Connect with peers, share ideas, and grow together! Educational Communities enables collaboration, innovation, and supports professional learning.
At the University of Twente, a variety of educational communities offer spaces for teachers, support staff, and researchers to connect, collaborate, and grow. These communities bring together individuals who share a passion for educational innovation, teaching practice, and student learning.
Whether you’re a teacher looking to share ideas, a researcher exploring new educational models, or support staff working closely with learning technology, there’s a community for you. If you’d like to learn more about educational innovation grants, visit the grants website.
What are Educational Communities?
Educational communities are a group of people who share a common interest in certain educational topics and engage in regular interaction and collaboration to learn and grow professionally. The following frameworks highlight core principles that shape sustained educational communities in higher education.
Sustained Educational Communities in Higher Education
Sustained Educational Communities in Higher Education
The figure outlines key features and types of such communities, emphasising the importance of continuity, collaboration, and shared purpose within educational communities in higher education.
Knowledge Management Practice in Educational Communities
The framework is adapted from Lee & Neff (2004). It shows that people are at the heart of educational communities. Here, community members create the social environment in which knowledge is exchanged and transformed. Thus, knowledge base refers to the repository of information, expertise, and content that a community uses and develops over time. Knowledge process encompasses the processes and activities that lead to the creation, sharing, and application of knowledge within a community, while knowledge infrastructure includes the tools, systems, and technologies that support the creation, sharing, and management of knowledge – ensuring that knowledge is accessible and usable.
Reference: Lee, L. L. & Neff, M. (2004). How information technologies can help build and sustain an organization's CoP: Spanning the socio-technical divide? In P. Hildreth & C. Kimble (Eds.), Knowledge networks: Innovation through communities of practice, pp. 165-183. IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-200-8.ch015
Overview of Educational Communities at UT
Below is an overview of educational communities currently active at the University of Twente from different disciplines, faculties, and topics.Accordion
Featured Community: UT Teaching Community
Led by CELT and co-funded by 4TU.CEE, the UT Teaching Community (UT TC) brings together teachers from across UT to exchange ideas, strengthen innovation, and support evidence-informed educational development.
What it offers:
- Monthly inspiration lunches
- Collaboration across faculties
- Teaching innovation projects
- Peer networking & events
For more information related to the 4TU.CEE collaboration and innovation project opportunities at UT:
UT Educational Communities Overview
Target Audience | Name | Description of Activities | Contact | Links |
UT-Wide | 4TU.Centre for Engineering Education/UT CEE-Teaching & Learning Fellows/ Teaching Community | Connecting teachers faculty fellows and senior fellows, and learn from one another by engaging in regular discussions, exchanging experiences, and collaborating on R&D projects. | ||
UT-Wide | UT Learning Community | Connecting teachers, facilitate knowledge and experience exchange, support and mentorship. | Learning Communities | Onderwijs voor professionals - Universiteit Twente | |
UT-Wide | Learning Community Toezichthouden | Connecting teachers, facilitate knowledge and experience exchange. | Jacqueline Veltman - van der Woning | Learning Community Toekomstgericht Toezichthouden - Universiteit Twente |
Internationally | CBL community ECIU | Connecting experienced teachers in CBL, regular informal meetings to facilitate knowledge and experience exchange on educational innovation and internationalization. It is a CoP. | ECIU Community of Practice: Challenge-Based Learning & Micro-Modules | |
UT-Wide | AI @ Work | Connecting Teachers, Regular sessions to address different aspects of AI at work, combined with several (research) projects and assignments in which scientists and professionals collaborate – working towards an application for a joint research proposal. | ||
UT-Wide | Professioneel LeerNetwerk Natuurkunde | Connecting teachers, Regular sessions focus on collaboratively exploring key themes, often working in smaller groups. Sometimes developing ideas at home for the next meeting to apply in their own teaching practices. | Professioneel LeerNetwerk Natuurkunde | Activiteiten | Pre-University (NL) | |
UT-Wide | Professioneel LeerNetwerk Scheikunde | Connecting teachers, Regular sessions focus on collaboratively exploring key themes, often working in smaller groups. Sometimes developing ideas at home for the next meeting to apply in their own teaching practices. | Professioneel LeerNetwerk Scheikunde | Activiteiten | Pre-University (NL) | |
UT-Wide | Lifelong Learning (LLL) Café | Connecting teachers, and learn from one another by engaging in casual discussions, exchanging experiences, and addressing LLL topics. | Marije Hahnen, Astrid van Os, Maaike Endedijk, Sonja Borst, Karen Slotman | Lifelong Learning | Service Portal | University of Twente |
UT-Wide | SUTQ | Connecting Teachers,working on an educational innovation project of your their choice. Through conducting this project, you will develop competencies in using evidence-informed approaches in education and share ideas and experiences with peers. | SUTQ | SUTQ/SKO | Learning & Teaching Portal | |
UT-Wide | Community of Learners Twente (C.O.L.T.) | Connecting local (Twente region): high school educators, UT faculty, students, companies, and government to share best practices, design collaborative projects, improve existing teaching strategies, and support the professional growth of teachers and student skills development. Together, community members explore solutions to the key transition phases students experience, from high school to university and from university to the workforce, ensuring that STEM education remains relevant, impactful, and connected to real-world opportunities. | ||
UT-Wide | Behavioural Data Science Incubator | Connecting students, staff, researchers, and teachers addiliated with the University of Twente, regular meetings to discuss community topics, recent research, and share insights. | BDSi - Behavioural Data Science incubator - Community Building | |
UT-Wide | Gas Erop! | Connecting UT experts with companies in the installation branch to adress the energy transition, discuss and share insights. | ||
EEMCS | UTeachers' Academy | Network events, hands-on sessions, collaborate in smaller group on specific topics, support teacher's profesionalization, sharing and discussion of experiences. | UTeachers' Academy | Educational Quality EEMCS | |
TNW | STER | Connecting teachers, facilitate knowledge and experience exchange related to research. | S&T Education research | Science and Technology Faculty (TNW) | |
BMS | BMS Teaching Academy | Connecting teachers, facilitate knowledge and experience exchange, recognition and rewarding of teaching, support advanced professional development, and information hub. |
