Online Professional Learning Community Research Articles

Unlocking in-depth forum discussion and perceived effectiveness: Teaching and social presence categories in online teacher communities

Online teacher communities constitute pivotal professional development contexts. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence on how best to conduct in-depth forum discussion for meaningful learning outcomes. This study combines qualitative comparative analysis of communities' forum transcripts to specify the teaching and social presence categories that promote in-depth forum discussion with teachers’ questionnaires for perceived effectiveness. Findings identify a successful online coordination and participation framework: teaching presence characterized by strong direct instruction combined with social presence exhibiting high levels of affective and cohesive discourse. This framework provides actionable insights for online professional learning communities with implications for educational research and practice.

“I am so lucky to be part of this community”: Online professional learning communities to support teacher professional development (TPD) in higher education

Few studies have examined how EFL teachers, as language teacher educators, perceive their participation in a particular online professional learning community (PLC) despite the growing body of research on PLC in educational settings. The current study delved into the teacher professional development of EFL teachers in higher education settings. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and then narratively evaluated. The data were thematically analyzed. The results point to a few advantages teacher educators experience when participating in online PLC, which ultimately improves their competency in teacher professional development. The result brought to light that online PLC activities in Indonesia facilitated teacher educators' professional development in many aspects. Understanding the findings in the present study could motivate English teachers, be they in secondary or post-secondary education contexts, to always improve their pedagogical knowledge through PLC. Stories shared by the participants in this study inform pedagogical impacts for redesigning curricula that specialize in writing practice for PhD students. Policymakers could also take advantage of the present study's findings in the context of enacting PLC training for teachers on how to treat and make use of this PLC effectively.

Technological affordances in teachers' online professional learning communities: A systematic review

AbstractBackground StudyPrevious systematic reviews concluded that online professional‐learning communities (OPLCs) have positive effects on teachers' development, but explored neither the technological affordances that make this possible nor the potential negative impacts of technology use in OPLCs.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to systematically analyse previous research on teachers' OPLCs, and thus help answer the question of what technological affordances (dis)empower members of teachers' OPLCs, and how they do so.MethodsThis study applied the systematic‐review method. A total of 28 studies were identified and analysed using rigorously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results are reported as a synthesis.Results and ConclusionsFirst, in theme, the selected articles primarily focused on features of OPLCs and of teachers' knowledge. Second, mixed‐methods approaches were commonly used in the sampled research, and the number of studies employing advanced statistical methods and machine learning increased over time. And third, the reviewed studies' findings suggest that technology supports ‘bottom‐up’ teachers' communities (as distinct from ‘top‐down’ professional development organized by educational authorities) in seven ways: that is, by promoting collaboration opportunities, expanding the participants' networks, facilitating knowledge sharing, delivering support more rapidly, providing emotional support, allowing ubiquitous learning, and enabling multiple modes of participation.

Navigating the landscape of academic coaching: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis

PurposeAcademic coaching (AC) has gained a significant attention to support student success and achievement in higher education, management and psychology. This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of AC literature to identify the top authors, research patterns, hotspots and research topics in the field.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized a bibliometric analysis of articles published between 1987 and 2023, using descriptive and network analysis methods with tools such as RStudio, Biblioshiny, Excel and VOSviewer. The study also conducted functional, mapping and content analysis, to identify AC literature's key themes and research areas.FindingsThe results revealed an increasing interest in AC, with increased publications. However, there are gaps in geographical diversity and authorship. Most studies were conducted in the United States of America and the UK, and were published in education, psychology and coaching journals. Common themes included coaching, professional development, higher education and mentoring. Emerging research areas include: coaching efficacy in education, AC as an online learning support and professional learning communities. More studies are needed in different contexts and with larger sample sizes.Originality/valueThis comprehensive bibliometric analysis adds to the existing literature by presenting a detailed analysis of the field of AC, filling a gap in the current literature. The study's unique contribution is its examination of emerging research areas and themes in AC literature, providing directions for future research. This study is particularly relevant for researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in understanding AC's state of the art and identifying promising areas for future research.

Teacher development in an evolving online professional learning community: an action research study

ABSTRACT Professional learning communities (PLCs) have long been regarded as effective for professional development; their operational processes, however, are largely unexplored in the literature. This paper examines the dynamic process of an online PLC by using an action research approach to explore the role of different collaborative learning methods. Data were collected using observations, field notes, interviews, video records, and various artefacts. Surveys were also used to examine the teachers’ competencies. The findings confirm the positive effects of online PLCs on teachers’ competencies and the formation of a learning culture. Moreover, each of the three collaborative learning approaches has distinct advantages for teachers at different stages of development. This result highlights that the forms of collaboration in online PLCs are subject to negotiation and change as the community develops; the potential of online PLCs should be continuously explored using process-oriented, context-sensitive methods.

