Teacher Development through Computer‐supported Knowledge Building: Experience from Hong Kong and Canadian teachers

Abstract

In Hong Kong and Canada, indeed globally, slogans about learning to learn and teaching for 21st‐century knowledge and skills are common. However, there are few examples of how teacher education courses or programs are responding to these new demands. In this paper, we propose a framework for designing teacher education premised on the theoretical perspective of knowledge building. We describe two courses, a pre‐service teacher education in course Hong Kong teachers and a joint graduate course for Hong Kong and Canadian teachers. In both cases, participants engaged in knowledge‐building discourse mediated by a computer‐supported learning environment. We present the design and illustrate how the teachers were able to work as collaborative inquirers and knowledge creators in a knowledge‐building community. Implications of knowledge building for teacher development as related to socio‐cultural contexts are discussed.

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by a Teaching and Development Grant (TDG) from The University of Hong Kong to the first author, and a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) to the second author. Our thanks go to Tim Ardene, Chui Hing Wah, Iris Leung, Don Sears and Tang King Chi for their assistance with the virtual visits and data analyses. We thank all participating teachers and our thanks also go to Mary Lamon for her editorial help.