ABSTRACT

Surprisingly little has been written about the notion of virtual teams in schooling contexts and less on the role of virtual teams in the professional learning and development (PLD) of teachers. Virtual teams are groups that use technologies to collaborate to address common goals. Members may work at in different locations, in different organisations, or at different times so that the electronic communication media becomes an important feature in the feasibility of the work. Increasingly, technologies are used to support practitioners’ (leaders and teachers) professional learning. In this conceptual article, we draw on research literature from online and blended professional learning and development to conceptualise what is important to consider when establishing virtual teams for the purpose of practitioners’ learning. Specifically, we address the question: what are the characteristics of virtual teams that can serve the purpose of professional learning and development in schools? A technology-enriched planning model for institutions with an interest in establishing and maintaining a virtual team approach to PLD (VTPLD) is provided. We consider three strategic characteristics for PLD: (relevance, collaboration and a future focus) to address how virtual teams can support professional learning for teachers.

摘要

令人惊讶的是，关于学校环境中虚拟团队概念的文章很少，关于虚拟团队在教师专业学习和发展 (PLD) 中的作用的文章也很少。虚拟团队是使用技术进行协作以实现共同目标的团体。成员可能在不同的地点、不同的组织或不同的时间工作，因此电子通信媒体成为工作可行性的一个重要特征。越来越多的技术被用于支持从业者（领导者和教师）的专业学习。在这篇概念性文章中，我们借鉴了在线和混合专业学习与发展的研究文献，以概念化在建立虚拟团队以供从业者学习时需要考虑的重要事项。具体来说，我们解决的问题是：可以服务于学校专业学习和发展目的的虚拟团队有哪些特点？为有兴趣建立和维护 PLD 虚拟团队方法 (VTPLD) 的机构提供了一种技术丰富的规划模型。我们考虑 PLD 的三个战略特征：（相关性、协作和未来重点）解决虚拟团队如何支持教师的专业学习。