Teacher development in e-learning environments

With the advance of information and communication technology (ICT) and the growth of interest in the use of the Internet for education, teachers are now working in new online environments. In line with this situation, there is great need for teacher development in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning activities and in the design, implementation and evaluation of elearning. In productive and practical ways, computer-mediated communication (CMC) can help teachers build and apply their knowledge, collaborate in their learning with fellow teachers, and reflect on their classroom practice. This chapter addresses the issue of how the features of CMC foster teacher development in terms of communication, collaboration and reflection. Examples are taken from CMC activities employed for a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) course in a postgraduate program. It is suggested that teacher development can be effectively promoted by CMC with interactive communication, professional collaboration and critical reflection in situated contexts.