcomed and provided a list of featured items and scheduled events.
TI sponsors online events which take place in various rooms. The events calendar provides links to all the different virtual meetings, presentations, and activities scheduled for the month. The event, Tapped In Tips & Tricks-Virtual Fieldtrip of TI is an ongoing live tutorial offered several times a week. A volunteer takes you through various group sections, shares keyboard tips and shortcuts, and answers questions in virtual chat. See Tranny1 which includes the TEXT COMMAND HELP from the tutorial event. TI includes a library of resources posted by members as well as a job posting list.
Regulation
Protocols have been established by the members of Tapped In. Statements in the code of conduct emphasize professional expectations for member participation. Standards of netiquette are outlined in the code. Several of these points are unique in that TI encourages members to engage in social conversation with people they do not know in public areas. They request that members respect privacy and not post public material without the prior consent of participants. Members must agree to post only material to which they have legal rights. TI clearly states that they will regularly scan accounts for breaches or violations. Tapped In records IP addresses and reserves the right to ban the IP address of the offender. Members must be over 18, however k-12 teachers may request a closed forum for classrooms.
Evaluation and Conclusion
Hagel and Armstrong (1997) believe a community requires a distinctive focus, integration of content and communication, and appreciation of member generated content. Downes (2004) suggests criteria for a successful community. A community has to be about something. Tapped In meets its purpose as described in its vision statement: “to satisfy teachers' ongoing professional development needs” and allows educators the opportunity to share strategies, resources, and support. Downes believes that members need to feel part of the larger whole. There should be a web of relationships and ongoing exchange between members. Relationships should last. Tapped In provides an educational orientation, sense of history, and access to multiple resources. Referring to the components that Johnson (2001) listed, Tapped In includes participants with varying levels of expertise, has opportunities for both novices and experts to interact, and features “authentic tasks and communication” (para. 1). Johnson (2001) states that the problem of attrition is significant in virtual communities. TI works to solve this problem by scaffolding members through ongoing coaching and facilitation.
“Groups become communities when they interact with each other and stay together long enough to form a set of habits and conventions, and when they come to depend upon each other for the accomplishment of certain ends” (Wilson & Ryder, n.d.). The major features of Tapped In are asynchronous discussion boards which allow frequent access to experts and ongoing peer support, synchronous chat and available transcripts, and file space to upload and download documents. Wenger (1998) discusses the evolutionary process that exists within organizations. Tapped In evolves as the needs of its members change. Squire and Johnson state that “communities of practice develop over time” (as cited in Johnson, 2001, p. 48). Wenger (1998) provides a graphic that helps visualize stages of development in a community of practice (http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml).
Tapped In went online in 1997 and the community is still thriving. According to Wenger’s stages of development, TI members are actively involved in developing their practice: “engaging in joint activities, creating artifacts, adapting to changing circumstances, and renewing interest, commitment, and relationships” (1998). Tapped In gives educators a ‘career-long-home’ implying that they will continue to evolve and meet the needs of their community. Future developments include event rooms with registration, session and proceedings, course management capabilities, audio chat with graphical whiteboard, and a mentor list. Advances in technology provide Tapped In with new tools to engage their members. Baker and Ward (2002) propose that a community will have sustainability if it has both “intensity of interest as well as multiple points of commonality (or connection)… the greater the number and kinds of connections the greater the depth of a community” (p. 213). As of April 14, 2007 Tapped In has 21,518 members actively involved and accessing the community through multiple connections. Tapped In is a successful virtual community of practice that holds promise for the future of its members.
