Professional Networking:-

1. Professional Networking:- Towards the Development of Global On-line Support for Teacher Educators Hugh Smith Head of Continuing Professional Development University of The West of Scotland hugh.smith@uws.ac.uk

2. Professional Networking:- • Personal Dialogue • Sharing of minds and resources • Supports the development of pedagogy • Encourages the publication of conference proceedings and refereed papers • Supports national and international collaboration

3. Professional Networking :- • Traditional approach • On-line approach

4. Professional Networking :- • Traditional approach • Dialogue with colleagues / meetings / conferences / workshops/ telephone conversations / over coffee

5. Professional Networking :- • On-line approach • Email / video conference / blogs / wikis / personal website / website forums • Some on-line networking may have an open or closed membership

6. Professional Networking :- • On-line approach may provide : • Repository feature • Collaborative feature • Interactive feature

7. Professional Networking :- • On-line approach • Within nations, teacher educators have • access to a wide range of on-line networks • and sources.

8. Professional Networking :- • On-line approach (examples) • Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa • On-line support for teachers and teacher educators from across Africa. • Teacher Education Advancement Network • On-line support for teacher educators from across the four countries of the UK.

9. Professional Networking :- • Open on-line networking provides an interesting bi-product: • Access to resources and information for others who are not teacher educators, teachers or teacher trainees.

10. Hole in the Wall Project

11. Hole in the Wall Project • MOTIVATION

12. Consider……… • The gap-year volunteers and others who travel to the least-developed areas of the world; who volunteer as teacher helpers or engage as non-qualified teachers. All assist with the task of delivering basic education. • Where could they access help and resources? • Teacher Educators could provide a simple answer, without recognising the simplicity of the solution.

13. In the Cloud :- • Cloud computing is a term used to describe access to the internet and web-browser applications through network devices • Teachers, teacher helpers and volunteers in least-developed areas of the world can access resources though mobile phone technology and other network devices.

14. Global Professional Networking :- • If all teacher educator networks were open - think of the possibilities for Global Networking for those working in education settings • “ Meeting basic learning needs constitutes a common anduniversal human responsibility. It requires international solidarity and equitable and fair economic relations in order to redress existing economic disparities.” • ( Article 10 - The Dakar Framework of Action p77 - UNESCO 2000 )

15. Global Professional Networking - A Possible Way Forward :- • Provide a portal that would function as a one-stop-shop for Teacher Educators and others • A Model not unlike the Teacher Training Resource Bank could be developed • http://www.ttrb.ac.uk

16. Global Professional Networking - A Possible Way Forward :- • A portal would link all Teacher Educator Networks providing wider access to resources and research • A portal would provide access to others who might influence/contribute to education contexts in least-developed areas of the world

17. Global Professional Networking - A Possible Way Forward :- • Minimum cost • Provide global access to existing resources for teacher educators (creating new collaboration and other possibilities) • Provide global access to those working in least-developed areas of the world • Contribute to UNESCO aims

18. THANK YOU http://linkbun.ch/0c2yp hugh.smith@uws.ac.uk