I am part of a CoP at my large university Membership and participation are voluntary and all are welcome. The Online Learning Consortium helps to make a large place feel smaller and more collaborative. This group is fabulous because it brings people that are working across the university in similar roles together. We develop projects, hold events, and share information. Without the group, we would only see each other by chance.

The development of Quality by Design (QbD) http://commons.suny.edu/qbd/ grew out of this group. This four-week online course provided a community of practice to faculty and staff interested in improving courses through a framework for evaluating them. The course explored the following key components of course design: learner support, content presentation & accessibility, interaction & collaboration, and evaluation & assessment. As learners evaluated their courses through the lens of the OSQCR rubric, they shared issues, concerns, challenges and successes via course discussion forums. This experience was one of the first times I ever witnessed the benefits that can come from online community members engaging in a process together. Anyone is welcome to self-enroll in a non-facilitated version of Quality by Design (QbD) through Blackboard CourseSites to access course resources.