holmes e twinning learning events

eTwinning Learning Events: Using Online Learning Communities for

Teachers' Continuous Professional Development

Brian Holmes, Lancaster University, UK

With the support ofDr. Julie-Ann Sime, Lancaster University, UKAnne Gilleran, European Schoolnet, Belgium

Tiina Sarisalmi, Municipality of Orivesi, Finland

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

2http://www.slideshare.net/holmebn/holmes-e-twinning-learning-events-5823952

eTwinning Learning Events: Using Online Learning Communities for Teachers' CPD

1. Background to the research

2. Results from the analysis of the online learning community

3. Tentative conclusions

4. Next steps

A work in progress



Researching online learning communities

• PhD/Doctoral Programme in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning

• Distance, part-time, at University of Lancaster, UK• Two years learning in an online cohort + two years thesis

• My research area: online learning communities– Influence on competence development ? – Influence of social aspects ?

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/centres/csalt/csalt/tel_docprog.htm

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/centres/csalt/csalt/tel_docprog.htm



Research domain: eTwinning

• eTwinning funded by the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme - Comenius

• Supports teachers across Europe ° Joint pedagogical projects ° Continuous professional development

• Statistics reflect success*° 75 000 schools ° 102 000 users, mainly teachers ° 44 000 ongoing or completed projects

* as of 1 October 2010 (EUN, 2010)

www.eTwinning.net

http://www.etwinning.net/



eTwinning – an online community of teachers

Moving beyond projects:– Emphasising more the relationships

between teachers; social networking– Encouraging synergies with other

Comenius activities– Embracing informal / peer learning– Piloting Communities of Practice

(eTwinning groups) and non-formal learning (Learning Events)

– Integrating social mediaNetwork of relationships between eTwinning teachers



eTwinning Learning Events (LE)

• ‘Learning Events’ are short, intensive online sessions, in groups, focused on a theme and led by a subject expert

• Themes relate to teaching practice, eg:– Building a successful project – Creative writing & Mindmapping – Internet safety & you – Exploiting Web 2.0: eTwinning and

Collaboration

• Involve teachers in hands-on learning with peers and reflection in practice (Schön, 1983, Kolb, 1984)

focus of my research



‘Exploiting Web 2.0: eTwinning and Collaboration’

• 12 day event in April 2010, involving 156 teachers

• Led by a teacher expert in web 2.0 tools: Tiina Sarisalmi

• Activities included:

– Watching videos, voting on preferences and sharing opinions– Creating a blog, sharing videos, pictures, documents, etc– Collaborating on a joint project in a small group

• My research involved:– Observing the discussions in the groups– Conducting an online questionnaire at the end



Theoretical framework

• Cognitive presence active learners in a community

° Constructing meaning through sustained communication

° Essential for critical thinking

• Social presence feeling a person is ‘real’

° Projecting personal characteristics into the community

° Directly contributes to success of learning

• Teaching presencedesign and support for active learning

° Support and enhance cognitive and social presence for the purposes of learning

° Design often led by teacher° Facilitation often shared with learners

(Garrison et al, 2000, p.88)

COGNITIVEPRESENCE

Communication Medium

SOCIALPRESENCE

SupportingDiscourse

Community of Inquiry

TEACHING PRESENCE(Structure/Process)

SettingClimate

SelectingContent

EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCE






4. Next steps

A work in progress



Increased confidence and competence

45%

42%

10%

2%

2%

Po

sitive chan

ge

Neg

ative chan

ge

45%

42%

10%

2%

2%

Po

sitive chan

ge

Neg

ative chan

ge

Number of replies

87% felt more confident and competent in the use of web 2.0 tools

‘The Learning event helped me see the usefulness of web 2.0 tools in the classroom and not simply for personal use’



Increased feeling of connectedness

‘(I) admit that seeing photos (of) colleagues with whom I worked, I felt closer to them’

61% found the profile pages really useful

K: I didn’t really use the profile pages

L: I found the profile pages really useful

7%

16% 15%

30% 31%

7%

16% 15%

30% 31%

Num

ber

of r

eplie

s



Greater ‘sense of community’

49% felt a stronger sense of community

E: There was a stronger feelingof community

F: The feeling of communitywas roughly the same

Num

ber

of r

eplie

s 27%

14%

10%

26%23%

Num

ber

of r

eplie

s 27%

14%

10%

26%23%

‘There was a stronger feeling of community in the Learning Event than I've experienced before in eTwinning’



