Evolving virtual communities of practice: genesis of a Spanish network of rural schools
by Frederique Frossard, Anna Trifonova, Mario Barajas
International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies (IJTCS), Vol. 2, No. 3/4, 2010

Abstract: The isolation of rural communities creates special needs for teachers and students in rural schools. The present paper describes ''Rural Virtual School'', a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) in which Spanish teachers from rural schools share learning resources and teaching methodologies through social software applications. The paper describes an evolutionary model, in which the use of the social software tools evolves together with the needs and the activities of the VCoP through the different stages of its lifetime. Currently, the community has reached a high level of maturity and, in order to keep its momentum, the members are decisively using appropriate technologies especially designed to enhance innovative educational approaches, through which they collaboratively generate creative practices.

Online publication date: Mon, 24-May-2010

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