From Basic Participation to Transformation

2014 ◽  
pp. 446-473
Author(s):  
Diana Ayling ◽  
Hazel Owen ◽  
Edward Flagg
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Community Platforms ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

In a time of great change and challenge in education, teachers have an “urgency” with regard to their professional development. Many educators are choosing to move away from traditional modes to participation in online communities of practice. The aim of this research was to verify that online communities of practice can support transformative learning and positive professional development experiences for members. Two community platforms were observed and examined in terms of online activity. In addition to the formal research methods, the researchers monitored the activity of a selection of community members, tracking their engagement and participation in the communities. The research demonstrates that rich and transformative learning and professional development can occur in online communities of practice. The authors highlight some of the values and skills required by both the community and active members. They conclude that well designed and deftly supported online communities have a bright future for professional learning and development.

From Basic Participation to Transformation

2014 ◽  
pp. 47-74
Author(s):  
Diana Ayling ◽  
Hazel Owen ◽  
Edward Flagg
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Community Platforms ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

In a time of great change and challenge in education, teachers have an “urgency” with regard to their professional development. Many educators are choosing to move away from traditional modes to participation in online communities of practice. The aim of this research was to verify that online communities of practice can support transformative learning and positive professional development experiences for members. Two community platforms were observed and examined in terms of online activity. In addition to the formal research methods, the researchers monitored the activity of a selection of community members, tracking their engagement and participation in the communities. The research demonstrates that rich and transformative learning and professional development can occur in online communities of practice. The authors highlight some of the values and skills required by both the community and active members. They conclude that well designed and deftly supported online communities have a bright future for professional learning and development.

Information Superhighway and Continuous Professional Development for the Networked Teachers

2018 ◽  
pp. 1761-1776
Author(s):  
Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice ◽  
The Impact

This chapter focuses on the impact of technology on teacher training through online communities of practice (CoP) and investigates its potential for facilitating continuous professional development for the educators who can create personal learning networks on the web. Wenger's Community of Practice Theory (1998) and Garrison et al.'s (2000) Community of Inquiry (CoI) are explored as underlying theories of CoP. Furthermore, examples of online communities of practice will be briefly enlisted. The chapter will provide brief information how online learning is operationalized within the confines of CoP. The chapter will also discuss role of online communities of practice for teachers' continuous professional development with reference to current literature, explore challenges and focus on suggestions and avenues for further research.

scholarly journals Making the most of mobility: virtual mentoring and education practitioner professional development

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel D. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Virtual Mentoring ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Knowledge Cultures

Learning provision, including professional learning, needs to embrace mobility (of knowledge, cultures and contexts – physical and cerebral) to enable education practitioners to interact locally and globally, engage with new literacies, access rich contexts, and to question, co-construct and collaborate. Virtual mentoring, also known as distance, remote, tele-, cyber- and eMentoring, offers a level of flexibility that enables mentors and mentees to maximise these concepts of mobility. There are Professional Learning and Development (PLD) initiatives that offer contextualised, individualised learning experiences via mentoring partnerships and Communities of Practice (CoPs), but not so many that have focussed on virtual mentoring and online CoPs. This article describes a Virtual PLD programme that has been offered in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to date and discusses findings from the associated research study, including benefits that can be specifically equated to the virtual nature of the mentoring and access to the online CoP. Also reported are shifts in mentees’ self-efficacy and perceptions of changes in professional practice.Keywords: online communities; professional development; coaching(Published: 16 September 2015)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 25566 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.25566

scholarly journals Critical Factors that Enhance the Effectiveness of Online Communities of Practice: EFL Coordinators’ Patterns of Involvement - The Greek EL Teachers Cops Professional Development Paradigm

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Katerina Kourkouli
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

The paper examines Greek EFL Coordinators’ involvement in online Communities of Practice (CoPs) in terms of its impact on participating teachers’ professional development. The study focuses on four online CoPs hosting 49 Greek EFL teachers as participants and four Greek EFL Coordinators, using an online platform named 2gather developed by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the context of a national in-service professional development project in Greece. The study involves investigating the Coordinators’ patterns of involvement and their trainees’ response using a mixed-methods approach which combines quantitative and qualitative research as collective case studies of the four groups. Differentiations between the four Coordinators’ reported patterns of involvement and teachers’ reported effectiveness of their CoP training experience enables us to identify critical factors that contribute to the enhancement of effectiveness. A comparison of the Coordinators’ and their trainees’ responses per online CoP highlights the factors that have supported teachers’ reported reconstruction of knowledge and practices and the reported effectiveness of the CoP training experience regarding their everyday teaching practice. The findings contribute to furthering our understanding of effective online CoPs implementation in the context of continuing professional development.

Critical Factors that Enhance the Effectiveness of Online Communities of Practice: EFL Coordinators’ Patterns of Involvement - The Greek EL Teachers Cops Professional Development Paradigm

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Katerina Kourkouli
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

The paper examines Greek EFL Coordinators’ involvement in online Communities of Practice (CoPs) in terms of its impact on participating teachers’ professional development. The study focuses on four online CoPs hosting 49 Greek EFL teachers as participants and four Greek EFL Coordinators, using an online platform named 2gather developed by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the context of a national in-service professional development project in Greece. The study involves investigating the Coordinators’ patterns of involvement and their trainees’ response using a mixed-methods approach which combines quantitative and qualitative research as collective case studies of the four groups. Differentiations between the four Coordinators’ reported patterns of involvement and teachers’ reported effectiveness of their CoP training experience enables us to identify critical factors that contribute to the enhancement of effectiveness. A comparison of the Coordinators’ and their trainees’ responses per online CoP highlights the factors that have supported teachers’ reported reconstruction of knowledge and practices and the reported effectiveness of the CoP training experience regarding their everyday teaching practice. The findings contribute to furthering our understanding of effective online CoPs implementation in the context of continuing professional development.

Information Superhighway and Continuous Professional Development for the Networked Teachers

2017 ◽  
pp. 260-275
Author(s):  
Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice ◽  
The Impact

This chapter focuses on the impact of technology on teacher training through online communities of practice (CoP) and investigates its potential for facilitating continuous professional development for the educators who can create personal learning networks on the web. Wenger's Community of Practice Theory (1998) and Garrison et al.'s (2000) Community of Inquiry (CoI) are explored as underlying theories of CoP. Furthermore, examples of online communities of practice will be briefly enlisted. The chapter will provide brief information how online learning is operationalized within the confines of CoP. The chapter will also discuss role of online communities of practice for teachers' continuous professional development with reference to current literature, explore challenges and focus on suggestions and avenues for further research.

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