Gathering Practice Sharing and Problem Solving on a Single Platform for Teacher Training: A Collaborative Platform Model for Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

This paper proposes a platform model to support teacher professional development. From a study of exchanges between teachers on Web forums we examine two facets of knowledge exchange, usual teaching practices and problem solving, and how they can be managed on a unique web platform. We use a task/method paradigm for knowledge elicitation about usual teaching practices, driven by the exchanges between teachers and capitalized into individual memories. For problem solving we use an IBIS-like approach (problem, solution, argument) and REX-like cards to structure the problem and solution description. The important problem of knowledge evaluation is treated with a three-level evaluation (opinion, usefulness and difficulty). The teacher's profile and its central role in connecting teachers is described. For knowledge classification, because a consensus is difficult in this domain, we propose a mixed approach between structured classification techniques (taxonomies) and unstructured techniques (folksonomies).

Knowledge Management Practices Integrated to Teaching Methodologies: An integrative review

“…From an initial investigation into the exchange of innovative teaching practices and experiences between teachers in online forums, Condamines [8] shows that many online environments used are not specific to CoPs, limiting the creation and sharing of knowledge. In this vein, the author proposes an online platform model to support the professional development of a community of practice.…”