Teacher Participation in Online Communities: Why Do Teachers Want to Participate in Self-generated Online Communities of K-12 Teachers? An Article by Hur and Brush (2009)

1. Teachers’ Motivation to Participate in
Self-generated Online Communities
of Teachers
Ari Arifin D, 2091563

2. • This presentation draws on the research
article entitled “Teacher Participation in
Online Communities: Why Do Teachers
Want to Participate in Self-generated
Online Communities of K-12 Teachers”, by
Jung Won Hur and Thomas A. Brush,
2009.

3. The Outline of the Presentation
• Introduction to the research article
– The underlying theoretical frameworks and
the research question
• The key findings of the article
• Discussion
• A model of participation and the implication
• Conclusion

4. Introduction
• The widespread access to the Internet requires
educators to explore methods that support
professional development of teachers, such as the
development of online communities of teachers.
• Online community is defined as “ a group of people
who come together for a particular purpose or to
satisfy particular needs; they are guided by formal
and/or informal policies and supported by computing
technology” (p.279)

5. Introduction (cont’d)
• Hur and Brush (2009) suggest that “interest in
creating online communities of teachers increased
dramatically because of their potential to promote
ongoing teacher interaction… Interaction among
teachers are keys to successful teacher professional
development” (p.279).

6. Introduction (cont’d)
• However, Hur and Brush (2009) argue that “there is
a lack of research concerning self-organized online
communities of teachers…fewer people actively
involved in self-generated online communities”
(p.280).

7. Introduction (cont’d)
• Investigating teachers’ motivation to participate
in online communities “can provide new insight
into creating teacher professional development
programs that better meet teachers’ need” (p.
280).
• The study was to understand the reasons for
teachers’ participation in online communities.

8. Theoretical Frameworks
Communities of Practice
• Communities of practice “are groups of
practitioners who share knowledge, concerns,
and values within supportive culture… entail
mutual engagement of members… seek to
develop members’ capacities and knowledge…
sustain the communities” (p.280).

9. Theoretical Frameworks (cont’d)
Social Learning Theory
• Focus: Cognition as situated, as social, and as
distributed.
• Learning occurs while individuals are actively
engaged in communities.
• “Social learning theory indicates that teachers
gain knowledge while participating in
communities of practice” (p. 281).

10. Theoretical Frameworks (cont’d)
Emotional Sharing
• Hur and Brush (2009) argue that “people often
share emotion with others, especially during
extremely negative or positive emotional events”
(p. 282).

11. Theoretical Frameworks (cont’d)
• Hur and Brush (2009) argue that “reasons for
teacher participation in online communities vary
depending on components, such as individual
goals, personal experiences and characteristics,
relationships with others, and school culture” (p.
283).

12. Research Question
Why do teachers want to participate in
self-generated online communities of
teachers?
• A case study was conducted. Data were
collected through interview and analysis on
postings in three online communities – Teacher
Focus community, WeTheTeachers community,
and the Teaching community in LiveJournal.

13. The Results of the Study
• There are five reasons why teachers participate
in online communities, including “(a) sharing
emotions, (b) utilizing the advantages of online
environments, (c) combating teacher isolation,
(d) exploring ideas, and (e) experiencing a
sense of camaraderie” (pp. 290-291)

14. (a) Sharing emotions
• It is interesting to note that “teachers were
interested in reading and responding topics
related to emotions” (p.291)
• Hur and Brush (2009) suggest that there are two
types of responses to postings about negative
emotions: “offering emotional support and
providing possible solutions” (p.291)

15. (b) Utilizing the advantage of
online environments
• Teachers can “share issues that they might not
be able to share in their local school” (p. 294)
• It is also possible that online environments
“provided them with opportunities to
communicate with a large audience” (p. 294)

16. (c) Combating teacher isolation
• Isolation can be due to isolated school
environment, unavailability of people who
understand the situations, and lack of time
to talk or discuss.
• Online communities play a role as “ a way
to reach out to other teachers who may
understand issues related to teaching” (p.
295)

17. (d) Exploring ideas
• Online communities enable teachers to
search for “very specific ideas that were
appropriate for their teaching situations
and their unique needs” (p. 295).
• Teachers can acquire new ideas because
postings “broaden new perspectives and
even create more ideas” (p. 296)

18. (e) Experiencing a sense of
camaraderie
• “A sense of camaraderie was developed
during participation, these friendships
encouraged them to participate more in
the communities” (p. 297).

19. A Model of Teacher Participation in Online
Communities of Teachers
• Hur and Brush (2009) emphasize the
importance of ongoing interactions with
group of people to acquire knowledge, as
proposed by social learning theorists.
– “The most crucial aspect of an online community
is not the information shared in the communities,
but rather the sense of that the participation
engenders” (p. 299).

20. A Model of Teacher Participation in Online
Communities of Teachers (p. 298)

21. Implications
• Hur and Brush (2009) propose that
educators need to develop teacher
professional development programs by
further investigating on two areas:
(1) teacher emotional sharing, and
(2) methods to strengthen teachers’ self-esteem
and support teachers’ confidence

22. Conclusion
• The article emphasizes on emotional
aspects of online communities.
• The article shed a light on the importance
of online communities not only as
knowledge-sharing places but also as
emotional-sharing places.

23. Conclusion (cont’d)
• Hur and Brush (2009) suggest that the
findings in their research have provided
“critical insight into various reasons why
teachers participate in self-generated
online communities and suggest crucial
areas that future professional
development programs should
emphasize” (p. 300)

24. Small group discussion
1. In your view, what is the importance of
participating the online communities? Are
there any negative sides of taking part in
the communities?
2. Based on your experience, what are the
other reasons that motivate teachers to
join online communities of teachers?

25. Reference
Hur, J.W., & Brush, T.A. (2009). Teacher
Participation in Online Communities: Why
Do Teachers Want to Participate in Self-
generated Online Communities of K-12
Teachers? Journal of Research in
Technology in Education, 41(3), 279-303.

26. Thank you