Hi All,

It has been a while since I have had the ability to spend some time working
in Click4hp. Aplogies to all. I was intrigued to see the beginning of a
discussion about Click4hp as a learning community. Therefore I am going to
pick up the thread so to speak and remind people what was said.

After initially posting the question, Irv Rootman responded:
I don't have a fixed definition of what a "learning community is". A
policymaker with
whom I spoke yesterday heard the term from somewhere and was interested in
knowing the extent to which others were using it. I thought that perhaps
Click4hp
might give me a quick reaction.

Peter O'Donnell provided this definition:

"a diverse group of people working together to nurture and sustain a
knowledge-creating system. These communities, which are created by
improving theory and method, enhancing people's capabilities, and
producing practical results, can play a critical role in organizing
learning. The members of a learning community are thus stewards of a
knowledge-creating process, helping one another enhance their capacity
for effective action and reflecting on and conceptualizing their
evolving understanding.

A learning community necessarily links 'practitioners' with
'consultants' or facilitators involved in capacity building, and with
'researchers'. What truly characterizes a learning community is the
willingness to embrace all three of these perspectives as equally true
and equally important in creating knowledge."

and then Peter asked...

* How does CLICK4HP function as a learning community, as you see it?
* How do you see your role and contribution to such an undertaking?
* What helps, and hinders, the individual and collective learning that
takes place?
* How can such a community grow, not so much in membership but in terms
of shared understanding, shared vision, and collective action?

Click4hp began as a preconference learning exercise to a presentation Alison
Stirling and I did at the Canadian Public Health Association Conference in
July of 1996. The intent was to create a list to discuss the implications of
the use of the internet and virtual workspaces as means toward enabling our
work. To that end we discussed a range of topics including literal and
virtual workspaces, transforming the way we work and generally how to begin
using online venues as new place to do what we do or to enhance these efforts.

Since that time it has evolved to become a place for people to share
resources, to ask for information and to discuss issues related to health
promotion work.

Click4hp remains a place where health promoters interested in adding online
venues to existing or planned activities can seek support and assistance. We
invite people to post questions and to contribute what they are finding
works for them in their communities.

But returning to the idea of the Learning Community I think we have an
interesting opportunity here.

If we ask the first question:
* How does CLICK4HP function as a learning community, as you see it?

In my experience Click4hp functions as a learning community in a number of ways.

There are a range of experiences and skills among us here - in fact a range
it would hard to replicate in any other way on an ongoing basis. There are
academics, practioners, community participants and researchers and students.
We share our interests and perspectives in ways which help us to learn both
by participating and silently reading the messages.

So let's explore how do *we* function as a learning community?

Regards,

Liz Rykert
co-facilitator Click4hp