The term “community of practice” was first used by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in the 1990s to describe learning through practice in the workplace. For these authors, the acquisition of knowledge is in the relationship of individuals with the community and happens when they participate in communities of practice. Participation refers to the process of taking part and has an intrinsically social sense, because even when undertaking a task individually, there is a proper scenario, which is public, as well as the implication of the peers in this process, which suggests both action and connection. The notion of community of practice refers to a social process of negotiating skills in a domain over time [13].
According to Wenger et al. [11], a community of practice presents three fundamental elements that distinguish them from other communities: a domain of knowledge that defines a set of issues, a community of people who care about that domain, and a shared practice that members of that community develop to be effective in that domain.
In turn, a virtual community of practice (VCoP) requires more than simply shifting a community of practice into a virtual environment. Technological infrastructures must be created to support the functioning of virtual communities of practice to overcome obstacles that do not occur in communities of practice in general. These obstacles include the time to know and communicate, the size (as it may grow with new elements and involve different locations), the membership (as the members can participate in several communities), and the culture (since the members have different cultures) [14]. Communities develop over time without a predefined endpoint. They often start with attempts, with modest technological resources and only an initial perception of why they are together [15].