WhatsApp: Creating a virtual teacher community for supporting and monitoring after a professional development programme.

ONLINE education; CAREER development; VIRTUAL communities; SOCIAL media; ONLINE social networks; WHATSAPP Inc.

The introduction and use of online social media networks in education has provided a variety of unique methodologies in support of teaching, learning, and knowledge gathering. The presence of these networks has created opportunities to hear the voice of the teacher. This study explores how teachers and officials from a rural district in South Africa used the WhatsApp platform as a virtual community of practice to aid in monitoring and support after attending a professional development programme. The data used in this study was collected from the WhatsApp conversations held amongst teachers and officials. This data was analysed within the conceptual framework of social learning and social networking. The findings derived from this study show that the effective use of an online social media network to support a virtual community of practice is dependent on the participants' awareness of the context within which the community exists and the willingness of the participants to accept differing views and opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of South African Journal of Education is the property of South African Journal of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)