http://www.mcte.org/BeachLA.pdf
Richard Beach, professor at University of Minnesota, writes about the effectiveness of Professional Development and incorporating the use of digital technologies and social networking to learn from other educators. One issue with Professional Development workshops is the lack of follow-through and follow-up. Teachers attend workshops and may or may not incorporate the ideas and knowledge gained in their classrooms. They may try an idea briefly and then revert back to their old ways and habits of teaching because it is familiar. Beach states that teachers can capitalize on the affordances of digital tools and social networking capabilities to collaborate, plan with, and learn from other teachers (Beach, 2012).
In the busy world of a teacher, it is difficult to find time to collaborate with other educators in extensive planning and developing of best practices. However, by making use of social networking in a PLC (DuFour, 2004) teachers can interact with their peers in planning, developing, examining and reflecting on their teaching practices and student achievement. Because PLCs depend upon regular interaction with colleagues, often
around shared lesson plans or student work, it makes sense to take advantage of online social networking’s great potential for facilitating such interaction (Beach, 2012). By subscribing to professional learning sites, blogs, wikis, Twitter, etc. teachers gain access to shared information and ideas instantly and conveniently. Online communities are not constrained by time thereby allowing members to move through periods of high to low activity over longer periods of time. To a teacher who must juggle work and personal commitments, this is an attractive feature (Duncan-Howell, 2010).
The face-to-face component of Professional Development is still a crucial aspect in effective PD and social networking is not a way to replace this way of learning. However, by using social network outlets, teachers can continue to follow-up and follow-through on the ideas and activities they have recently acquired no matter where they are or what time it is. In conclusion, creating an effective online PLC certainly requires more than simply sharing work online. It also requires extensive face-to-face social interaction complemented by the use of digital tools to do meaningful and important social work (Beach, 2010).
Beach, R. (2012). Can Online Communities Foster Proessional Development? Language Arts, 89(4), 256- 262
DuFour, R. (2004). What Is a "Professional Learning Community"? Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6-11
Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 324-340. doi: 10.1111/j. 1467-8535.2009.00953.x
