Teacher Education in CALL
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Chapter 18.
Communities of Practice for Pre- and In-service Teacher Education
Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, California State University, Sacramento, USA
Abstract
Within months of obtaining teacher certification, instructors find that what
they have studied about computers and technology in language learning has become
obsolete. This chapter discusses the concept of communities of practice (CoP) as
a means of ongoing, just-in-time, pre-service and in-service training for
technology-using teachers. The author defines CoPs as entities more coherent and
socially supportive than the typical professional association e-list or Website
and offers examples from teacher groups that extend across the globe, including
several different countries and languages. CoPs offer the opportunity to
interact with like-minded colleagues, share expertise and mentoring, and give
back what is learned in collaborative experiences both land-based and virtual. A
list of CoPs and resources for their creation is found at the author's Web page,
Community of Practice Resources:
http://webpages.csus.edu/~hansonsm/CoP_Resources.html.
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Updated December 8, 2006