Professional Development of Elementary School Teachers through Online Peer Collaboration: A Case Study

Year 2016, Volume: 7 Issue: 4, 422 - 439, 30.10.2016

İbrahim Hakkı Acar , Süleyman Yıldız

https://doi.org/10.17569/tojqi.79480

Abstract

The
purpose of the current case study is to explore the influence of online peer
collaboration among Turkish elementary school teachers in order to gain an
understanding of the contributions from online peer collaboration to teachers’
professional development. For the purpose this study, online peer collaboration
is defined as online support provided by teachers to one another through a
web-based professional development platform called “Learner-Teachers”. This
case study involves eight volunteer elementary school teachers who have been
involved in “Learner-Teachers” online peer collaboration professional
development process. Qualitative data collection consisted of semi-structured
interview and utilizing teachers’ online entries on the web-based exchange platform.
Open coding method and entry analyses were done as data analyses. Four main
themes emerged from the current study: 1) Satisfaction with peer collaboration
2) Usefulness of online peer collaboration 3) Improvement of classroom teaching
methods and techniques 4) Improvement of classroom management skills. Overall,
teachers who participated the online peer collaboration appeared to benefit
from this collaboration in their personal and professional development. The
importance of peer collaboration via online tools are discussed.

Keywords

Online peer collaboration, professional development, elementary school teachers, Case Study

İlköğretim Öğretmenlerinin Online Akran İşbirliği ile Profesyonel Gelişimi: Bir Durum Çalışması

Abstract

Bu durum çalışmasının amacı, sınıf öğretmenlerinin arasında gerçekleşen
online akran işbirliğinin onların mesleki gelişimlerine katıkısını keşfetmektir.
Bu  kapsamda, çevrimiçi akran
işbirliği, 
"öğrenen-öğretmenler" adlı bir web tabanlı mesleki gelişim
platformu üzerinden öğretmenlerin birbirlerine sağladığı çevrimiçi destek
olarak tanımlanmistir. Bu araştırmanın katılımcıları
"Öğrenen-Öğretmenler" çevrimiçi akran işbirliği mesleki gelişim
sürecine dahil olan sekiz gönüllü sınıf öğretmenidir Bu araştırmada veri
toplama, yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme ve web tabanlı gerçekleştirilen bilgi
alışverişi platformu üzerinde kullanan öğretmenlerin çevrimiçi girdileri ile
saglanmistir. Toplanan verilerin analizleri, 
açık kodlama yöntemi ve  online
girdilerin tematik analizleri olarak yapılmıştır. Analizler sonucunda, dört ana
tema ortaya çıkmıştır ve bu temalar su sekildedir: 1- Akran işbirliğinden
sağlanan memnuniyet 2-Akran işbirliğinin faydası 3- Sınıf öğretim yöntem ve
tekniklerinde gelişim 4- Sınıf yönetimi becerilerinde gelişimdir. Genel olarak,
online akran işbirliğine katılan öğretmenlerin, bu işbirliğinin onların kişisel
ve mesleki gelişimlerine katkı sağladığı seklinde algıladıkları ortaya
çıkmıştır. Ayrıca online araçlar ile gerçekleştirilen  akran işbirliğinin
önemi tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

Online akran işbirliği, professional gelişim, sınıf öğretmenleri, durum çalışması

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