Heather's+research

Heather's thesis page toc

=Thesis=



This wiki is the online platform used for my masters research into using a blended approach to support the professional learning of inservice teacher educators (ISTE). The thesis is called **"Facilitating a blended learning community: A collaborative approach to professional learning."** The other research platform used was our planned monthly face to face meetings, although that didn't preclude the casual 'over the photocopier' type meetings (we all work in the same office although rarely at the same time).

While the ISTE team were trying to answer the question of 'what can we do to strengthen teacher learning through using online professional learning communities', I inverstigated the best way to support the development of adviser competence and knowledge (about their question) through using a blended learning environment. Make sense?

Each of the team had a wiki for our teachers and used these wikis to develop our understanding of best practice. I tested and developed my ideas out on this research wiki. In our monthly face to face meetings we talked about what was happening on this wiki and on our own teacher wikis, and through this discussion we were able to identify patterns and trends, and suggest our next steps.

=Outcomes= There were two key outcomes from this research: ISTE developed a set of strategies to build levels of confidence and engagement in their online teacher communities. I developed a set of strategies that showed how the blend of face to face and online environments can be best used to take advantage of the particular strengths of each environment.
 * ===Strategies.===
 * ===Facilitating a blended learning environment.===