Designing Online Learning Environments for Professional Development - New Science of Learning - page 467

These findings affirm the view that Internet-based technologies are an effective
resource for meaningful discourse on educational reform among practitioners.

Conclusions

Practitioners construct everyday (informal) professional knowledge based on their
work experiences. While adult learners bring a rich repertoire of knowledge to
new learning, the knowledge should be problematized by examining its nature
and assumptions, and the personal and contextual factors that account for it.
Internet-based social networks provide an avenue for connecting geographically
dispersed professionals. They have the potential to encourage critical reflection and
reconstruction of informal knowledge on scientific foundations (Vygtsky, 1987).
Anxieties about change are a potential barrier, undermining practitioner's com-
mitment to change, even when they understand the meaning and rationale for
change. They arise because changes in knowledge and skill often entail changes
in how individuals understand who they are, as well as their roles. One way to
address this dimension of learning is through dialogue within a supportive com-
munity of peers. Internet-based technologies have the capabilities to support such
learning communities.

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