PurposeThe notion of communities of practice (CoP) has received great attention in educational and organisational practice and research. Although the concept originally refers to collaborative practices that emerge naturally, educational and HRD practitioners are increasingly searching for ways to create these practices intentionally in order to stimulate learning and professional development in specific fields. This paper aims to gain insight into ways in which communities of practice can be deliberately organised.Design/methodology/approachThe study concerns a multiple case study of the deliberate initiation of 15 communities of practice of small and medium‐sized companies in the tourist sector, located in seven European countries. The analysis focuses on how meaningful, shared and coordinative activity is organised in each of the 15 cases. A multiple case study allowed for comparison between the various cases in order to target fruitful conditions and actions in organisation processes.FindingsIn the initiation of a CoP it is important that before an outsider starts to organise and coordinate activities questions such as “How are we relevant to one another?” and “Who are we and where are we going?” are answered first, and by the group itself. These questions relate to the development of meaningful activity (domain) and of shared activity (community). Following this, any coordinative system, any practice, should be subordinated to the motives of the group.Originality/valueBesides identifying various actions for human resource developers who aim to apply the concept of CoP in professional work, the study contributes to the scientific formulation of pedagogical notions around communities of practice.

BackgroundOptimal management of patients with cancer during COVID-19 pandemic is still pending.MethodsOur patients were advised to maintain their scheduled appointments, and planned cancer treatment was continued without unnecessary delays in an outpatient setting. Additional strict preventive infection measures were rapidly implemented at our outpatient department. When COVID-19 test became widely available, universal testing of healthcare workers and vigorous screening of all patients coming to our facility for COVID-19 infection were performed by SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse transcription PCR on rhinopharyngeal swab.ResultsAs of the data cut-off on 9 April 2020, a total of 156 oncology patients with a median age of 67 (range 26–86) years and 63 haematology patients (median age 69 years, range 23–89) were screened for COVID-19 during active cancer treatment. Prevalence (1.8%; 4/219) of COVID-19 in patients with cancer was significantly higher compared with a respective control group of asymptomatic counterparts (p=0.018). Outcomes of COVID-19 positive patients were good, with only one observed death due to progression of advanced metastatic disease.ConclusionOur data indicate that continuation of anticancer treatment in epidemic areas during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be safe and feasible, if adequate and strict preventive measures are vigorously and successfully carried out.

In this chapter, a practical example of designing and implementing a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) building on aspects of collaborative knowledge construction is presented. Based on a theoretical section on collaborative knowledge construction in VLEs, the potential of the VLE Moodle with regards to its collaboration tools is introduced. The subsequent central section of the chapter has a focus on the actual design and implementation of an online course in Moodle, following principles of constructivist course design. The final two sections reflect on the evaluation of the course by course participants, and possible conclusions to be drawn from designing and implementing the online course.

In this chapter, a practical example of designing and implementing a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) building on aspects of collaborative knowledge construction is presented. Based on a theoretical section on collaborative knowledge construction in VLEs, the potential of the VLE Moodle with regards to its collaboration tools is introduced. The subsequent central section of the chapter has a focus on the actual design and implementation of an online course in Moodle, following principles of constructivist course design. The final two sections reflect on the evaluation of the course by course participants, and possible conclusions to be drawn from designing and implementing the online course.

Propõe-se uma leitura crítica comparada do conceito de efeito metafórico de Pêcheux (1969) com parte da bibliografia de Saussure: Curso de Linguística Geral (CLG) e Escritos de Linguística Geral. Com a publicação do CLG (SAUSSURE, 1916), o pensamento saussuriano consolidou uma ruptura paradigmática no fazer das ciências humanas. Mais do que influenciar, essa revolução foi base epistemológica e ponto de diferenciação para o florescimento de diversas correntes teóricas. A Análise de Discurso, fundada por Pêcheux, aparece como área de entremeio entre a linguística saussuriana, o materialismo histórico e a psicanálise. Análise Automática do Discurso (1969) é a obra seminal do campo, definindo o panorama teórico no qual se forja o efeito metafórico, mecanismo pelo qual uma substituição de termos mantém o efeito de sentido no fio do discurso. Delineamos com estado de língua o ponto de ancoragem para que relações sintagmáticas e associativas fossem lidas no funcionamento do efeito metafórico, estabelecendo condições para abordarmos a evolução da língua discursivamente com os compromissos do espírito e a analogia. Na esteira do interesse renovado pela AAD-69, objetivou-se proporcionar aos analistas do discurso uma leitura do conceito de efeito metafórico à luz de uma interlocução que resgatasse preceitos basilares da linguística saussuriana.