Jennifer A. Duncan-Howell

Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning

The impact of the Internet on our lives has been pervasive. People are increasingly turning to the social interaction available on the Internet to satisfy their needs, whether these are professional or personal. The Internet offers users fast access to social contacts such as online chat groups and discussion lists, helping us to make connections with others. Online communities are being increasingly used by teachers for professional support, guidance and inspiration. These are often organised around subject areas and offer teachers opportunities to develop both personally and professionally. Online communities may present as a source of continuous professional development for teachers as they are able to deliver authentic and personalised opportunities for learning. This paper will present the findings of a study that was conducted on three online communities for teachers. It will explore the nature of online community membership and offer some conclusions regarding their potential as a source of professional learning for teachers.

How Do We Know E-Learning Works? Or Does It?

E-learning is an accepted and commonly used component in tertiary education. However, success would appear to remain variable. Effective e-learning is a concept which sometimes eludes even the most reputable of online educators. It is an issue which plagues both the corporate and education fields and which is frequently aggravated by the numerous, often contradictory, studies on the subject. This article seeks to yield the merits of these studies in order to decipher some of the better means of effectively evaluating, designing and managing e-learning programmes and to accurately envisage what the future may hold for the development of online education in the tertiary education sector. It attempts to merge the experiences of the business and education sectors into an effective approach to be used in the design of such programmes and to present guidelines concerning the future of e-learning in tertiary education.

Graphically Mapping Electronic Discussions: Understanding Online Conversational Dynamics.

Transcripts of electronic discussions have traditionally been examined via the use of conversational analysis techniques. Coding such transcripts provides rich data regarding the content and nature of the discussions that take place. However, understanding the content of a message is not limited to the actual message itself. An electronic message is sent either in response to or to start a discussion thread. Examining the entry point of a new message can help to clarify the dynamics of the community discussion. Electronic discussions do not appear to follow traditional conversational norms. New messages may be immediate responses or they can be responses to messages posted over a longer period of time in the past. However, by graphically mapping electronic discussions, a clearer understanding of the dynamics of electronic discussions can be achieved. This article presents the findings of a study that was conducted on three online communities for teachers. The transcripts of electronic discussions were collected and examined via conversational analysis. These messages were then analysed via graphical mapping and the findings concluded that three distinct patterns exist which electronic discussions may follow. It was further discovered that each of these patterns was indicative of a distinct type of electronic discussion. The findings from this study offer further insight into the nature of online discussions and help us to understand online conversational dynamics.