Six Ideas for Building a Vibrant Online Professional Community

Building vibrant, online professional learning communities (PLCs) is crucial to combat the isolation experienced by online faculty and facilitate their professional growth, with strategies such as prioritizing relationship building, empowering all faculty with a voice, recognizing their achievements, ensuring relevant and targeted content, teaching best pedagogical practices, and accommodating faculty needs. By nurturing a supportive and collaborative online environment, institutions can help faculty overcome remote teaching challenges, connect them to valuable resources, and enhance their professional and personal fulfillment in their roles as online educators.

A self-study of an inter-university partnership to integrate technology into instruction

ABSTRACT This study examines an initial attempt of two literacy and educational technology teacher educators to establish an inter-university partnership among 58 teacher candidates learning to integrate educational technology to support literacy instruction by creating an online professional learning community. This study uses self-study as a form of inquiry to examine teacher candidates’ perceptions about the collaborative model and their use of technology integration. Findings focus on teacher educator experiences and teacher candidates’ integrating technology into instructional planning. Teacher educator themes centre on the importance of synchronising planning and devising strategies to garner participation between members of an inter-university partnership. Teacher candidate themes illustrate how empathy for others’ learning can increase technological self-efficacy and strategies when using an online space to share technology integration experiences. This study provides teacher educators with strategies to establish an inter-university partnership aimed at exploring apps to design instruction.

Læreres erfaringer med kompetanseutvikling i et online profesjonelt læringsfellesskap

This study presents what reflections science teachers express when they shared experiences after trying out a new teaching method in science in an online synchronous professional learning community (PLC), and how they experienced participation in the online PLC. The results indicate that the teachers experienced increased awareness about their own teaching practice. The teachers were comfortable conducting collaborative sessions synchronously online and found that this gave them flexibility in terms of time and their geographical location. However, the support provided by the module was not sufficient to create reflective discussions for all the teachers. This insight is an important contribution, which should be considered to support PLC (online or not) in schools.

Technology-enhanced Reflection and Teacher Development: A Student Teacher's Journey

This article reports on the findings from a technology-enhanced teacher learning project where the SETTVEO app (Self Evaluation of Teacher Talk through Video Enhanced Observation) was used to support teachers’ reflective practices and professional development. Participants in the project were a group of 40 student teachers (ST) from Hong Kong, who took part in a teaching practicum taught online owing to COVID-19 restrictions. They formed online professional learning communities (PLCs) with peers and tutors, shared their class recordings (tagged using the on SETTVEO app), and reflected on their teaching through weekly discussions. This study aims to characterize teacher learning mediated by video technology and dialogue, and to evaluate the impact of the app on STs’ reflective practices and emerging Classroom Interactional Competence (CIC, Walsh 2013). In this article, we focus on an individual ST's development over a period of eight weeks. Two sources of data are transcribed and analysed using an applied Conversation Analysis (CA) method: the first records the teacher's interactions while teaching, the second their dialogic reflections based on observations of these class recordings. Findings from the study enhance our understandings of the role of technology in influencing classroom practice and highlight its importance in promoting teacher noticing and professional development.

Responding to obstacles to educational change: Can online professional learning communities of educators help alleviate inertia?

The complexity and uncertainty that our societies face today invites us to rethink our notions of learning, schooling, and the broader question of the purpose of education. This paper discusses Jónasson’s (2016) article “Educational change, inertia and potential futures: Why is it difficult to change the content of education?”, in which he argues that these disruptions demand changes in education, namely in its aims, and in its content. Thus, today we may need ‘new knowledge’ that perhaps resides outside of the usual disciplines. Changes will need to involve teachers as ‘the professionals that operate the System’ (2016, p. 1). The aim of this paper is to provide a discussion around two of the nine categories of inertia that are seen to stifle change, and that Jónasson highlights in his article, teacher education (TE) and lack of space and motivation for initiative. It argues that specific conditions of TE may open up venues to address these constraints and support change and challenge current teacher education approaches that reflect these inertial constraints. The paper focuses on an online professional learning community (OPLC) gathering teachers from 50 European countries on an online platform developed under the umbrella of the Council of Europe’s Pestalozzi Programme for teacher development. The data was analysed through an ensemble of tools considered well fitted to find patterns in a conversation formed by teacher-dialogues, first by observing and counting, then by qualitative inquiry (thematic analysis). The results show how the OPLC, by opening a space for educators to critically reflect on their practice with peers and facilitators, presents a model that may start addressing the two selected inertial constraints cited by Jónasson.

