NCDDR's New Communities of Practice in 2006

Building on CoP activities piloted in 2005, the NCDDR will continue to work with NIDRR grantees to develop Communities of Practice (NCDDR, 2005a).

CoP on Accomplishment Nuggets

The NCDDR will support and facilitate a new Community of Practice in 2006 for NIDRR grantees in the Health & Function priority. The purpose is to help grantees build capacity in preparing to report their "Accomplishment Nuggets" for the 2006 Annual Portfolio Assessment Expert Review (APAER). A total of 110 grantees will be participating in the 2006 APAER, representing six different program mechanisms: Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC); Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC); Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP); Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), and Burn Injury Model Systems; Field-Initiated Projects (FIP), and Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) projects.

CoP on Outreach to Diverse Audiences

This new CoP will identify, examine, and discuss the most salient issues to address the involvement of under-represented groups in research studies, the utilization of research outcomes, and recommendations and strategies to increase the effectiveness of outreach to diverse target systems. Membership will be determined by the initial core group, working with NCDDR staff. The NCDDR conducted a research study in 2005 addressing diversity outreach that will serve as a base for initial CoP review and comment (NCDDR, 2005b).

Activities of the CoPs

The NCDDR will facilitate and sponsor meetings of the CoPs via teleconferences and webcasts, and will facilitate face-to-face meetings as may be appropriate in conjunction with scheduled meetings of NIDRR grantees. NCDDR staff will locate experts and take care of logistics to provide information to the CoP via teleconferences, papers, or webcasts. Discussion lists/online forums will be offered to facilitate communication among CoP members. NCDDR staff also will provide support and resources as needed, and will share position statements and other communications from the CoP with NIDRR grantees, NIDRR staff and other identified audiences.

Resources for CoPs

Information for CoP members and interested parties will be made available via the NCDDR's Web site. Some information will be password-protected for members only. Offerings for the CoPs may include:

searchable member listings
online discussion forums (using fast, lightweight PHP-powered PunBB software)
email lists
online meetings
teleconference calendar and archives/transcripts
webcast calendar and archives
background information resources
position papers

References

NCDDR. (2005a). FOCUS Technical Brief #11, Communities of practice: A strategy for sharing and building knowledge. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved March 1, 2006, from http://www.ncddr.org/kt/products/focus/focus11/

NCDDR. (2005b). FOCUS Technical Brief #12, What consumers and researchers say about research. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved March 1, 2006, from http://www.ncddr.org/kt/products/focus/focus12/