Virtual insights : the design, development and evaluation of a strategy for online communication in teacher professional development

This thesis discusses the process of the design, development and evaluation of a strategy for online communication within a model of professional development for teachers and the results of an eight-month pilot project involving two school teams. The pilot project involved two school teams and an online process with a newsgroup, email, and online mentors. The strategy for online communication was designed to support a constructivist-based environment. Considerations for the design and development of an online communication strategy for a model of professional development include: the instructional needs of the learners, the needs of the model for professional development as a self-sustaining system, and support mechanisms for the new media and novice learners. Participatory evaluation methods were used to assess the strategy for online communication. Insight into the integration of participatory evaluation methods into the instructional design process of building an online community suggest that participatory evaluation methods have potential, but require a significant amount of timing, planning and resources