Digital ethnography of an online professional learning community based on WeChat for Chinese early childhood teachers

Enhancing the professional development of early childhood education (ECE) teachers is an important step toward the goal of improving children's learning experiences. Building professional learning communities (PLCs) has been validated by previous works in the ECE domains. The proliferation of social media has catalyzed the emergence of online community, bringing with them their distinctive value in teachers' professional development. WeChat is the most popular social networking service in China. However, only limited attention has been paid to how ECE teachers engaged in online communities and how PLCs for ECE teachers are shaped online in the Chinese contexts. Thus, this study aims to investigate how ECE teachers engage in a WeChat-based community and shape the community as a PLC. Multi-sourced data were collected including excerpts and screenshots of discussions in the chat group and webinars, fieldnotes, and interviews with 12 participants. Key findings suggest that: (a) leadership is distributed through the practices of volunteer facilitators, (b) teachers' practices are shared through reflecting on professional reading and inquiring, (c) shared visions attracted and activated teachers in the online context, and (d) supportive relationships tend to mitigate the isolation of Chinese ECE teachers. This study addresses key challenges to the further development of PLCs based on SNS. The insights about how Chinese early childhood educators utilize the basic functions of social media can contribute to better practices for professional development in and beyond China.

Supporting mathematics public school teachers’ professional development and the teaching of statistics in elementary and middle school: An imperative for teacher education in Brazil

This research sought to understand the perspectives of 28 elementary school mathematics teachers, on equity, social justice, cultural, socioeconomic, and racial issues and their relationship with the teaching and learning of mathematics (statistical concepts) in an online collaborative mathematics course focused on teaching statistics in an equity view. Federal policy requires teaching statistics since elementary school in Brazil. The course was conducted in the context of a university-school partnership through an online professional learning community–PLC, involving teachers from eight public schools and researchers from eight public universities in three different states in the Northeast and one in the Southeast of Brazil. Teachers’ perspectives on equity, social justice, cultural, socioeconomic, and racial issues were analyzed under the lens of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) equity principles and Gorski’s (2019b) heritage literacy. Data was generated through responses to an on-line questionnaire. Data analysis involved the qualitative method of textual discursive analysis. Results focused on teachers’ understandings and interpretations regarding: how they define equity, equality, and social justice; opportunities in mathematics teaching to support student learning; school support in relation to racial, cultural, and socioeconomic issues of families. The findings point to the need to support the implementation of a professional development model that attends, at the same time, the learning of teachers and students, with a focus on equity in Brazilian public schools.

Facilitating Preservice Teachers’ Learning through an Online Professional Learning Community

The purpose of this article is to present three professional engagement activities that are embedded in one online professional learning community named Health Teacher Central: (a) accessing to professional learning community; (b) pair and share; and (c) be an educated consumer. It is suggested that teacher educators can integrate these activities into their methods course or curriculum to facilitate preservice teachers’ understanding of the profession, seeking for social and professional support, and gaining knowledge concerning school contexts, health curriculum, and pedagogies in teaching school health.

Virtual Professional Learning Communities: A Case Study in Rural Music Teacher Professional Development

The purpose of this study was to explore how a Virtual Professional Learning Community (VPLC) might serve as effective professional development for large ensemble teachers in rural communities interested in improving their pedagogy. We used a case study approach to investigate four rural music teachers who actively participated in an online professional learning community focused on implementing the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance model of planning and instruction into one of their large ensemble classes. Based on our findings, we concluded that a VPLC provided rural music teachers with meaningful, content-specific professional development while also reducing feelings of professional isolation. However, we also identified challenges that impacted the effectiveness of the VPLC. The implications for music teacher educators are discussed.

The Effect of Using Professional Learning Community (PLC) to Develop the English Language Oral Communication

The study aimed to illustrate the effect of using professional learning community (PLC) to develop the English language oral communication. The study begins with a review of literature and previous studies dealing with professional learning community (PLC) and oral communication. It also clarifies the definition of PLC, its importance, features, Philosophies beyond Professional Learning Community (PLC) in Education, online PLC and its advantages and challenges. Besides, the definition of oral communication and its elements. Finally, the research elaborates the interlink of PLC and oral communication. Language links different cultures and a way of communication that facilitates mutual understanding between people from different backgrounds. Language is also a means of communication. People can exchange messages and express their views with language. In education, English has become the primary language of communication. It is spoken by millions of people all over the world. Nowadays, almost all majors and fields use English, such as engineering, education, and economics. Therefore, it is very essential to learn English. Besides, teachers of English language should be able to communicate meaning with their students by using target language in different meaningful contexts.

