Putting the ‘C’ in ICT: using computer conferencing to foster a community of practice among student teachers

Abstract The expansion of communications technology has created countless new possibilities for using on-line communication in many areas of education. The focus of this article is on the use of on-line conferencing by a cohort of students studying for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. This on-line discussion was initially developed with the primary aims of fostering skills in information and communications technology, providing a venue for reflective practice and reducing the sense of isolation often felt by students when they are dispersed throughout Northern Ireland on teaching practice. Involvement with the discussions convinced the author that the conferencing was also helping to build a community of practice among student teachers. Indeed, the content of participant dialogues suggests that this is the case, with the salient elements of such communities, namely, mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire, being readily apparent therein. There is some evidence that the conference also facilitated the process of brokering by which students shared their experiences of the communities of practice within each of their schools; this process, however, may have been limited by the ‘open’ nature of the conferences. That students found the conferencing valuable is evident from the volume and nature of the on-line dialogue, and from their enthusiasm to continue on-line discussions once in post