eXtension Communities of Practice (CoP’s) are online collaborative networks of subject matter experts.  Community of Practice as a method are not new, almost everyone has come across one by now, but you may not have realized what you were looking at was a collaborative effort.  CoP’s exist on sites like Consumer Reports, in CNET, and many other places where groups of experts work to create the content that populates a website.  Communities are self-forming, and for the most part, self-moderated.    eXtension Communities of Practice operate on the principles that subject matter that is timely, relevant, and scientifically valid are best organized by specialist who work daily in that subject area.  The key to public outreach is to create a jump start to discovery where information can be organized and presented to the public as a single voice. Not all the information is uploaded to eXtension CoP’s, as a matter of practice, an abundance of information points outward to individual sites and files.  The role of eXtension is to create the portal that accesses the expertise of Land Grant Universities and their partners in order to create an expert voice for Cooperative Extension. 

This session will focused on what different ways you can participate in an eXtension CoP.  There are many roles to play, including contributing content, being an editor, contributing photo’s or learning video’s, or help with Ask an Expert and FAQ.  In addition, we will go over the professional development opportunities for CoP members and non-members alike.  This is your chance to be part of the next generation of outreach and education.