Online Learning Communities for Teachers' Continuous Professional Development Case study of an eTwinning Learning Event April 2012 Networked Learning conference, Maastricht Brian Holmes, Lancaster University & European Commission Dr. Julie-Ann Sime, Lancaster University with the support of Tiina Sarisalmi, Municipality of Orivesi, Finland Anne Gilleran, European Schoolnet, Belgium
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Online Learning Communities for Teachers' Continuous Professional Development
Case study of an eTwinning Learning Event
April 2012Networked Learning conference, Maastricht
Brian Holmes, Lancaster University & European CommissionDr. Julie-Ann Sime, Lancaster University
with the support of
Tiina Sarisalmi, Municipality of Orivesi, Finland Anne Gilleran, European Schoolnet, Belgium
Coding suggests critical thinking reached in later stages Garrison et al (2001)
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3. Findings
Views of participantsApplying ideas in practice …
‘I was able to apply what I learned in the classroom and my pupils are very excited and they want to learn more’ (final questionnaire)
Staff room …‘most of my time was spent in the staff room, to get ideas, to get support, and to feel proud and happy when my work got commented on. i think the idea of the staff room was the best’ (final interview)
Collaboration does not always work…‘Well in the forum there is merely discussion and I understand that cooperation is a step further and collaboration even further, and I did not enjoy not being able to collaborate in my own group’ (final interview)
Facilitation and feedback from the tutor is not always a good thing …‘I think those are things that can very easily smother the flame of creative thinking and learning’ (email feedback from tutor)
However ...
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1. Research context
2. Research design
3. Findings
4. Conclusions
Online Learning Communities for Teachers' Continuous Professional Development
Case study of an eTwinning Learning Event
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4. Conclusions
From the teachers’ perspectiveOnline learning community The online community supports teachers to develop their professional
competence The community provides opportunity for mutual support, exchange of
experience and reflection in a trusted environment The community is useful for as long as it supports learning
Learning by doing Teachers who apply what they are learning in their own teaching practice
gain motivation, confidence and belief in what they are doing
Guidance It is beneficial to provide moderation at key points and to back-off as and
when peer support emerges
Social interaction Social interaction is important - it facilitates learning and engenders a
sense of community
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4. Conclusions
From an academic perspective (1/2)
Facilitation and mutual support Teaching presence has a positive impact on cognitive presence
Reflective practitioners Applying ideas in practice and reflection-in-practice with peers reinforces
competence development (Schön, 1987; Eraut, 1995)
Vicarious learning from peers (Lave and Wenger, 1991)
Social and community aspects The learning community engendered mutual support, trust and sharing. It
provides an appropriate micro-context for reflection (Boud and Walker, 1998; Grossman et al, 2000; McConnell, 2006)
Social ties are important for learning, however interaction is purposeful and the community is task based and ephemeral (Riel and Polin, 2004; Garrison and Arbaugh, 2007)
Community of Inquiry framework The CoI framework is useful to analyse learning holistically in a
community, and the interrelation between the cognitive, teaching and social aspects (Garrison et al, 2000)
The cognitive presence coding scheme was the most straightforward to apply and the most useful, perhaps because it is based on the Practical Inquiry model (Garrison et al, 2001)
The teaching presence coding scheme favours instruction and ‘tutor as expert’ rather than ‘tutor as facilitator/moderator’ (Anderson, et al., 2001)
The social presence coding scheme needs to be updated to take into account social affordances of modern social computing (Rourke, et al., 2001)
4. Conclusions
From an academic perspective (2/2)
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References (1 of 3)
Ala-Mutka, K. (2010) Learning in informal online networks and communities, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), J., European Commission (ONLINE accessed 18.11.2010 - http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=3059 -)
Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D. & Archer, W. (2001) 'Assessing teaching presence in a computer conferencing context'. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5 (2), pp.1-17
Boud, D. & Walker, D. (1998) 'Promoting reflection in professional courses: The challenge of context'. Studies in Higher Education, 23 (2), pp.191-206
Dillenbourg, P. (2008) 'Integrating technologies into educational ecosystems'. Distance Education, 29 (2), pp.127 – 140
Eraut, M. (1995) 'Schon Shock: a case for refraining reflection-in-action?'. Teachers and Teaching, 1 (1), pp.9 – 22
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. (2000) 'Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education'. The Internet and Higher Education, 2 (2-3), pp.87-105
Garrison, D. R. & Arbaugh, J. B. (2007) 'Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions'. The Internet and Higher Education, 10 (3), pp.157-172
Garrison, D., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. (2001) 'Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education'. American Journal of Distance Education, 15 (1), pp.7-23
Grossman, P., Wineburg, S. & Woolworth, S. (2000) What makes teacher community different from a gathering of teachers?, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington
Koshy, V. (2010) Action research for improving educational practice, 2nd ed., London, Sage publications Ltd.
Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P. A. & Jochems, W. (2003) 'Identifying the pitfalls for social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: a review of the research'. Computers in Human Behavior, 19 (3), pp.335-353
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press.
References (3 of 3)
McConnell, D. (2006) E-Learning Groups and Communities. Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Riel, M. & Polin, L. (2004) 'Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments', in Barab, S., Kling, R. & Gray, B. (Eds.), Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning, pp.16-50, Cambridge University Press
Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, D. & Archer, W. (2001) 'Assessing Social Presence in Asynchronous Text-based Computer Conferencing'. Journal of Distance Education, 14 (2), pp.50-71
Schön, D. A. (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner, Jossey-Bass San Francisco.
Shea, P. & Bidjerano, T. (2009) 'Community of inquiry as a theoretical framework to foster ‘‘epistemic engagement” and ‘‘cognitive presence” in online education'. Computers & Education, 52, pp.543-553
Zenios, M. & Holmes, B. (2010), 'Knowledge creation in networked learning: combined tools and affordances', Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010, Copenhagen, pp.471-479