Section I: Theoretical and Technological Foundations

Chapter I: Theoretical Foundations of Teachers’ Professional Development

Ingrid Helleve, University of Bergen, Norway

Throughout this chapter the author argues for a close connection between teachers and teacher educators as a prerequisite for ongoing professional development in education. Possibilities to communicate through online learning communities have made reflective activities through action research between distant educational environments easier to organize and facilitate.

Chapter II: The Theory and Practice Divide in Relation to Teacher Professional Development

Shelleyann Scott, University of Calgary, Canada

This chapter explores the divide between theories of effective TPD and the realities of practice within educational contexts. Two case studies, one from Australia and the other from Canada are presented to illustrate the positives and negatives inherent within professional development approaches in these contexts. A number of key dimensions are identified, which when coalesced inform the establishment and sustainability of effective programmes. Online technologies present innovative ways to overcome the impediments to effective professional development. Online communities of practice utilising social networking technologies provide new opportunities for initiating “webs of enhanced practice’ (Scott, 2009), where individuals around the globe can engage in collegial collaborations that enhance the passion of teaching.

Section II: Methods and Models of Online Communities in TPD

Chapter III: Case Studies from the Inquiry Learning Forum: Stories Reaching Beyond the Edges

Rebecca Scheckler, Radford University, USA

Two intense case studies were done of teachers using the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), an online space for professional development in inquiry pedagogies. Major findings included: The ILF initially conceived as an online professional development tool in the form of a Community of Practice (COP) was reconceived as an electronic tool within a larger space that included the online tool but also many co-present spaces pertinent to a teacher’s practice of inquiry pedagogy. These case studies also demonstrated the transformative nature of teachers engaging in a COP. Not only is the teacher changed but also the COP is changed by the practice. The cases demonstrated the need for teachers to feel disequilibrium in their practice before they are willing to engage in change of those practices. Lastly immersion in practice described as The Pedagogy of Poverty hampered one teacher’s progress in the ILF. These findings are based upon my empirical observations with the backdrop of John Dewey’s Theory of Inquiry and of Etienne Wenger’s concept of communities of Practice. Future trends in using online COPs for professional development need to look at practice in these terms where allowance for transaction, support outside the electronic space, and disequilibrium are considered.

Chapter IV: Changing the Metaphor: The Potential of Online Communities in Teacher Professional Development

Margaret Lloyd, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Jennifer Duncan-Howell, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

This chapter will map data from a doctoral study to a recently-developed model of professional development to offer a new perspective of how online communities can add to a teacher’s personal and professional growth and, in so doing, add to the small number of studies in this field. This chapter will conclude with a call for a revision of the way we approach professional development in the 21st century and suggest that old models and metaphors are hindering the adoption of more effective means of professional development for teachers.

Chapter V: Teacher Professional Development Practices: The Case of the Haringey Transformation Teachers Programme

Norbert Pachler, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Caroline Daly, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Anne Turvey, Institute of Education, University of London, UK

The authors present the current contexts affecting professional development in England and discuss the significance of the shift towards collaborative and community approaches to teachers’ learning. The authors argue that transformation is a key, though troublesome, concept in considering the aims of professional development for teachers’ use of technologies in their everyday practice. They explore these ideas by presenting the case of the Transformation Teachers Programme (TTP), a wide-scale teachers’ development project carried out in a London borough by Haringey City Learning Centre (CLC), and they examine how this project has implemented new approaches to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and teachers’ professional development, based on collaborative experimentation, enquiry and risk-taking within online and other community-based arrangements.

Chapter VI: Realising the Potential of Virtual Environments: A Challenge for Scottish Teachers

Alastair Wilson, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
Donald Christie, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

The chapter uses current research literature on teacher professionalism and professional learning in Scotland to establish the context in which Scottish teachers are currently working. It then draws on three vignettes drawn from research within AERS to argue that the development of virtual environments to support professional learning in Scotland requires further, significant collaborative working between the practitioner, policy and research communities.

Chapter VII: Challenges of Online Teacher Professional Development Communities: A Statewide Case Study in the United States

Vassiliki I. Zygouris-Coe, University of Central Florida, USA
Bonnie Swan, University of Central Florida, USA

This chapter presents examples of success and challenges associated with a large-scale U.S. statewide online teacher professional development community. It also makes the case for implementing a systematic approach to investigating the effectiveness of online teacher professional development communities through ongoing assessment and responsive evaluation.

Chapter VIII: Teacher Professional Development through Knowledge Management in Educational Organisations

Joaquin Gairin-Sallán, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
David Rodriguez-Gómez, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

This chapter analyses the relationships between professional development, organisational development and the creation and management of collective knowledge. These three concepts can be interrelated and contribute to change when we place ourselves within the framework of autonomous organisations with collective projects focused on lifelong learning.

It also outlines the Accelera experience of knowledge creation and management in communities, describing the model and process used. This article examines some of the findings and future prospects of the methodology presented.

Chapter IX: Thinking Things Through: Collaborative Online Professional Development

John P. Cuthell, MirandaNet Academy, UK

One of the most powerful ways of changing our thinking about how we teach and learn is to experience for ourselves the power of collaborative project-based experiential learning. Few teachers have had the opportunity to learn in this way, and this creates barriers for those who want to change their pedagogy. The Oracle Education Foundation’s Project Learning Institute provides teachers with the experience of collaborative project-based learning, using ThinkQuest to create their own curriculum project. By collaborating with their peers, tutors and mentors, teachers are able to model the projects, environment and experiences they want for their classes through a blended learning experience. This chapter describes the model of continuing professional development and its impact on schools, pedagogies and professional philosophies.