Chapter 5: Using Social Media: One Physical Education Teacher’s Experience

Purpose: This study explored one physical education teacher’s engagement in an online professional learning community and her perceptions of its impact on her own feelings of isolation. Sense of community theory was used as a lens to explore the data. Method: Using a single instrumental case study design, the participant of this study was a female physical education teacher. The data were collected through semistructured interviews, public tweets (Twitter), and informal participant communication (Voxer). The data were analyzed using categorical aggregation, and codes with similar meanings were combined to develop themes. Results: Three themes were evident across data sources that represented her perceptions of participation in an online professional learning community: (a) taking initiative, (b) different support systems, and (c) stages of social media participation. Conclusion: Social media can provide a sense of community for physical education teachers, allowing them to feel less isolated.

Lessons Learned from Online PLCs of Rural STEM Teachers

This exploratory study of a Title II grant funded project analyzed the design and delivery of online professional learning communities (PLC) for rural STEM teachers. This research identified the frequency a video posting, the type of videos posted, and the style of reflection questions, as critical aspects to the engagement to participating teachers. Additionally, teachers showed an increase in teacher efficacy as a result of being part of the online PLCs and they indicated strong enjoyment and value in participation of the program.

Promoting pre-service teachers' engagement in an online professional learning community

PurposeThis study investigated the role of experienced practitioners in promoting pre-service teachers' knowledge construction and social interaction in an online professional learning community.Design/methodology/approachA repeated measures design with control and experimental groups was adopted. Two practitioners supported pre-service teachers in the experimental group to discuss issues around teaching practice. Social network analysis (SNA) and content analysis (CA) were used in the analytical approach.FindingsCA revealed that the practitioners increased pre-service teachers' levels of knowledge construction and high-cognitive discourse. SNA showed that the practitioners enhanced pre-service teachers' professional ties. Though collaboration in high-level knowledge building occurred predominantly in peers in the same discipline, the presence of the practitioners facilitated the development of more cross-disciplinary ties in the experimental group.Practical implicationsThe practitioners can be considered as a pedagogical tool to enhance pre-service teachers' engagement in the process of professional learning. This study suggests that in order to enhance the collaboration among pre-service teachers from different departments, the online activity should be designed to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration.Originality/valueThe study contributes new knowledge about the ways in which practitioners can enhance the collaboration among pre-service teachers in an online PLC. It also provides insight on how to combine CA and SNA, to examine professional learning.

Exploring primary school teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in online collaborative discourse: An epistemic network analysis

AbstractThe contextual influences on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) enactment and the method of TPACK assessment remain to be important research topics. Discourse data of 81 teachers in an online professional learning community were collected and analyzed based on the framework of TPACK. Frequency distribution and time series characteristics of teachers’ knowledge domains were analyzed. In addition, epistemic network analysis was used to compare the epistemic network characteristics of teachers in the higher‐score and the lower‐score groups, different age groups, and post and reply groups. Results showed that teachers’ knowledge domains enacted in the context of online discourse were mainly pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge. The teachers in the higher‐score group had a rich, organized and flexible knowledge structure of TPACK. Younger teachers had more connections between pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, while senior teachers had more connections between technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. The teachers in the reply group had more connections among the different categories of knowledge as compared to the post group. Finally, implications, limitations and future research were discussed.

Investigating the relationships among teachers’ motivational beliefs, motivational regulation, and their learning engagement in online professional learning communities

This study investigated the relationships among teachers' motivational beliefs, motivational regulation, and their learning engagement in online professional learning communities. More importantly, teachers' online learning behaviors were collected and used as indicates of learning engagement. 520 teachers involved in a training program were surveyed. The results of regression analyses showed that teachers' perceived task value positively predicted their online learning engagement. Moreover, teachers' motivational regulation played a partial mediating role in the predicting power of perceived task value to learning engagement. In addition, the first half of the mediating path among perceived task value, motivational regulation, and learning engagement was moderated by teachers' self-efficacy. The moderating effect on motivational regulation was higher for teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy than those with a low sense of self-efficacy. Therefore, it was suggested to assign learning tasks that meet the needs of teachers and pay attention to the cultivation of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs to increase their learning engagement in online professional learning communities. The limitations and the future research directions were discussed.