Dr. Riina VuorikariEuropean Schoolnet

riina.vuorikari@eun.org

Virtual mobility and

teachers’ informal professional development networks

Group VIII

1. Virtual Mobility (VM) in its own right (virtual collaborations, e.g. eTwinning)

2. ICT tools/education technology 

supporting physical mobility periods

Defining virtual mobility

1. Virtual Mobility in its own right

2. How informal learning networks could support teachers?3. 2 examples of networks

– (Diffusion of innovation within the network)

4. Possible tensions in the network: – open vs. closed, – anonymity vs. personal information, – centralised vs. decentralised

Outline: this presentation

• With social media and Web 2.0, a new type of network emerges combining off-line and on-line -> hybrid networks

• Virtual collaboration is nowadays at the fingertips of students and teachers in compulsory education!

• High possibility to scale up!

Virtual Mobility (VM) in its own right

Value defined through social capital – the sense of belonging to the community – the provided and received support– the social network structure

Offer a high potential for teachers– to up-skill in areas such digital competences, – the useof ICT to support teaching and learning, – communication in foreignlanguages, – other areas of personal development such asintercultural

dialogue and social competence

Value of informal learning networks for individuals

TALIS, OECD, 2009

Example 1: Distributed web 2.0 tools

Example 2: Centralised tools

eTwinning reach=

number of eTwinners / number of teachers

On average, 2.64% of European teachers are eTwinners

Diffusion of innovation (1)

1. Centralised vs. decentralised underlying technical structure?=> Who has the control?

2. Is it an open or closed network? => trust in the network

3. Anonymity vs. personal information => how much personal information is made available? Think of under-aged students!=> is the source of information acknowledged?

Tensions in the network

Diffusion of innovation (2)

Now, imagine: “viruses” spread

through collaboration.

This virus is a positive one,

called eTwinning.

Who will notget the virus?

Who will not get

the virus?

The ones who are not connected,

e.g. who are not collaborating with

others.

Diffusion of

innovationwithin

a schoolfollows the

same pattern! Institutionalising

“culture of change”

What is the role of Teacher

Networks for professional

development in Europe in 2025?

References

• Teachers’ Lifelong Learning Network (www.tellnet.eun.org)

•Vuorikari, R., Gilleran, A., & Scimeca, S. (2011). Growing beyond Innovators – ICT-Based School Collaboration in eTwinning. In C. D. Kloos, D. Gillet, R. M. Crespo García, F. Wild, & M. Wolpers (Eds.), Towards Ubiquitous Learning (Vol. 6964, pp. 537-542). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. http://tellnet.eun.org/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=10704&folderId=18137&name=DLFE-515.pdf