Section III: Innovations in the Use of Technology and TPD

Chapter X: Innovations in the Use of Technology and Teacher Professional Development

Donald E. Scott, University of Calgary Alberta, Canada
Shelleyann Scott, University of Calgary Alberta, Canada

This chapter explores the innovative uses of technology for teachers’ professional development as well as its impact in the classroom on learning and teaching. Two international case studies are included. The first outlines technological innovations in graduate programme delivery within the university context in Canada. The second case presents a multi-dimensional professional development initiative in Australia which has influenced teachers’ and students’ learning. Two models are described: the macro-oriented “Webs of Enhanced Practice” that addresses the professional development of educators and experts; and the micro-oriented “Webs of Enhanced Learning” focusing on the learning occurring at the classroom level. These two models represent innovations in the use of technology as they conceptualise the eclectic use of multi-modal, varied technologies to advance the professional development of communities of learners.

Chapter XI: Game Informed Virtual Patients: Catalysts for Online Learning Communities and Professional Development of Medical Teachers

Michael Begg, University of Edinburgh, UK
David Dewhurst, University of Edinburgh, UK
Michael Ross, University of Edinburgh, UK

Here, the authors describe our approach to the development of virtual patient resources and in particular how this iterative dialogue arising from the allied processes of practice, reflection and pedagogy required to create new learning tools and resources has contributed to professional development of those engaged in teaching medical students and in building online learning communities at the University of Edinburgh.

Chapter XII: VideoPaper as a Bridging Tool in Teacher Professional Development

Trond Eiliv Hauge, University of Oslo, Norway
Svein Olav Norenes, University of Oslo, Norway

This study demonstrates the possibilities of new media and affordable technological tools that support teacher professional development in a workplace setting. A team of 5 mathematics teachers in a secondary school is followed over a period of six months as they work jointly to improve their teaching and team practice using a multimedia Web developer system (VideoPaper). VideoPaper is an easy-to-use tool for developing and sharing of Web documents that integrates video resources, images, and texts reflecting local practices. The framework of Developmental Work Research methods aligned to historical-cultural activity theory (Engeström, 2001, 2008) was adapted to the local needs and workplace conditions. The findings point to changes in teachers’ conceptual approaches to learning and teaching, and to the significance of technology-enhanced support for professional development. The study contributes to an understanding of the complexities in bridging practices between social and technological design for teacher development and the development of learning communities.

Section IV: Pedagogies Afforded by Technology in TPD

Chapter XIII: TPD as Online Collaborative Learning for Innovation in Teaching

Diana Laurillard, Institute of Education, UK
Elizabeth Masterman, University of Oxford, UK

This chapter focuses on supporting university teachers in the UK in the more innovative use of digital technologies. Although the use of these technologies is now widespread and increasing, it is not always optimised for effective learning. It is important that teachers’ use of technology should be directed towards innovation and improvement in teaching and learning, and should not merely replicate their current practice in a digital medium. The authors therefore make the case for an online collaborative environment to scaffold teachers’ engagement with technology-enhanced learning. the chapter outlines the findings of our recent research into a blended approach to TPD, and use these to identify the requirements for an online collaborative environment: tools for learning design, guidance, and access to relevant resources to support teachers in their discovery of new forms of technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Such an environment, they argue, would provide a framework for a “community of innovation” in which teachers participate both as learners and researchers.

Chapter XIV: Online Pedagogy Design and Development: New Models for 21st Century Online Teacher Professional Development

Pamela Whitehouse, West Virginia University, USA
Erin McCloskey, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA
Diane Jass Ketelhut, Temple University, USA

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the shifting priorities of online teacher professional development design, particularly through the lens of online pedagogies. Whether one’s purpose is to design an online teacher learning community or formal professional development program, decisions about technology use will mediate how the learning communities or training programs function. Designers, when choosing communication tools or digital media for inclusion in their program, ideally draw from their technological pedagogical content knowledge, or TCPK – that is, their understanding of which technologies will support pedagogy appropriate for the content and learners being targeted. The model we offer for online teacher professional development program design makes visible the interaction between the technology, the content, the pedagogy and the learner.

Chapter XV: Challenges for the Teacher’s Role in Promoting Productive Knowledge Construction in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Contexts

Maarit Arvaja, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Raija Hämäläinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Helena Rasku-Puttonen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

This chapter discusses challenges related to teachers’ pedagogical activities in facilitating productive discussions among students in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) contexts. In the light of two different cases from secondary-level and higher education contexts, the authors examine how teachers’ pedagogical choices influenced the quality of students’ activity, namely Web-based discussion. The results of our studies indicated that rich moments of collaboration were rare and distributed unequally among the students. The obvious weakness from the perspective of teachers’ pedagogical activities was that in neither of the studies was the students’ interaction in the discussion forum supported in any way. A future challenge is, therefore, to develop both pedagogical and technological tools to support the monitoring and enhancement of students’ learning process during online learning. Furthermore, we discuss how teachers’ professional development (TPD) is challenged by new technological tools in formal learning environments.