Yelling for peer-learning in teacher-training: A social platform for sharing practice and reflection in pre-service and in-service teacher training
Global Perspectives on Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Glasgow, UK, (July 2013)Abstract
The paper focuses on an ongoing project in which a professional community of teachers, trainees and trainers use a social platform to promote life-long learning and reflexive collaborative practices within a socio-con structivism framework of teaching and learning. The social plat form YELL/TELL (Young English Language Learners / Teen English Language Learners) offers support and tools to improve pre-service and in-service teacher training on the basis of sharing resources, commenting and reflecting on them in the spirit of Open Educational Resources and in a peer-learning/peer-teaching perspective. Thanks to the collaboration with the L3S Research Center in Hanover, the YELL/TELL community can use the social platform LearnWeb2.0 adapted to the needs of the users. The paper discussed a case study in which the platform is used by student teachers of a pre-service course for nursery and primary teachers in an Italian University (Udine).
The research questions aim at investigating how the student teachers perceive themselves as participant users in a professional social community. Whereas the students show a positive and encouraging attitude towards the participation in such a community for training purposes, they also reveal difficulties in adapting to such an environment. The research is ongoing and will need wider samples and a variety of analytical tools in order to investigate further the use of social platforms and communities for teacher education.