# The Role of Technology in Communities of Learning Collaboration and Support

Maina Wagioko, Janet Manza

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## To cite this version:

Maina Wagioko, Janet Manza. The Role of Technology in Communities of Learning Collaboration and Support. IFIP World Conference on Computers in Education (WCCE), Aug 2022, Hiroshima, Japan. pp.412-422, 10.1007/978-3-031-43393-1_38. hal-05533338

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# The Role of Technology in Communities of Learning Collaboration and Support

Maina WaGioko<fnref n="1" />(✉) and Janet Manza<fnref n="2" />(✉)

**Abstract.** Continuous Professional Learning is gaining currency in Kenya due to several factors, including the Teachers' Service Commission's policy (appraisal and development). This has facilitated practicum session inclusion. This explo-
rative interpretive study undertook artifact analysis to establish the role of social media in practicum. The study reviewed 560 schools from 38 counties after a three-day face-to-face session during the school term practicum. Six platforms, Edmodo, WhatsApp, Slack, Kaizala, Twitter, and Facebook were reviewed. Activ-
ity logs (posts and contents) were analyzed over 12 months of practicum (commu-
nities of learning) sessions. The document analysis focused on enrolment, traffic, content, type of activities, quality of engagement, and opportunities for support and learning. The findings revealed that currency, relevance, importance, cama-
raderie, and learning as factors that guided the engagement. The use of social media extended the learning experiences, continued cohort engagement, increased numbers reached, and facilitated the transfer of principles into practice.

**Keywords:** Practicum · Professional Learning · Technology infusion

## 1 Introduction

Globally, education has been an important aspect of human resource development, due to the knowledge, skills, attitude, values, and competencies gained from it. Education improves integrity and relationships among individuals. A Community of Learning (CoL) is a group of teachers with a shared commitment to reflect on their teaching practice and to learn, both individually and in teams, about the pedagogies that are most effective for improving learners' learning. The CoL members also reflect on challenges and successes, material development, differentiated instruction, and learning activities through social network technologies, among many other approaches. Social networks can be infused into the CoL, as they allow educators to share ideas irrespective of time and geography. Sharing and comparing classroom teaching content, teaching techniques, and learning methods can help teachers enhance the learning experiences in their class-
rooms. Social networking allows teachers to connect within and across schools. These

<footnote n="1">¹ Aga Khan Schools, Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa, Kenya
gioko@agakhanacademies.org</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Presbyterian Primary School, Mombasa, Kenya
janetpetermanza@gmail.com</footnote>
networks are useful, as they keep the teachers abreast of innovative and contextual cur-
riculum deployment, changes in the curriculum, and content across schools, counties,
and, perhaps, beyond, in other countries. The connectivity enables teachers to access
authentic experiential information, leading to professional growth as they build a net-
work of references from peers and experts. While this is often not talked about, contacts
are key to professional learning. The world today revolves around whom you know.
Establishing relationships with others in different schools can help teachers to enhance
their careers. Social networking for teachers can be used to build contacts with teachers
from other schools and help keep their options open. In CoL, Edmodo, WhatsApp, Slack,
Kaizala, and Facebook were used in the post-training phase during the practicum for
the transfer of principles into practice. This paper aims to explore how social platforms
were used in a community of learning to leverage collaboration and support.

## 2 Nature of the Platforms

This section describes the platforms that were used in the community of learning
practicum.

### 2.1 Edmodo

Edmodo is an educational website that takes the ideas of a social network and refines them and makes them appropriate for a classroom. Using Edmodo, students and teachers can reach out to one another and connect by sharing ideas, problems, and learning resources. This powerful app enables the users to become part of a safe network that provides full privacy. It guarantees full confidentiality so that one can easily store their unique ideas and class projects without worrying. With Edmodo, there is endless collaboration. It means that you can, instantly, connect and get the required information from other students and teachers. It allows interaction in a virtual professional learning community of practice [1].

