The purpose of this formative experiment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008) was to describe the stages of development of an online platform that cultivated the growth of an online community of practice for teaching professionals. One hundred and forty-eight elementary school professionals participated in this study. Relying primarily on qualitative data, an iterative process of data gathering, analysis, and reflection was used prior to, during, and after the implementation of the intervention, LiteracyGrows.org, to describe performance and determine progress toward the pedagogical goal. Qualitative data were coded for recurring themes derived from the following sources: interview data, user-profile information, Google Analytics, email correspondence and open-rates, webinar archives, heat map data, and a researcher reflection journal. Micro-analysis revealed that the success of the intervention was related to the usability and sociability of the platform. It was easy to navigate and appealed to teachers as a social networking tool that was only for education professionals where they could share information and attend live or archived webinars to extend learning. Reflection on a macro-level was used as a tool to further explore LiteracyGrows.org as a model of professional development. Specifically, how it was situated within the larger landscape of professional development and what it offered in terms of alignment between learning theory, epistemology, and model of professional development and communication, worldview, and knowledge. These constructs were important factors to consider in creating a platform for meaningful dialogue and professional growth to take place. LiteracyGrows.org provides the foundation for future research to further explore how online professional platforms can be utilized to make professional development an on-going and sustainable component of support and growth for education professionals. The growth of online professional platforms by educators will also shift the conversation of professional development further away from delivery and more toward meaningful engagement by educators as active participants in their own knowledge construction. Recommendations include the continuation of the discussion of professional development in terms of epistemological alignment. This study highlights disconnect between teachers and their professional development experiences when expectations, perceptions, and understanding of what they are engaging in for growth do not align. Furthermore, reconstructing the way professional development is embedded within practice to better engage the 21st Century teacher using up-to-date technology.

In this multivariate correlational study, the researcher examined the course culture of an online graduate course whose environment exhibited characteristics of a Community of practice (CoP). An online survey captured data used to explore the relationships among variables shown to describe a CoP in field environments and among student perceptions of their experience in the course culture. A canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and commonality analysis (CA) were conducted using five predictor variables and three criterion variables to evaluate the degree and direction of the relationships. The CCA revealed that the full model was significant, explaining approximately 74% of the variance among the two synthetic variates. Impact, faculty leadership, and connection were the largest contributors to the predictor variate. The criterion variate was primarily explained by value and perceived CoP, with exposure to the profession providing a smaller contribution. The CA confirmed these findings. Results from this study indicate that a CoP could be fostered in an online graduate course. The overall significance of the model indicates teachers can nurture an environment wherein graduate students will take the initiative to work with others to create and acquire knowledge that creates a sense of professional connection with each other and with the profession overall. The results of this study suggest further empirical research in implementing and assessing CoPs in online graduate courses is warranted.

This study investigated beliefs of members of an online Community of Practice (WIA) on the role of the community on professional development, teaching, and on Web 2.0 use. Through the analyses of the questionnaire, it was aimed at finding out the members&rsquo / ideas about the group as an online CoP and benefits of belonging to an online CoP. The data were collected from seventy nine members of the Webheads in Action from various countries by using an online questionnaire. Then, the responses to the multiple choice items were analyzed using PASSW. The data collected from the last section of the questionnairre were analyzed through content analysis and pattern coding. The findings revealed that the members believe that WIA plays an important role in the process of developing multiltiteracies skills and the Web 2.0 tools used in classroom teaching and for professional development. The findings also revealed that the participants believe that being a WIA member leads to motivation, collaboration and discovery. These beliefs are thought to provide insights about the advantages and disadvantages of learning in online CoPs and their effects on the members&rsquo / Web 2.0 use. The findings can also be beneficial for researchers, teacher trainers, and teachers wishing to join CoPs for professional development. They can understand the advantages and disadvantages, and the participation process in more detail. Moreover, these findings can indicate that online CoPs can provide a medium for coping with the increasing amount of information thanks to the recent technological developments, and acquiring new skills.

This study investigated beliefs of members of an online Community of Practice (WIA) on the role of the community on professional development, teaching, and on Web 2.0 use. Through the analyses of the questionnaire, it was aimed at finding out the members&rsquo / ideas about the group as an online CoP and benefits of belonging to an online CoP. The data were collected from seventy nine members of the Webheads in Action from various countries by using an online questionnaire. Then, the responses to the multiple choice items were analyzed using PASSW. The data collected from the last section of the questionnairre were analyzed through content analysis and pattern coding. The findings revealed that the members believe that WIA plays an important role in the process of developing multiltiteracies skills and the Web 2.0 tools used in classroom teaching and for professional development. The findings further revealed that the participants believe that being a WIA member leads to motivation, collaboration and discovery. These beliefs are thought to provide insights about the advantages and disadvantages of learning in online CoPs and their effects on the members&rsquo / Web 2.0 use. The findings can also be beneficial for researchers, teacher trainers, and teachers wishing to join CoPs for professional development. They can understand the advantages and disadvantages, and the participation process in more detail. Moreover, these findings can indicate that online CoPs can provide a medium for coping with the increasing amount of information thanks to the recent technological developments, and acquiring new skills.

This thesis describes the researcher’s journey as an online facilitator and reflective organization development (OD) practitioner as she explores how to nurture and cultivate space for learning and collaboration in an online community of practice. The research setting is a small group of mostly volunteers in a national health charity. The researcher adopts a reflective practitioner research approach engaging in a continuous process of story-telling throughout the thesis. She struggles with questions such as her own dynamic role as an outside facilitator, the role of technology, dilemmas of emergence versus design and discovery of purpose. Rather than arriving at a to-do-list for potential online facilitators, she discovers that hosting café style conversations, setting the online tables and enabling space for learning, collaboration and aliveness is more a matter of the facilitator’s capacity to listen, to be authentically present and to relinquish control.

This thesis describes the researcher’s journey as an online facilitator and reflective organization development (OD) practitioner as she explores how to nurture and cultivate space for learning and collaboration in an online community of practice. The research setting is a small group of mostly volunteers in a national health charity. The researcher adopts a reflective practitioner research approach engaging in a continuous process of story-telling throughout the thesis. She struggles with questions such as her own dynamic role as an outside facilitator, the role of technology, dilemmas of emergence versus design and discovery of purpose. Rather than arriving at a to-do-list for potential online facilitators, she discovers that hosting café style conversations, setting the online tables and enabling space for learning, collaboration and aliveness is more a matter of the facilitator’s capacity to listen, to be authentically present and to relinquish control.