e-space
Manchester Metropolitan University's Research Repository

    Online Communities - Vehicles For Professional Learning

    Bradshaw, P, Powell, SJ and Terrell, I (2002) Online Communities - Vehicles For Professional Learning. In: British Education Research Association 2002, 11 September 2002 - 12 September 2002, Exeter, UK. (Unpublished)

    [img]
    Preview

    Available under License In Copyright.

    Download (52kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    The use of online communities for professional learning is an emerging field, particularly in education in the UK. Do the benefits claimed for their use manifest in learning gains, when considering the school improvement agenda? How far are we able to turn the rhetoric into some form of reality and how are we trying to do that? This paper reports findings from our experience with online learning communities in three contexts. The first relates to the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) and National College for School Leadership (NCSL) Talking Heads Community, which has been established over the last two years. The second involves online learning programmes such as the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), which we have supported in collaboration with the NCSL. Lastly, the third context is our work on online masters levels programmes in a University. In this work we explore some of the issues arising from our preliminary research and analysis of the different contexts in building online professional learning communities. Such issues that are emerging include developing participation, promoting supportive yet challenging tutoring/facilitation, structuring learning opportunities, connecting formal and informal learning and overcoming isolation.

    Impact and Reach

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    60Downloads
    6 month trend
    285Hits

    Additional statistics for this dataset are available via IRStats2.

    Repository staff only

    Edit record Edit record