The University of New Mexico partnered with the National Institute of Education in Sri Lanka to develop an online Community of Practice for Sri Lankan English teachers. The goal was to provide interaction and collaboration around coursework, teaching resources, and technologies. Challenges included limited broadband access in Sri Lanka, teachers' computer and Moodle literacy, and cultural factors. Lessons learned included considering video conferencing, longer-term support, and scaffolding tools like blogs before using a learning management system.

1. Designing a Community of Practice
(CoP) for Sri Lankan Language Teachers:
Lessons Learned
The University of New Mexico & the National Institute of
Education in Sri Lanka
Contributors:
Carrie Main (camain@unm.edu)
Charlotte N. Gunawardena (lani@unm.edu)
Linda Barril (lbarril@unm.edu)

2. What is the Sri Lanka Community of
Practice Project?
In 2009, the University of New Mexico
(UNM) partnered with the National Institute
of Education (NIE) in Sri Lanka to develop an
online Community of Practice (CoP) for
teachers enrolled in a Teaching English as a
Second Language (TESL) Diploma
Program. The aim of this project was to
develop an online learning community and
activities the learning community could
engage in to develop English teaching skills
in Sri Lankan English teachers for whom
English is a second language. This CoP
project was a collaborative effort involving
the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education, Sri
Lankan curriculum developers and English
teacher trainers, and the University of New
Mexico, including a UNM mentor based in
Colombo.

3. Prior to initiating the online CoP, the TESL Diploma Program relied on Google
Groups, an online social collaboration site, to provide interaction among Sri
Lankan English teachers living in remote areas of the country. Nevertheless,
Google Groups did not provide the much needed organization for a Diploma
Program, thus, the NIE asked a team of instructional designers at UNM to create a
CoP for the diploma program in the Moodle Learning Management System.
Transferring the TESL Community of Practice to the Moodle Learning Management
System offered an interactive, and collaborative place for the for the Sri Lankan
teachers to: complete coursework for the TESL diploma, share knowledge and best
practices, access teaching resources, and learn about new technologies such as
Moodle.
Some of the global elearning challeges and considerations the UNM instructional
designers encountered during the creation of the TESL CoP in Moodle were access
to broadband in Sri Lanka, computer literacy of the participating teachers, Moodle
literacy, and sociocultural factors impacting learning and professional
development.

4. Werger's Community of Practice Model
These three elements function as a “knowledge
structure – a social structure that can assume
responsibility for developing and sharing
knowledge” (Wenger, 2002, p. 29).
 Domain
 Community
 Practice
Sociocultural Factors in Course Development
 Individualism/Collectivism
 High-Context/Low-Context
 English as a Second Language
 Visual Content
 Technical Infrastructure

5. Lessons Learned and Furture Considerations for
Global Elearning Design
 When working with another culture and English Language Learners, should
communication be video conferencing? Does meaning get lost in text
communication?
 Should UNM have someone there more long-term to follow through/ support for
the implementation of the project?
 Would a blog been a better fit (transition) for this group of Sri Lankan Teachers?
Scaffolding: google groups to blog, then, eventually, to Moodle?

6. References
Gunawardena, C. N. & LaPointe, D. (2008). Social and cultural diversity in distance education. In
T. Evans, M. Haughey, & D. Murphy (Eds.), International handbook of distance education (pp. 51-
70). U.K.: Emerald.
Hofstede, G. (1984). Hofstede cultural dimensions - An independent validation using Rokeach Value
survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(4),417-433.
Hofstede, G. H., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind.
Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Wang, C., & Reeves, T. C. (2006). The Meaning of Culture in Online Education: Implications for Teaching,
Learning, and Design. In A. Edmundson (Ed.), Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges (pp. 1-17).
Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2002). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Learning in doing : social,
cognitive, and computational perspectives. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Würtz, E. (2005). A cross-cultural analysis of websites from high-context cultures and low-context
cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 13. Retrieved
from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html.

7. References
Gunawardena, C. N. & LaPointe, D. (2008). Social and cultural diversity in distance education. In
T. Evans, M. Haughey, & D. Murphy (Eds.), International handbook of distance education (pp. 51-
70). U.K.: Emerald.
Hofstede, G. (1984). Hofstede cultural dimensions - An independent validation using Rokeach Value
survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(4),417-433.
Hofstede, G. H., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind.
Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Wang, C., & Reeves, T. C. (2006). The Meaning of Culture in Online Education: Implications for Teaching,
Learning, and Design. In A. Edmundson (Ed.), Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges (pp. 1-17).
Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2002). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Learning in doing : social,
cognitive, and computational perspectives. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Würtz, E. (2005). A cross-cultural analysis of websites from high-context cultures and low-context
cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 13. Retrieved
from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html.