### 2.2 WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a free messenger application that works across multiple platforms and is being widely used among students and teachers to send multimedia messages. It enables one-on-one communication, as well as communication in closed, members-only groups. It facilitates interactive, multimedia discourse with quick exchanges of text, images, audio, and video on people's mobile phones. WhatsApp's popularity has been attributed to the fact that it imitates face-to-face communication best and to the sense of immediacy it affords, as messages synchronously flow between group members [2]. WhatsApp groups function as "micro-communities" [3] and establish a sense of community space, where informal communication takes place between the members of the closed group.
## 2.3 Slack

Slack allows communities, groups, or teams to join through a specific invitation sent by a team admin or owner [4]. Although Slack was meant for organizational communication, it has been slowly turning into a community platform, a function for which users had previously used message boards. According to Peraita and Robey [4], many of these communities are categorized by topics that a group of people may be interested in discussing.

## 2.4 Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site created in 2004 by Jack Zuckerberg, which has since obtained over a billion users, and it has the potential to facilitate learning in the classroom. With the widespread use of Facebook in society, it simply makes sense to investigate ways it might be used in higher education. Several studies have been done by scholars in different disciplines regarding the use of Facebook (in general and in academia). Students come to school wired and are willing and eager to use technology, but higher education has a well-established trend toward non-adoption of new technologies. Studies on the use of Facebook [5, 6], indicate that there are a wide number of potential benefits to using Facebook as an educational tool.

## 2.5 Kaizala

Kaizala is like WhatsApp, but a superior one that makes professional engagements more fulfilling [7]. Through Kaizala, you can schedule meetings, undertake surveys, and share files, among others. It is a private platform, where data is safe, and engagement is protected [8].

## 2.6 Twitter

Twitter is an online news and social networking site, where people communicate in short messages called tweets [9]. Tweeting is posting short messages to anyone who follows you on Twitter, with the hope that your messages are useful and interesting to someone in your audience [10]. Another description of Twitter and tweeting might be micro-blogging. Some people use Twitter to discover interesting people and companies online, opting to follow their tweets [11]. Twitter has been used in education for various purposes [12–17].

The six social network platforms were used to offer a choice from the alumni preference in a diverse differentiated approach.

# 3 Literature Review

A teacher in the 21st century is expected to be competent in a range of technologies that have proliferated in today’s digital world [18]. This is congruent with preparing learners to cope with the demands of the 21st-century job market through the development
of digital and information literacies [19]. The “ability to effectively and thoughtfully evaluate, navigate and construct information using a range of digital technologies” [20: p. 128] are key elements that facilitate a teacher’s facility to function effectively in a digital world.

Tobin [21] coined the term “Personal Learning Network,” to describe a network of people and resources that support ongoing learning. While the terms Professional Learning Network and Communities of Learning are often used interchangeably, in this study CoL is used because this study focused on teachers’ learning after a course related to their professional work. According to Tobin, employees can learn by observing and talking with their network of colleagues and with individuals who have relevant expertise. He asserted that “learning doesn’t take place just in training programs but should be part of every employee’s everyday activity. You learn every time you read a book or article, every time you observe how someone else is doing work like your own, every time you ask a question” [21, para 1]. Tobin, thus, defined CoL as an ongoing and multifaceted process.

CoL can be understood as learning systems built upon an architecture of participation that can come to exist with or without specific objectives. In such systems “learning is understood in terms of on-going, recursively elaborate adaptations through which systems maintain their coherences within dynamic circumstances” [22, p. 151]. Individual agents engage in these systems through various forms of participation such as from committed engagement to more peripheral lurking that is generally transactional in nature. As people interact in a system there is a dual change happening to them as well as to the systems. The responsive nature of CoLs might offer teachers access to interactions and resources necessary to grow professionally.

