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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GLOSSARY
These Professional Development terms listed below are part of a Professional Development and Knowledge Management
Glossary. The full glossary is available in the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) at
http://www.eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/Professional%20Development/Organizational%20Developmen
t/Cultivating%20a%20Learning%20Organization/prodev_fts_00060_041307.html.
Capacity Building:
Activities that increase an individual’s, population’s or community’s ability for growth, development, or accomplishment.
Community of Interest (COI):
A group of people both within and outside an organization who share knowledge and experiences around a common
business or professional interest. They are driven more by learning and less by outcomes than a Community of Practice
(see below).
Community of Learners (COL):
A network of people who share common interests. They establish relationships, work and learn together, and develop and
share their knowledge. Members may be similar or multi-disciplinary. Some communities may be small and localized; others
will be geographically dispersed ‘virtual communities’ communicating primarily by telephone, e-mail, online discussion
groups and videoconferencing.
Community of Practice (COP):
A group of people who share and develop their knowledge in pursuit of a common purpose or task, even though they
do not necessarily work in the same department or organization. They are motivated more by outcomes than a
Community of Interest (above).
ELearning:
The use of electronic information systems (especially Internet technologies) to deliver learning and training.
Knowledge Center:
A place where knowledge is gathered and stored that can be accessed and used by other people. It may be a physical
place like a library, a ‘virtual’ place like an interactive Web site or an online discussion board, a place where people
gather‚ or an informal meeting room or discussion area created to encourage knowledge sharing.
Knowledge Management (KM):
The explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes in pursuit of organizational
objectives, such as creating, gathering, organizing, diffusing, using, and exploiting.
Lessons Learned:
Lessons learned are concise descriptions of knowledge derived from experiences that can be communicated using
mechanisms such as storytelling or debriefings or summarized in databases. These lessons reflect on what was done
Head Start Bulletin 51