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Module Description
Study groups, research groups, or learning groups have long been
used to pool peoples' resources and energy into a collective or group. With the
advent of technology, and especially forms of computer-mediated communication (CmC), there
are now opportunities for teachers to participate in groups through e-mail and other forms
of telecommunications. This means that teachers can start or join study groups with other
teachers outside their school or district. Study groups are traditionally formed around
subject areas, such as mathematics or science, and often instigated by people outside K-12
institutions. Teacher collaboratives or study groups can support collaborative work in a
variety of areas, from examining teaching practices to formulating ideas for classroom
curriculum. The key to starting and sustaining a teacher study group is to find a group
of teachers who share interests around issues or problems in their own classroom practices,
to set up a supportive environment for these teachers to communicate and collaborate, and
to help each teacher benefit from participation in the group. In this module, we describe the
process of forming a teacher study group and the role telecommunications can play supporting
these groups. Provide links to resources that may be helpful when forming these
types of teacher groups.
Objectives
In
developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software
that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that
teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the
necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating
system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client
program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any
"special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those
described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.