What can we learn from a learning community?

This paper describes research in progress that is an exploration of educational change in the climate of recent government initiatives involving teaching, learning and networks. The Yarra Valley eLearning Community was established as a joint project between seven government secondary schools as part of the Leading Schools Fund initiative. The project employed 14 teacher coaches to support the implementation of a 1:2 laptop program, learning management system and the development of ICT rich curriculum. The research will explore the experiences of teachers and teacher coaches during the time of the project to better understand teacher professional learning through networks. The eLearning Community being studied is made up of formal and informal networks that I argue can be described as Communities of Practice. The research is a qualitative case study developed from semi-structured interviews with the 14 teachers and 14 coaches. It will explore how and why communities of practice operated within this eLearning Community. Analysis of the narratives will give insight into the relationships and dynamics between people and technologies in this community. This approach may result in findings that contribute to new social theory about learning communities. This research is significant and timely as the Victorian government is implementing the statewide learning management system, the Ultranet, through the use of teacher coaches and professional learning.

Files: 

acec2010penniewhite.pdf(1.62 MB)

This is how you cite this paper: