Using Information Technology in Education to Manage a Professional Learning Community (PLC)

This paper considers professional learning communities (PLC) and the role that they have in a developing secondary School in New South Wales, Australia. A brief identification and discussion of the importance of professional learning is presented, together with an examination of the effects of professional learning on teachers and subsequent classroom practice. Models and frameworks that have been utilised along with the implementation of information technology as a tool to manage the PLC are presented, and the sustainability of such structures considered. Practical examples will be used to further support and illustrate how the developing School embraced professional learning to build a culture, a discourse and a community.