Social networks as spaces for the professional development of teachers

Abstract

The study presented in this paper integrates a research project whose main goal is to explore new approaches to teacher education and professional development that emerge from the Web 2.0 paradigm. In this paper we present three different experiences on the use of social networks for the creation of a virtual community whose main goal is the professional development of teachers. The first experience is a Portuguese project named dajaneladomeujardim – (http://janelajardim.ning.com/). The second example is a north american project created and managed by Steve Hargadon and called Classroom 2.0 (http://www.classroom20.com/). The third project cames from Brasil and is called Eadamazon – Portal de EAD e e-learning da Amazónia (www.eadamazon.com). Lessons learned from the analysis of those projects will be presented and discussed.