Many researchers and educators have attempted to define and envision the purpose of CoL for teachers [e.g. 23–26], but there is no agreed-upon definition. CoL has been described as a “reciprocal learning system[s]” [25, p. 8], “vibrant, ever-changing group[s] of connections,” [27, para. 4], “network[s] of fellow educators and resources” [Catapano, n. d. in 28], “the sum of all social capital and connections” [23], and “online communities that allow the sharing of lesson plans, teaching strategies, and student work, as well as collaboration across grade levels and departments” [24]. Various scholars, authors, and educators conceive of CoL in unique, and somewhat disparate ways. Understanding how educators conceive of and utilize CoL may help bring more clarity to the construct.

CoL offers new spaces in which teachers may learn and grow as professionals with support from a diverse network of people and resources. With recent advances in technology and widespread access to the Internet, teachers can expand their web of connections beyond their face-to-face networks, seek help and emotional support, and aggregate vast quantities of professional knowledge at any time and from anywhere [14, 26, 29]. CoL can also be from online communities, networks of practice [30], and social media sites. Online communities are groups of people who connect for a shared purpose, while a network refers to a “set of nodes and links with affordances for learning” [31, p. 9]. Social media sites are digital tools that people can use to connect and communicate with others. Each of these terms refers to a single medium for connecting with others. CoL is a broader, multifaceted system, that often incorporates multiple communities, networks
of practice, and sites that support both on- and offline learning. Researchers have yet to
explore CoL as complex systems of people, resources, and digital tools.

Even though educators seem to be giving CoL more attention, there is a dearth of
research about CoL and its effects. Most studies about online teacher learning focus on
the learning experiences of the teachers in a single community, a network of practice,
or a site, such as Twitter [13–17, 32]. Similar to CoL, teachers participate in these
online spaces to find, share, and create professional knowledge [16, 32, 33], and to
collaborate with and feel supported by a community of education professionals [12, 14,
17, 32]. Some researchers have also explored how participation in online spaces shapes
teachers’ identities [34, 35].

While some teachers have explored the immediate, potential, and applied value of
certain online communities and networks [31], there is still a significant gap in the
literature regarding the value of CoL, and how they shape teaching and learning. Given
the limited nature of research about CoL, in this study, we sought to further understand
teachers’ experiences with social media within the CoL.

Social networks allow teachers to share ideas. Comparing notes on classroom teaching techniques and learning styles can help teachers enhance the learning experience in their classroom. Teachers can also share lesson plans and visual aid ideas. Social networking allows teachers to connect with teachers in other schools. These partnerships are useful as the teachers keep abreast of innovations and contextual curriculum deployment, changes in curriculum and content in other counties and, maybe, even other countries. Teachers can also use social networking to connect with teachers and experts from other countries. This can help them get accurate information on other countries and not just use content from the Internet that is often outdated. For example, the teachers can plan a virtual field trip, with ease and accuracy. The virtual connection can also offer live interactions with engagement. The study aimed to investigate how teachers use social networks to support their learning post-face-to-face sessions.

## 3.1 The Issue and the Problem of the Study

Educators' professional learning sessions are usually done face-to-face after which the educators receive a certificate. This has led to educators earning certificates without transferring what they learned into practice. Similarly, after the training, the educators return to their stations where some of them attempt to implement the new ideas and give up on a slight challenge. Reflection on the approach has led many service providers to introduce a practicum session, where the community of learning approaches is implemented. In the community of learning, the educators collaboratively implement the new ideas, where the collaboration is mediated by social media. More so, the educator also enriches their learning further by connecting to others who were not on the course within and outside the County. Social Media has been used in social interaction and the focus on professional work has been interrupted by the social aspect. The study aimed at exploring how these interruptions can be curtailed and how the focus on professional learning is enhanced in social media as well as how connectivity through social media facilitated collaboration and support in communities of learning.
# 4 Methodology

