Learning Alone or Learning Together? How Can Teachers Use Online Technologies to Innovate Pedagogy?

Much discussion of online learning, or e–learning, has been pre– occupied with the practice of teaching online and the debate about whether being online is ‘as good as’ direct face-to-face teaching. The authors contributing to this paper, members of the MirandaNet Fellowship professional community of practice, describe an incubation period since 1992 through which they trace the emergence of new teaching and learning theories and practices based on their varied elearning projects. We outline the development of theory and practice that and under five headings: technologies for knowledge sharing; pedagogical theories underpinning collaborative online learning; roles for communities of practice (CoP) members in online debates; the impact of MOOCs on elearning; and, the role of MOOCs in schools. A key conclusion looking across all the findings is that professional collaboration and knowledge sharing is powerfully supported when the teachers, as learners, belong to a community of practice. Keywords: MOOCs, COOCs, SPOCs, professional development, elearning,virtual learning platforms, learning theory, pedagogy