Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical knowledge accumulates over time and becomes an integral part of online CoPs. Due to ease of implementation, content management systems (CMSs) and social media platforms, primarily Facebook, have enabled the emergence of large online CoPs. However, research has shown that online CoPs are not conducive information spaces for seeking solutions independently, and hashtags used for topic organization are not representative of the wealth of practical knowledge. This three-article dissertation describes design recommendations for supporting the information needs of community members by analyzing the practical knowledge in instructional design and technology (IDT) that rely on a CMS and the Facebook platform and conducting usability testing to improve an existing teacher professional development CoP. By applying natural language processing (NLP) and usability testing, quantitative and qualitative approaches were implemented to examine the practical knowledge and help guide the design of information spaces that enable members to search for solutions through better topic representations or categories. The results of the first study showed that the e-learning development CoP emphasized producing online articles related to educational technology and the lack of transparency in evaluating such materials. The results of the second study showed that the four IDT CoPs on the Facebook platform were characterized by the lack of effective topic structures representative of the accumulated knowledge and the lack of community protocols for curating knowledge and taking corrective actions toward misinformation. The third study relied on usability testing to design an information space to support educators' ability to align materials with Missouri teacher standards. This three-article dissertation suggests five design features that online CoPs can implement in addressing the shortcomings of asynchronous online environments, including (1) improving topic organization, (2) establishing community protocols, (3) increasing transparency, (4) improving search functions, and (5) leveraging NLP in future web technologies. Lastly, the dissertation discussed the results of the three published studies, offered recommendations for improving online CoPs as conducive information spaces, and provided future directions.Includes bibliographical references