The study was explorative interpretive in approach. Artifact analysis was done by tracking the educators who were invited, had joined, and participated actively from the cohort of teachers and school leaders in Kenya who had attended a face-to-face session. A cohort of educators was selected based on their use of social media in their CoL as well as representation across the courses and the regions where the course was implemented. The design of the program the educators were attending has a face-to-face and an 8-week practicum session hence a favourable design to explore the use of social media. The CoL activities included posting artifacts (videos, pictures, documents, publications, sound), discussions, reflections, and information. The activities were tracked to identify the frequency, type, level of discussion and nature of responses. The tracking of engagement was done to identify the evolvement of what was going on. The interactions were tracked across cohorts, and across platforms, where the findings were analyzed. The analysis developed emerging thematic areas for insights into the role of social media in CoL. The aim was to analyze the post-face-to-face activities and establish how social media was scaffolding the transfer of principles into practice in a collaborative peer-supported environment.

## 4.1 Limitations

Educators who are not technically advanced faced challenges, especially accessing shared information, due to the type of phones they had, electricity issues, and connectivity. Although 99% of the population owned smartphones, not all smartphones supported sending information, especially video clips, certain photos, and recorded clips. These were limitations that lead to a further selection of only those who were able to engage actively in the CoL.

# 5 Findings and Discussion

Out of the six, Twitter was the least used forum (Table 1). Twitter has analytics that can present the Twitter handle traffic, tweets, retweets (with or without comments), likes, and comments. Twitter continues to be used by the facilitators after the study and it became a platform connecting to the government semi-autonomous agencies such as the Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA), as well as other partners such as Universities and other agencies such as I choose life Africa, and British Council, among others. Twitter was later utilized by the facilitators as a page for creating awareness of what is happening and got more connections with outsiders than the alumni. One of the limitations was the word limit and the lack of usage. It might be useful to introduce tweeting during the educator's preparation so that they see the importance of it in sharing learning.

Edmodo, Slack, and Kaizala were introduced during the face-to-face sessions. The use of platforms for task submission of deliverables, and undertaking surveys, quizzes, and tests proved to be useful for understanding navigation and utility. Attempts to use
<table><caption>**Table 1.** Platforms Utility Post Face-to-Face Session</caption><thead><tr><th>Platform</th><th>Edmodo</th><th>Slack</th><th>WhatsApp</th><th>Twitter</th><th>Kaizala</th><th>Facebook</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Educators Invited</td><td>330</td><td>150</td><td>600</td><td>150</td><td>224</td><td>160</td></tr><tr><td>Educators Joined</td><td>260</td><td>130</td><td>550</td><td>30</td><td>156</td><td>140</td></tr><tr><td>Educators Active</td><td>164</td><td>87</td><td>480</td><td>22</td><td>122</td><td>130</td></tr></tbody></table>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 1.** The distribution of Participants Across Platforms</figcaption></figure>

them after graduation was not sustainable as the traffic dwindled fast over time (Table 1). They were key during the face-to-face session and the demand for deliverables, reflection, and quizzes increased their currency, thereafter, they dropped in value after graduation. These apps have mobile functionality, so mobility was not the reason for the decline. It may be attributed to the participant's comfort and what they like using mostly. These apps have become preferable due to the variety of functions, hence, they invite officialdom. The social media mentality is of casual approach and engagement. It will take more exposure and comfort levels for this cohort to embrace the superior apps which are not frequently used social media tools.

Facebook and WhatsApp (Fig. 1) stood the test of time with over 80% of the participants engaging in post-face-to-face sessions. There was a group on WhatsApp and a Facebook page that was private and invite only. On both platforms, there was traffic ranging from sharing activities, papers, information (videos, pictures, documents), and discussions (posing and responding to questions, modeling pedagogical activities). Some of the alumni took a natural leadership role by action and they shared their areas of implementation ranging from leadership, literacy, numeracy, and professional learning.
The analysis of social media engagement brought out the five critical aspects of support that is currency, relevancy, importance, camaraderie, and educators as learners.

