Communities of Practice and Connected Learning: Breaking Down Walls through the Use of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

Valuable Initiatives in Early Learning that Work Successfully (Project VIEWS2), is an Institution for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Research Grant with the objective of providing evidence-based methods for planning and evaluating the outcomes of public library early literacy programs. This study, unusual within Library and Information Science (LIS) research, consisted of a two-year experimental design with an online intervention. Forty libraries throughout the U.S. State of Washington were randomly assigned in the two- condition study: control (20) and treatment (20). The focus of this poster is to look at how the design of an intervention, administered during Year Two of the study broke down walls among the experimental librarians through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The existence of an ongoing community of practice across geographic boundaries will be verified by post-intervention surveys and in-depth phone interviews.