ERIC Number: EJ988467
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1436-4522
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Understanding Social Nature of an Online Community of Practice for Learning to Teach
Tsai, I-Chun
Educational Technology & Society, v15 n2 p271-285 2012
This study is aimed to explore the social nature of membership in an online community of practice (NETwork, Nurturing Elementary Teachers' work) whose purpose is to support pre-service and in-service teachers with a collaborative virtual space for learning how to teach. Path analysis was employed to explore the relationships among social constructs: perceived ease of use and usefulness, social ability, sense of community, satisfaction with NETwork experience, and effectiveness of NETwork for Teaching. The results show members' satisfaction was the only direct factor impacting members' perceptions of effectiveness; several social constructs have direct impact on members' satisfaction; and technology acceptance influences members' social ability, sense of community, and learning satisfaction. (Contains 5 tables and 7 figures.)
Descriptors: Educational Technology, Teaching Methods, Path Analysis, Student Attitudes, Communities of Practice, Usability, Electronic Learning, Teacher Education, Professional Continuing Education, Professional Development, Interpersonal Relationship, Online Courses, Correlation, Satisfaction, Computer Mediated Communication, Distance Education, Technology Uses in Education, Preservice Teachers, Inservice Education, Teaching (Occupation)
International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Athabasca University, School of Computing & Information Systems, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada. Tel: 780-675-6812; Fax: 780-675-6973; Web site: http://www.ifets.info
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A