Collaborative problem solving in virtual communities of practice

Abstract

The paper presents a case study illustrating a collaborative problem solving process in Virtual Communities of Practice. The process relies on the existence of an underlying shared knowledge base – a repository of resources, and is carried out collaboratively by members of the community in six defined steps. The case study presents a Virtual Community of Practice dedicated to Disaster Prevention and Handling and explains the process for solving a problem posted by a member. The process is applied step-by-step showing its applicability to solve a real case and how the process enables enriching the repository with the new knowledge generated. The main contribution of this work is to show how the problem-solving process can be systematically applied to real problems within communities of any domain.