The Use of ‘Web 2.0’ and Social Software in Support of Professional Learning Communities.

This chapter examines the ‘happy convergence’ of two emerging social and technological trends. The first is the evolution of educational processes and methods from a ‘traditional’ didactic approach towards a ‘new’ paradigm that seeks to empower the learner and enable a more involving learning experience to take place. This paradigm includes such approaches as student-centred learning, collaborative learning and problem-based learning. The second is the development of IT-based systems that enable the ‘democratic’ involvement of end-users in their development and use and that encourage computer-mediated collaboration between individuals and groups having a common interest in a domain. Initially, at least, the main purpose of such software was for social networking and leisure purposes, but the chapter identifies a number of instances of its use in practice for professional education purposes. The chapter then highlights some examples of professional learning communities in practice in UK educational institutions. It concludes by speculating on and discussing some possible future trends in the use of social software for professional learning and by summarising the phenomenon and identifying the factors that distinguish it from other approaches to learning.