Vishwesh Laxmikant Akre, Manipal University Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE

There is an enormous role, Online Communities such as Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) play as learning aids for students studying in the UAE, or for that matter anywhere in the World. Such Online Com- munities are usually topic based and initiate discussions between topic experts and beginners or students. There is no geographical barriers to such discussions, i.e. the participants can be situated anywhere across the globe. The students become member of VCoPs such as Blogs or Discussion Forums and share there queries or problems with other members, who themselves may be students or experts who are geographi- cally dispersed across the globe. In such VCoPs, new members check answers to similar problems or to post their questions which are then answered by more experienced VCoP members. This paper is an attempt to determine the significance of Online Communities such as VCoPs in the academic life of any average student from the United Arab Emirates. The main focus although is on the Information Technology students. Such significance can be highlighted in terms of analysing – the objectives for initial participation, resultant of par- ticipation and desire for continued participation. The methodology adopted for this paper is that of statistical analysis of Primary Data collected by Questionnaire instrument, filled by a group of students from various Institutes in the United Arab Emirates.

Keywords: Communities of Practice, Virtual Communities of Practice, Online Communities, Knowledge Management.

Suggested citation: Akre, V.L. (2008). Online communities – the UAE academic scenario. Skyline Business Journal, Volume 4, No 2,pp 48-57.

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Akre, V.L. (2008). Online communities – the UAE academic scenario. Skyline Business Journal, Volume 4, No 2,pp 48-57.