outline for final project

I will be doing a literature review on how inservice teachers form communities of practice in online spaces. The guiding questions for my paper are: What are the technological features of these online spaces that afford the emergence of communities of practice? What are the key levers that impact how shared understandings of the community become stable? The literature review will be based on the theoretical framework of "communities of practice" according to Wenger (1998)*, and the emergence of online communities according to Baym. My analysis will start with arguments for ongoing professional development (Darling-Hammond, Beare articles), and recent federal and state policy calling for enhanced in-service training to supply schools with high-quality teachers . Then, I will synthesize the literature on the emergence of inservice teacher professional development communities, and the benefit these communities have on practice.