From: Reinhart, J. and Slowinski, J. (Under Review). ETIP: A Professional Development Model for School Leaders to Facilitate the Infusion of Technology in Classrooms to Promote Constructivist Practice. (*Both authors share first authorship.)

Virtual Collaboration Support refers to providing support to teachers so that they can collaborate with other professionals that have similar professional development needs.  As you could see the use of virtual mentoring, on-line just-in-time training and a resource search engine are important for aiding teachers as they move toward truely collaborating with others.

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Recommendations from the Trenches

What follows are recommendations for designing an effective collaborative project, based on our own research and experiences.


•     Begin the teachers' first virtual collaboration with colleagues they know and have worked with in the past. They will have more patience and be more supportive — two critical factors in completing a  virtual collaborative project.  A teacher's first effort in collaborating virtually is a time-consuming process that is why it is important to work with those they respect.

•     Take time in the beginning to do a thorough analysis.   

•     Keep lines of communication open. If one participant is going to be out of e-mail contact, let the others know. Or, if one person is confused about something, make sure that they feel comfortable asking others. Everyone should be clear on all facets of the project in order for it to run smoothly. Encourage participants to communicate frequently and to respect their virtual colleagues as professionals.

•     Select collaborator and/or mentors with carefully. Make sure that participants  have access to the Internet outside of work hours. This proved to be a major issue in our study.

•    Provide participants with guidance on how to collaborate with each other (both professional expectations of collaborating as well as virtual collaboration). Since this is a new experience, participants need to develop appropriate etiquette and realistic expectations.

•     Provide participants with clear expectations for all activities and discussions associated with the professional development project.

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Anderson, T., Reinhart, J., and Slowinski, J. (2001).   A Journey in Virtual Collaboration: Facilitating Computer Mediated Communication Among Pre-Service Teachers?  Conference Proceedings Mid-South Instructinal Technology Conference.  Murfreesboro, TN.

Reinhart, J., Slowinski, J. and Anderson, T. (2003). Techniques for Facilitating Web-Based Collaboration: Reflections of a Cross-Country Collaborative. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 20 (1) p11-16.

Reinhart, J., Anderson, T., and Slowinski, J. (2000). Creating a Pre-Service Teachers Virtual Space: Issues in Design and Development of Cross-Country Collaboration. T.H.E. Journal, 28 (3) p26-34.  Accessed 3/10/05 at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/a3127.cfm?kw=0

Slowinski, J., Reinhart, J., and Anderson, T. (2001). Can Web-Based Collaboration Reform Education? Technos Quarterly, 10 (3) p10-13.