1.
What are beginning teachers
looking for online?
The TeachConnect story
(and what can be learnt from it)
Nick Kelly and Steven Kickbusch
Queensland University of Technology

2.
Online teacher support
What would a utopia of online support for teachers
look like?
• Technology
• A national profession
• The potential of connectedness
• Asking teachers (participation)
• Independent, focussed, inclusive
• Elements of the vision
• Facebook
• BRITE
• StackExchange, Quora
• AirBnB, Uber

3.
What is TeachConnect?
Online support for teachers
• Altruistic
• Broad stakeholders / diverse participants
• Continuity
Knowledge – professional, searchable, growing
Mentorship – peer, one to one
Live Chat – events, synchronous, stored
Evidence - APST

4.
Narrative
• Design-Based Research
• Participation of teachers and teacher educators
• Four years
• Consultation, research, productive failure, authentic
• (Collins, Joseph, & Bielaczyc, 2004)
1. Theoretical foundations
2. Phases of design
Theory, survey, TeachQA, TeachConnect, Iterations
3. Outcomes from each phase
4. Overall lessons learned

5.
Is TeachConnect a success (yet)?
• We’re working on it
• Usage data
• Engagement
• Initial experience
• Frequency of returning
• Emailing
• Events
• Quality of content
• Sense of belonging
• Social, affective, cognitive presence
• Mentorship training
• Working closely with groups
• Creating social norms in platform

6.
Recipe for online teacher support
• Technology
• Platform
• Hosting
• Support of key stakeholders across systems
• Accreditation body (QCT, BOSTES, Registration Board, VIT, TQI,
AITSL)
• Work with universities
• Breadth of relationships – inclusivity
• Depth – embed in courses
• Work with everybody
• Schools, school system, existing groups, government,
personal networks
• Find mutual benefit everywhere

7.
Towards Utopia…
• National, international
• Looking for champions
• AITSL, Government
• Does anybody know how to do this?!?
• Sharing design principles
• Independent, focussed
• Breadth & depth of stakeholders
• Low threshold for participant involvement
• Integrated into the profession
• Focus on altruism and mutual benefit
• Wide community with trust for reflection

8.
Thank you
One of the things I've found is that if any one of a group of
people with similar problems asks a question there's a good
chance that the question will reflect some of the thinking of
their peers.
Myles Horton
Paulo Freire & Myles Horton (1990)
We Make the Road by Walking

9.
Recent Australian references
Designing online networks for teachers
• Clarà, M., Kelly, N., Mauri, T., & Danaher, P. (2015). Can massive communities of teachers
facilitate collaborative reflection? Fractal design as a possible answer. Asia-Pacific Journal of
Teacher Education, 1-13.
• Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Kervin, L., & Ferry, B. (2006). The design of an online community of
practice for beginning teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 6(1),
120-132.
• Kelly, N., & Antonio, A. (2016). Teacher peer support in social network sites. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 56, 138-149.
• Kelly, N., Clará, M., Kehrwald, B., & Danaher, P. (In press). Online Learning Networks for Pre-
service and Early Career Teachers. UK: Palgrave Pivot.
• Mansfield, C. F., Beltman, S., Broadley, T., & Weatherby-Fell, N. (2016). Building resilience in
teacher education: An evidence informed framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 77-
87.
• Prestridge, S. (2016). Conceptualising self-generating online teacher professional development.
Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 1-20.
• Redmond, P. (2015). Discipline specific online mentoring for secondary pre-service teachers.
Computers & Education, 90, 95-104.
• Sari, E., & Herrington, J. (2013). Using design-based research to investigate the design and
development of an online community of practice for teacher professional development.

10.
Steven Kickbusch
Steven.Kickbusch@qut.edu.au
Contact us
Nick Kelly
Nick.Kelly@qut.edu.au