Factors, outcomes, and evaluation of the impact of communities of practice on the development of technological competencies in higher education. A systematic literature review

Abstract

Higher education institutions are seeking to define professional development programs that encourage their teachers to develop practices adjusted to the demands of 21st century society, and communities of practice are one possibility. This article synthesizes the factors involved in the conformation of communities of practice, the results and forms of evaluation of the impact of experiences published in scientific journals between 2012-2021. The interest was focused on communities of practice for the development of technological competencies in in-service teachers in higher education. The literature review method proposed by Arlene Fink was applied and guiding questions, search conditions, criteria and procedures applied to select 14 articles for the inductive analysis, from an initial base of 282, are described. Among the results, it is found that communities of practice facilitate teacher empowerment and the improvement of attitudes towards technology, provide support to overcome the perception of loneliness when venturing into technologies, exchange knowledge on best technological and teaching practices, encourage reflections and modifications on teaching practice and favor the generation of academic and professional links. Some of the gaps identified are the lack of research on impact evaluation, the relationship between the duration of the intervention and the results obtained, as well as a deficit in the publication of experiences in Spanish associated with communities of practice in higher education.