## 5.1 Currency

Most of the posts were about current issues or what was happening during the moment of posting. This included announcements on educational events and news about educational incidents or happenings. The platforms became like a live bulletin, where updates and information and or discussion of current issues were shared. The currency of the participation was aligned to the mainstream media newspaper, radio, and television on education matters. The currency could have been a level driving the level of engagement.

## 5.2 Relevancy

Most of the posts were about learning, classroom work, or the teaching profession. These were designed directly by the teachers or downloaded from a website or forwarded from a post on another platform or group/page within the same platform. Relevance was a multiplier, it provided information (Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes, Competency) to the educators. It was a learning center.

## 5.3 Importance

The information posted may not have been important to everyone in the group, but it spoke to specific members of the group, depending on what was posted. For example, a post on lesson planning resonated with those who were planning lessons or had an issue with lesson planning. The variety of members in the groups and the convergence of having taken the same course meant that the posts reflecting the transfer of principles into practice were important to certain groups within the cohort. The idea of posting inquiry questions made the responses posted important as they responded to an inquiry. The platform became a go-to platform as the educator wanted to learn from the frequently asked questions. The questions brought out the needs of educators and, hence, the facilitators were able to offer comprehensive responses with additional guidance based on the trends.

## 5.4 Camaraderie

Within the group, different friendships evolved, based on what was being posted. For example, some educators forwarded education matters/ideas/innovations and the responses would come from a certain group who liked such posts. A sense of identity based on interest was established and people coalesced around what they perceived as valuable additions in their professional work. For example, a post on technology infusion in literacy would attract those who are interested in that area, and they would engage more and establish a micro-CoL within the CoL. This would lead to the appreciation and identification of such a team who, later, became resource providers for engaging in that topic and deepening their learning hence identifying their areas of interest as educators.
The educators appreciated the aspect of learning and, hence, the social media CoL activities became a medium for learning. The educators gained knowledge, skills, competencies, values, and attitudes that enabled them to gain insight into issues of time management, teaching/learning approaches, ethics, and digital literacy, all of which inform teaching practices. The social media platform became a source of information, ideas, exemplars, questions, and answers. The more it is offered, the more the teachers and school leaders can become learners.

# 6 Conclusion

Social media has been observed to support continuous professional learning opportunities. The following areas were seen as the areas of support that can extend professional learning, facilitate continued engagement of the cohorts, enable the transfer of learning into practice, and increase reach:

**Extend Professional Learning.** This was enabled as the learning continued through sharing resources, sparking questions, and collaborating in activities, among others. The participant continues referring to the course materials. There was a co-creation and co-generation of learning among educators as they shared.

**Continued Engagement of the Cohorts.** The engagement on the virtual platforms keeps the cohort in touch, hence, the professional bond they developed in the session was extended and might be beneficial to their professional learning. This removed the geographical limitation, and the engagement was across schools and beyond.

**Enabling the Transfer of Learning into Practice.** As the participants implement what they were taught, they were transferring the principles into practice. By sharing their experiences, they reinforced the transfer, as well as shared challenges and learned from each other. The reinforcement was enhanced by the contextualization nature, and this triggered ownership and authorship which was critical in the take-up.

**Increasing the Reach.** New members are added to the list and might not have been part of the cohort, but they learn from the cohort. As much as the platform was created for a particular cohort, opening it up facilitated the reach of information to other educators who had not attended the face-to-face sessions.

# 7 Recommendations

The benefits of social media in communities of learning are immense. To further enhance the benefits there are need to address the learning element, diversity, and modeling.

**Learning Element.** In all sessions, the virtual engagement should be started within the session, so that it becomes part of the learning approach before the cohort completes the course.

**Diverse Social Network.** Exploring the networking sharing resources available in diverse social media and giving feedback enhance the spirit of collaboration as a driving force. Presenting a variety will provide opportunities for choice and voice by the educators.
*Model*. The practice should be modeled during the face-to-face session. This will create ease and acceptance as support is available. The assimilation could improve the take-up.

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