Collaboration not easy

Some frustration with group work :

‘Availability of the others made the individual learning (more) effective and faster’

’I found it difficult to work with others in the group’

‘My group didn't work but I wish it would – so I made a lot of the activities on my own’

‘We hadn't enough time to see a whole community develop’

‘I don't consider these people "friends", but contacts’

Community only partially developed:

‘I found it difficult that one member of our team wasn't willing to work collaboratively and just hanged on us’



Social activities second to cognitive ones

Social aspects recognised as important:

‘I think it is important to know a bit about the personal life of people with whom we work as that allows us to understand them, to overcome distances and to know if the person interests us or not’

‘I didn't have much time to socialise, so I mainly centered my attention on scheduled activities’

But time spent mainly on cognitive activities:






4. Next steps

A work in progress



Emergence of a Community of Inquiry

• Cognitive presence active learners in a community

+ Engaged, motivated learners+ Autonomous, digitally competent– Little meta-cognition or reflection in practice

• Social presence feeling a person is ‘real’ (Short et al, 1976, Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997)

+ Stronger in this LE than elsewhere– Little emphasis on socio-emotional aspects

• Teaching presencedesign and support for active learning

+ Activities encouraged engagement+ Teacher/tutor as peer– Low tutor guidance at key points– Activities mainly cognitive

(Garrison et al, 2000, p.88)

COGNITIVEPRESENCE

Communication Medium

SOCIALPRESENCE

SupportingDiscourse

Community of Inquiry

TEACHING PRESENCE(Structure/Process)

SettingClimate

SelectingContent

EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCE



Recommendations• More teaching presence

° Activities for meta-cognition° Reflection in practice° Increase orchestration at key

points (Dillenbourg, 2008)

• Increase social presence° More social activities

(Kreijns et al, 2003)° Support socio-emotional aspects

(Zenios & Holmes, 2010)° Peer learning

• Grow a learning community° Give time to develop trust,

shared values and reciprocity (McConnell, 2006)

Reinforce meta-cognition for competence development

Balance cognitive activities with social ones

Foster a community






4. Next steps

A work in progress


4. Next steps

A revised Learning Event (LE)

• Increase teaching presence– Include collaboration, competence and reflection in practice in

objectives of the LE objectives – Specific activity at the end for feedback to the group– Moderator/facilitator at key points to encourage and support

• Allow time for practice and reflection– 12 days for the LE cognitive activities, 19 days to try out in own

teaching practice, 2 days of final reflection in the LE– Encourage sharing of stories, feelings and reflections

• Create a virtual staff room– A place for informal discussion and reflection in practice– Tables of small groups to foster stronger ties – Encourage a learning community and meta-cognition


4. Next steps

Research: data collection and analysis

• Continue with an Action Research approach– Interact with stakeholders in the design and implementation– Keep a record of discussions and decisions– Keep research diaries

• Interviews– Interview volunteer teachers before and after the event

• Focus group– Open discussion with a small group of teachers at the end

• Discourse– Observe and analyse the online discussions


ReferencesDillenbourg, P. (2008) 'Integrating technologies into educational ecosystems'. Distance

Education, 29 (2), pp.127 – 140EUN (2010) ‘eTwinning Statistics Overview’, (Online, accessed 01.10.10, http://

www.etwinning.net/en/pub/news/press_corner/statistics.cfm)Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. (2000) 'Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based

Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education'. The Internet and Higher Education, 2 (2-3), pp.87-105

Gunawardena, C. & Zittle, F. (1997) 'Social Presence as a Predictor of Satisfaction within a Computer-Mediated Conferencing Environment'. American Journal of Distance Education, 11 (3), pp.8-26

Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall.

Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P. A. & Jochems, W. (2003) 'Identifying the pitfalls for social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: a review of the research'. Computers in Human Behavior, 19 (3), pp.335-353

McConnell, D. (2006) E-Learning Groups and Communities. Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London, Basic Books.

Short, J., Williams, E. & Christie, B. (1976) The social psychology of telecommunications. London, John Wiley & Sons.

Zenios, M. & Holmes, B. (2010), 'Knowledge creation in networked learning: combined tools and affordances', Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010, Copenhagen, pp.471-479

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/news/press_corner/statistics.cfm

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/news/press_corner/statistics.cfm


Thank you

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http://holmesbrian.blogspot.com/

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http://holmesbrian.blogspot.com/

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