The impact of Communities of Practice on teachers’ use of e-learning as a teaching strategy in a small class environment

DOI: 10.5176/2251-1814_EeL18.141

Authors: Kam Wing Chan

Abstract: E-learning as a teaching strategy is recommended by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong in the implementation of small class teaching in primary schools. In order to equip teachers with the skills for effective teaching in small classes, the Education Bureau is providing to teachers a professional development programme titled ‘Fostering Communities of Practice to Enhance Learning and Teaching in a Small Class Environment’. This paper aims to inverstigate the impact of the Communities of Practice on teachers’ use of e-learning in the small class setting. Convenient sampling will be used to invite teachers to participate in the study. Data will be collected at different times using reflective journal, interview and class observation and be analysed by descriptive and statistical models to find out whether the change of teachers’ perceptions if any during the different periods of the Communities of Practice programme can have an impact on their actual use of e-learning in small classes.

Keywords: class size, small class teaching communities of practice, e-learning