Formal and Informal On-line Communities to Support Continuing

Formal and Informal On-line Communities to Support Continuing Professional Development for Teachers Chris Daw Cambridge International Examinations Phil Riding Interactive Technologies in Assessment and Learning (ITAL) Unit

Overview l Who we are l Our interest in Continuing Professional Development l Technology - ‘VLE-lite’ l Formal teacher development l Informal teacher development

Context University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate ITAL OCR ESOL CIE

Continuing Professional Development l Traditionally delivered at face to face INSET l Some benefits of f 2 f Allows teachers to share best practice ¡ Encourages peer support and networking ¡ l Some shortcomings of f 2 f Divorced from practice ¡ Lacking in follow up ¡ Expensive (time and money) ¡ Discriminatory ¡

What makes good CPD for teachers? It should aim to: l Be ongoing l Be school-based and rooted in the knowledge base of teaching l Be flexible and fit in with the natural rhythms of teaching l Be collaborative and allow teachers to interact with peers l Include opportunities for reflection and group enquiry into practice l Be accessible and inclusive On-line Communities could be the answer…

Using technology to support effective CPD Communication Email-based discussion groups Asynchronous ¡ ‘Push’ ¡ Text-based ¡ Archived ¡ Enables/encourages Real time problem solving ¡ Collaboration ¡ Making implicit knowledge explicit ¡ Greater/wider participation ¡

Online communities - software

Using technology to support effective CPD - Sharing Web-based document, URL and FAQ facility • Distribute/Share documents (tasks, worksheets, etc. ) • Collect and publish Frequently Asked Questions • Provide a ‘one-stop’ site for community • Easy to manage by tutor or listowner

Online communities - software

Online communities - software

Online communities - software

Formal/ Institutional The CPD spectrum Informal/ deinstitutionalised Curriculum-based No curriculum Structured Unstructured Specified learning outcomes No specified learning outcomes Time constrained Open ended Tutored Untutored Certificated Uncertificated

4 types of learning community Formal Informal Teacher 1 3 E-tutor 2

1 - formal teacher development l 6 week course l Structured Assignments ¡ E-tivities ¡ l l Certificate of participation Using ‘VLE-lite’ Migration from formal to informal communities 397 teachers have attended courses so far, in 19 subjects, from over 40 countries on all continents

2 - formal e-tutor training and development l Why train the e-tutors? Facilitation of on-line learning and communities demands new skills and roles ¡ Not all good face-to-face tutors make good on-line tutors ¡ Therefore we needed to devise a course that converted good face-to-face teachers into good e-tutors.

Formal E-tutor training and development - first iteration l A one-day face-to-face training session Followed by l E-mail based discussion list

Issues arising from the first iteration l Participants all said that the best preparation was ‘doing it’ - we needed to offer them more ‘experience’ l More focus was needed on helping e-tutors to promote on-line reflective discussion l More input/discussion on ‘virtual classroom’ management needed l The need for us to develop our skills in creating and supporting a community of e-tutors l A better method of sharing tasks, resources and ‘artefacts’ was needed

Iteration 2 l 100% on-line l Guided observation on existing courses (6 weeks) ¡ ‘As students’, ‘as tutors’ l Facilitated discussion (2 weeks) - loose agenda covering the social, pedagogical, managerial and technical roles of an e-tutor l We invited existing tutors to be part of discussion group (‘elders’) l Use of a website to share resources and artefacts arising from the communities

Outcomes/issues l The facilitated discussion was not a success (most discussion occurred during the observation period) l Our ‘structure’ got in the way. Better to allow tutors to raise issues as they arose (move to more informality). l We are still learning about e-tutoring. l E-tutor community.

3 - informal teacher development l l l l UK and worldwide teacher ‘communities’ OCR/CIE syllabus focussed No ‘course’ Community-defined content ‘Rolling membership’ No certification No ‘tutor’ - everyone is a potential tutor!

Membership (UK communities)

Contributions

How do teachers use the communities? l l l l Share resources and ideas Ask about the examination Talk about professional issues Advertise things and jobs Make contacts Just listen - ‘lurking’ is OK! ‘Vicarious learning’ Not argue, or talk about computers

Share resources and ideas l ‘Can anyone help me find some interesting places to take a large group of psychology students (around 100) whilst on a day trip to London? ’ l ‘I am teaching psychology for first time this year. I am on my own with 26 keen students and I' m very keen to share ideas with anyone out there. My plan is […]), l I am writing to let others know that I took a large group of AS students to the Science Museum just before Christmas and it was a great success. There is plenty to look at in the new gallery. . . During this year, my students prepared the Core Advanced and the following modules: {…}. I would like to share their experience during the assessments. [followed by detailed analysis of her students’ and her own experiences] I think it is a good idea to share exercises. The following is an example for Data Analysis, Standard Level I used with my class. It is very similar to an example from the Tutor Pack, but my students needed more information than what was provided in the example. l l

Ask about the examination l Clarification (New OCR teacher) I have just received practical investigation folders. Are there rules about when the students fill them in, what the content should be, how much help I can give etc. ? ¡ I forgot to ask another question about business chart module. I would like to know what to ¡ cover in order to prepare them for "extracting data from a large set". l Debate I am not convinced […] that this syllabus represents a more applied, practical, or inventive way in which to teach the discipline. I find many of the core studies are far too complex for a pre-A-level course, not to mention tedious!. […] ¡ I could not agree less with what xxx has said. I made the switch to OCR in 1994 and have never looked back. It provides a wonderful opportunity to be inventive in your teaching. . . far more than AEB/AQA does. Try re-enacting some of the studies as a starter!! […] ¡

Advertise jobs/things l l l We need a Psychology teacher after Christmas. It could be full or part time. Needless to say we have a lovely department and do OCR A level only. Have a look at my website for more teaching ideas… Here is a list of all the INSET courses that we are offering this term…

Make Contacts l l l I teach at Bushey Meads. I did not know there was a fellow OCR colleague so close… Anyone fancy getting together to thrash out a unit on crime psychology? I teach in Karachi too! How about we get together one weekend?

Just listen • ‘Although I have never contributed to it I have found it to be an excellent resource and have very much enjoyed reading people's views, comments etc’. • ‘I'm enjoying the experience of being part of the 'net group'. One reason for not contributing earlier is because other people have asked questions I was considering. ’

What are the success factors? l l l Push technology Focus No compulsion to contribute The subject area? Moderation/tutoring?

‘Tutor’ contributions

What kinds of messages do the tutors send?

Future research and development l l Develop the informal community of e-tutors Develop ‘VLE-lite’ to incorporate a management system l l Legitimation - how to assess it (Slashdot type tracking? ) Cultural issues To what extent do we have ‘communities’? Who’s been learning here and who’s been teaching?

E-conference on teacher training and staff development (EDEN/OU/UCLES sponsored) http: //www. eden. bme. hu/contents/computerconf. html This presentation will be available at http: //ital. ucles-red. cam. ac. uk/