Faculty Professional Learning: An Examination of Online Development and Assessment Environments - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 73

precisely the issue Schön (1983) discussed
in depth when formulating his 'epistemol-
ogy of practice'. In describing a theory of
practice-oriented professional development,
reflecting the opinion of other scholars,
Clegg (2009, p. 411) remarked: “While
academic developers' knowledge about
the capacities of learners and of the social
context is informed by abstract science,
notably sociology and psychology, it is not
reducible to them”. Therefore, designers of
FPL programs should be concerned with
how to engage faculty members in building
a knowledge base for teaching, and reflect-
ing on and changing their practice. These
concepts overlap, repeat, and often occur
simultaneously.
(4) Reform versus traditional FPL . In this con-
text, it is critical that models of FPL take
into consideration measures of the following
criteria: duration and time span, role of col-
leagues, focus of professional development,
active learning, and coherence (Penuel et al.,
2007, pp. 928-32). In addition, it involves
a thorough analysis of the development in
the faculty member of a strong sense of
self-as-learner and technological literacy to
work with domain-specific knowledge (e.g.,
discipline and didactic knowledge), as the
two approaches are fundamental to support
metacognition (Lin, 2001).
(5) Challenging FPL delivered in blended
learning environments . Most faculty today
utilize technology in their instruction as
a mechanism for course content delivery,
grade delivery, and basic communication.
However, an effective learning environment
fosters collaboration among students and
faculty, and allows the student to create and
share new knowledge as well as supporting
the connection of different pieces of informa-
tion. Most faculty feel that integrating web
technologies into the classroom learning
environment can be effective at increas-

ing students' satisfaction with the course,
improve their learning and their writing
ability, and increase student interaction with
other students and faculty; thus changing the
students' role from passive to active learners,
allowing them to create and retain knowledge
better. Particularly, time, technology, and
developing new teaching skills, and selecting
the participants are factors and interventions
that scholars regulate in FPL frameworks
(Fitzgibbon & Jones, 2004, pp. 29-33).
(6) Constructivist learning communities . An ap-
proach to FPL including targeting improve-
ments is that of learning communities. It is
based on participant-centred methodologies
in which teaching knowledge is built through
dynamic commitment (sense making) with
ideas and experience. It emphasizes the
interdependence of the participants and the
communal environment of the develop-
ment as teaching knowledge is negotiated
and constructed through forum debates,
problem-solving and authentic teaching
innovations and experiences (Comeaux &
McKenna-Byington, 2003). Most students
between the ages of 12 and 17 use online
social network sites and check their accounts
two or more times a day. Thus, Ajjan and
Hartshorne (2008) emphasize the positive
pedagogical implications of those sites for
higher education. Supporting the notion that
social networking would be an effective
strategy for FPL is the opinion of scholars
who find many positive training results
connected with the sense of community
among participants (e.g., commitment to
group goals, cooperation and collaboration
among members, flow of information, and
so on). These studies provide a strong basis
for developing hypotheses about what makes
online learning environments efficient social
spaces. As Barker (2002, p. 5) remarked
about online environments: [they] “must
therefore provide a mechanism to enable