RSA#3 Teachers Making Connections: Online Communities as a Source of Professional Learning

Teachers Making Connections: Online Communities as a Source of Professional Learning
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This article presents the findings of a study of three different online professional learning communities. As discussed in our reading this week, the widespread Internet accessibility has made online learning of all kinds much more prevalent in society.

The teaching profession is constantly adjusting to accommodate change. Teachers are under constant pressure to learn new skills, update their knowledge and change classroom practices, and as new knowledge or skills are learned, they need to be absorbed and included in classroom practice. Many researchers perceive teaching to be in a constant state of change as new ideas or developments are disseminated. (Duncan Howell)

The traditional models of one-day workshops haven't had much of an impact on exacting change in classroom activities and student learning. Enter online professional development. The best practices of student learning tend to be centered on active learning. The online option incorporates several elements of active learning through postings, projects and discussion boards.

Chapter three addresses the human side of learning. When we discuss community building online, we are really concerned with humanizing a “nonhuman” technological environment and creating a learning community in the process. (Palloff Keith; 2007) This is both a real and anticipated concern for teachers before starting any online professional learning. The study found that initially teachers ranked face-to-face workshop as their first preference in professional learning.

The results from this study has shown that membership to online communities provides teachers with a rich source of professional learning. It would appear to satisfy all the suggestions rose by research in this field and, more importantly, would appear to satisfy the members of those communities themselves. Perhaps the most significant result collected form the survey was the result that 86.7% of members considered it to be a meaningful form of PD. Hence, we can conclude that online communities present as a worthwhile form of professional learning for teachers. (Duncan Howell)

References

Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers Making Connections: Online Communities as a Source of Professional Learning. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 41(2), 324-340.