This slideshow is part of a course on technology integration for teacher trainers in all areas of Education and relates to the importance of distributed Communities of Practice for continuous professional development.

1. K E E P I N G U P W I T H
T E A C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T
Distributed CoPs – PLN & PLE

2. Making sense of tools

3. Sharing AREAS of EXPERTISE
Culture
Other languages?
Literature
Applied Linguistics
Course design Assessment
Learning adviser
Language Expertise
Teaching Expertise
Technical Expertise
Pedagogical Principles
CALL training
Authoring
Language
Academic
Research
Software Evaluation
CALL Expertise Network
architecture
Student /Staff
hardware
Security
Lab Troubleshooting
Helpdesk
Maintenance
Language labs
requirements
History
Lab support
©Edith Paillat ALIN201 (2007)

4. Definition
 […] a group of people who share a craft and/or a
profession. The group can evolve naturally because of
the members' common interest in a particular domain
or area, or it can be created specifically with the goal of
gaining knowledge related to their field. It is through
the process of sharing information and experiences
with the group that the members learn from each
other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves
personally and professionally (Lave & Wenger 1991).
CoPs can exist online, such as within discussion
boards and newsgroups, or in real life, such as in a
lunch room at work, in a field setting, on a factory
floor, or elsewhere in the environment.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice

5. Motivation (extrinsic/ intrinsic)
Invest teachers with the right to
 exercise professional judgment about what and how
to teach
 openly discuss and brainstorm about a project,
which can lead to new capabilities
Consider:
 tangible returns:(promotion, raises or bonuses)
 intangible returns (reputation, self-esteem)
 community interest (exchange of practice related
knowledge, interaction)
Further reading: CoPs in the distributed International Environments

6. Social Presence (examples)
Groups
Facebook
LinkedIn
SIGs
(Mailing lists) LLTI & Calico
Microblogging
My twitter
Colleagues internationally
#tags for online events
Educational Organisations
Edublogs
Nik Peachey
Shamblesguru
Web2.0Labs
ICT4LT
Nings
Virtual Round table
Avalon Project
Classroom20
VirtualworldsSIG
Wikis
SLexperiments
EVO
Language Pioneers
VUW_LLC
VUWCALL
IRCs _chat
Gmail
Messenger
Skype
Video Conferences
Adobe Connect
Free ones:
http://vyew.com/s/
http://goliveroom.com/
MOOCs
Coursera
Udacity
EdX
Venture-lab
Second Life groups
(aka Cyber Placebo)
SLexperiments
Edunation Residents
VWBPE conference
ISTE
SIGVE

8. Blogs vs Wikis vs LMS
Blogs Wikis LMS
Source:Social Software: E-learning beyond learning management systems
Characteristics - discussion

9. To explore further & further
• Wenger-Trayner’s resources on CoP
• Ed.Gov CoPs & teacher’s excellence
• Social Software:E-learning beyond LMS
• EduTech Wiki: teacher empowerment
• WikiEducator
• Electronic Village Organisation
• Integrating Technology courses
• Edutechwiki
• MERLOT (& many more…)