Online teacher development: collaborating in a virtual learning environment

Over recent years educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small scale professional development programme was set up and piloted by two distance universities. The aims were to develop teachers’ experience of online group work; to trial a set of pilot activities which would raise awareness of factors contributing to successful collaborative online activity; and to identify professional development needs in this area. This article reports on the hands-on experience of a group of 20 teachers, examines some of the competences that are needed to successfully collaborate in virtual environments, and presents the skills that teachers need to foster online collaborative learning in the virtual classroom. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, examining the levels of participation among participants, the collaborative activity of two groups, and teacher perception of the collaboration which took place. The skills identified include planning and managing the collaboration, designing appropriate activities, giving clear instructions and getting students to negotiate ground rules for participation, moderating at the right level, and choosing the right environment and the appropriate tool(s). While this study was carried out with language teachers, many of the findings are applicable to other subject areas where growing emphasis is placed on the development of collaborative skills

Shifting the primary focus: Assessing the case for dialogic education in secondary classrooms

Dialogic theories and practices in education have grown over the last decade; in the United Kingdom, however, most research in the field has been carried out in primary schools. Six leading academic researchers in the field are interviewed to explore the reasons for this primary bias to date, and their perceptions of both the difficulties and the potential benefits of dialogic education in secondary schools. Primary schools are portrayed as having greater flexibility and a more holistic approach that is conducive to dialogue; secondary schools, as restricted by organisational, psychological and assessment pressures. These issues are seen as significant but not insurmountable; furthermore, a consensus emerges about the validity and necessity of dialogic approaches in secondary schools. Distinct affordances are suggested and explored. The case is then made for greater research and practice of dialogic secondary education: away from the study of individual subjects as unitary and segregated bodies of knowledge, and towards encouraging dialogues within and across academic subjects as a way of increasing students’ motivation, enriching their learning, and promoting more flexible thinking