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 is
a group of people who interact, learn together,
build relationships, and in the process develop a
sense of belonging and mutual commitment.
Having others who share an overall view of the
domain and yet bring their individual
perspectives on any given problem creates a
social learning system that goes beyond the sum
of its parts.” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002:34)

Is a community the right learning environment for you? Tick the right column

I QUITE
I AGREE I DISAGREE
AGREE
People learn better when carefully led by
“experts”.
Interaction is an essential element of the
learning process.
People actually learn by doing, not but “being
told about” something.
Diversity and heterogeneity make learning more
difficult.

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

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

Are online CoPs the same as co-located CoPs?

Co-located CoPs Online CoPs

Usually emerge from existing groups
Membership is usually restricted
Leaders may emerge from the community
Communication is mainly f2f
They can develop in a short time.
Technological support is an option.
Usually designed t _ _ - d _ _ _.
Membership is usually o _ _ _.
Leaders are frequently r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
Communication is primarily c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -
m _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
They take l _ _ _ _ _ to develop.
Technological support is e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
 VOLUNTARY
Hi Everyone! MEMBERSHIP

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

Cheers
Sebastian
A BOUNDARY
MEMBER

REFLECTION ON
PRACTICE

Elements of a CoP
adapted from Dudeney and Hockly (2007:173)
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?

• Learning with Computers-

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learningwithcomputers/ About 400 teachers
(many of which are Latin American) share their first steps in technology
integration into their EFL-ESL lessons. Volunteers take turns to lead monthly
sessions devoted to the exploration of new tools and reflection upon their
potential for teaching and learning.
• Webheads in Action (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/) Over 700 teachers
from 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.
• Edublogger argento (http://edubloggerargento.ning.com/) Nearly 600 Argentinean educators share
their passion for blogging and support one another in the blogosphere.
• EFL Classroom 2.0 (http://eflclassroom.ning.com) Over 3,200 EFL teachers and students share
resources and discussions to foster everyone’s learning.

What about CoPs for my own students?

• Academic Writing (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/academic_writing/)

Materials for academic writing in pre-freshman English EFL/ESL composition
courses. The focus is on composing--constructing paragraphs and essays that meet
academic expectations in English-medium college and university settings.
• ESL / EFL Sister Classes (http://esleflsisterclasses.ning.com/) ESL/EFL classes
around the world can communicate and collaborate.
• EFL University (http://efluniversity.ning.com/) Teachers and students have FUN (= Frivolous
Unanticipated Nonsense) to learn together in English and Spanish.

You can also, look for messages like the following in the CoPs for professional development suggested
before:

I´m Ana Maria Menezes, an efl teacher in a language institute in Brazil and I´m looking for a
partner 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 have
computers at home?
My objective is to get my groups in contact with students (who are also learning English) from
another country and have them do some joint tasks using Pownce <http://pownce.com> (a
microblogging tool).
If any of you is interested, please send me an e-mail and I´ll send you the draft of the project I
´ve imagined.
my e-mail: anamariacult@yahoo.com.br
my blog: http://lifefeast.blogspot.com <http://lifefeast.blogspot.com>
my pownce username: teacherana

Message posted to Learning with Computers on Sept 17, 2008

Or …. start your own CoP for learners in your classes / at your school! (check my tutorial in the
References if you’d like to use a Yahoo! Group for communication).

References:
Baya, G. (2006): “Teaching your classes to learn with computers” – Slideshow available at:
http://www.slideshare.net/gladysbaya/teaching-with-discussion-groups/
Dudeney, G. and Hockly, N. (2007); How to… teach english with technology; London, England; Pearson Education Ltd.
Lai K. W., Pratt, K., Anderson M. & Stigter, J. (2006); Literature Review and Synthesis: Online Communities of
Practice;.Ministry of Education, New Zealand; Research Division – Wahanga Mahi Rangahau; retrievable online from:
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/curriculum/5795
Wenger, E., McDermott R. A. & Snyder W. (2002); Cultivating communities of practice; Boston; Harvard Business
School Press.
All links last retrieved on Sept 10, 2008

You can make comments and watch the slide show for this presentation at: http://www.freewebs.com/gladysbaya
Thanks for having joined me today!

Eager to keep in touch? Join us at http://uk.360.yahoo.com/learningwithcomputers