ONLINE COMMUNITIES FOR ELT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT“Learning of the people, by the people and for the people!”

Gladys Baya (gladysbaya@yahoo.com.ar ;http://www.pageflakes.com/gladysbaya)

“A community of practice is not just a Web site,a database, or a collection of best practices. It isa group of people who interact, learn together,build relationships, and in the process develop asense of belonging and mutual commitment.Having others who share an overall view of thedomain and yet bring their individualperspectives on any given problem creates asocial learning system that goes beyond the sumof its parts.”

(Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002:34)

Is a community the right learning environment for you?

Tick the right column

I AGREEI QUITEAGREEI DISAGREE

People learn better when carefully led by“experts”.Interaction is an essential element of thelearning process.People actually learn by doing, not but “beingtold about” something.Diversity and heterogeneity make learning moredifficult.

What is a “community of practice” (CoP)?

Look at the message on the following page, posted by a teacher to a CoP hebelongs to. Which of the elements of a CoP can you identify? Match theunderlined phrases in the message with the labels in the boxes (adaptedfrom Dudeney and Hockly; 2007:173)

Are online CoPs the same as co-located CoPs?Co-located CoPsOnline CoPs

Usually emerge from existing groupsUsually designed t _ _ - d _ _ _.Membership is usually restrictedMembership is usually o _ _ _.Leaders may emerge from the communityLeaders are frequently r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.Communication is mainly f2fCommunication is primarily c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -m _ _ _ _ _ _ _.They can develop in a short time.They take l _ _ _ _ _ to develop.Technological support is an option.Technological support is e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

Elements of a CoP

adapted from Dudeney and Hockly (2007:173)

Hi Everyone!My name’s Sebastian. I’m from Catamarca, and joined this group about 6months ago, encouraged by Ana Maria ###.. We work at the same school,and she told me about the great work you’ve been doing on ICT for Englishteaching. This is my first message, but I’ve been lurking since then!I wanted to tell you I’ve found the collection of links for teaching listeningyou created during last September at the group wiki most useful (mystudents have already tried several of the activities you recommended!).Perhaps we can try something similar for teaching other skills in thecoming months? I think that’d help many of us keep enhancing our lessons!CheersSebastian

A CoP-GENERATEDRESOURCEVOLUNTARYMEMBERSHIPREFLECTION ONPRACTICENEGOTIATEDGOALSA COREMEMBERA BOUNDARYMEMBER

In pairs, think of a pro and con for three of the characteristics of online CoPs just discussed:……………………………….: PRO: __________________________________________________________ CON: _________________________________________________________ ……………………………….: PRO: __________________________________________________________ CON: _________________________________________________________ ……………………………….: PRO: __________________________________________________________ CON: _________________________________________________________

What CoPs can I join in for professional development?

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Learning with Computers

-http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learningwithcomputers/About 400 teachers(many of which are Latin American) share their first steps in technologyintegration into their EFL-ESL lessons. Volunteers take turns to lead monthlysessions devoted to the exploration of new tools and reflection upon their potential for teaching and learning.

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Webheads in Action

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/) Over 700 teachersfrom all over the world share their experiments in technology integration into their EFL-ESL lessons,communicating synchronously and asynchronously. Members regularly post about their classes’products and invite other members to comment on the students’ work.

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Edublogger argento

(http://edubloggerargento.ning.com/) Nearly 600 Argentinean educators sharetheir passion for blogging and support one another in the blogosphere.

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EFL Classroom 2.0

(http://eflclassroom.ning.com)

Over 3,200 EFL teachers and students shareresources and discussions to foster everyone’s learning.

What about CoPs for my own students?

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Academic Writing

(http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/academic_writing/)Materials for academic writing in pre-freshman English EFL/ESL compositioncourses. The focus is on composing--constructing paragraphs and essays that meetacademic expectations in English-medium college and university settings.

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ESL / EFL Sister Classes

(http://esleflsisterclasses.ning.com/) ESL/EFL classesaround the world can communicate and collaborate.

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EFL University (

http://efluniversity.ning.com/ )

Teachers and students have FUN (= FrivolousUnanticipated Nonsense) to learn together in English and Spanish.You can also, look for messages like the following in the CoPs for professional development suggestedbefore:

I´m Ana Maria Menezes, an efl teacher in a language institute in Brazil and I´m looking for apartner to work with me on a Pownce <http://pownce.com> Project.-Are any of you teaching teenagers (14-17 year old) in 2008?- Do you have a computer lab at school or do your students havecomputers at home?My objective is to get my groups in contact with students (who are also learning English) fromanother country and have them do some joint tasks using Pownce <http://pownce.com> (amicroblogging tool).