1999 APA Convention
1999 NASP Convention
August 1999
The Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association
Boston, MA
"Internet-Based Professional Development Community: The Global School Psychology
Network"
Louis Kruger and David Shriberg
Northeastern University
Patricia Donovan
Weymouth Public Schools, MA
Donna Burgess
Billerica Public Schools, MA
Poster session presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association, August, 1999, Boston, MA.
Abstract
Our study addressed two questions: (a) Is it possible to develop a professional
development community on the Internet, and (b) if it is possible, what factors
are related to a sense of community among the participants of such a group?
The Global School Psychology Network (GSPN) was created to address these questions.
We collected data with respect to individuals' on-line participation. In addition,
we surveyed the participants' perceptions about aspects of the GSPN environment.
Respondents (N = 115) provided high ratings relative to their sense of community,
professional learning on the GSPN, social support, feelings of safety, and ability
to influence direction of the community. Regression analyses indicated that
with the exception of safety, all of these perception variables as well as the
participation variables were significantly related (p < .05) to the participants'
sense of community. There was a very strong relationship between professional
learning and sense of community. We concluded that it is possible to develop
an Internet community that could meet the professional development needs of
the participants and provide them with a sense of belonging. Several of the
variables that have been found to be important in building community among face-to-face
groups also seem to be important in building an Internet community.
Interactive Demonstration at the APA Convention
Using the Internet for Support, Consultation, and Professional
Development:
The Global School Psychology Network
Louis Kruger, Jocelyn Fierstien, Rachel Kalinsky, and Kristin
Corcoran
The Global School Psychology Network is a professional development community
on the Internet. Our vision is to provide a true learning community, where participants
can advance their professional knowledge, receive and provide peer support,
and have a sense of belonging. Participants are from several countries and over
30 states in the USA. The community provides the participants with a global
perspective of school psychology.
At the heart of our community are the on-line discussion forums. These include
a community-wide discussion forum, a theme of the month (e.g., behavior management)
discussion area, and small discussion groups, referred to as "neighborhoods".
One neighborhood, for example, focuses on elementary and preschool children.
Each discussion area has a facilitator or CO-facilitators, who are experienced
community members. In addition to our discussion groups, participants have access
to on-line study groups, biographical sketches of the members, including their
professional interests, live text-based chats and interviews, and other school
psychology-related Internet discussion groups (e.g., listservs). The evolving
nature of the services is the direct result of the feedback and creative ideas
of the participants. We systematically collect data about the community, as
well as publish and present our findings. We want to demonstrate that it is
possible to build a true learning community on the Internet, and identify the
factors that are related to its success.
The community is designed for school psychologists and graduate students in
school psychology who want to advance their knowledge of the field and receive
advice in a supportive and safe environment. There is no cost to join the Network.
However, we request that members complete a yearly questionnaire and allow us
to collect data about their participation on our Network. The research helps
to financially support the free service we provide.
We use a special messaging system, called FirstClassª. The client software is
free to our members. FirstClassª was developed by SoftArc, Inc. FirstClassª
is an intuitive yet powerful e-mail and chat system, which has a high level
of security and is designed to facilitate group collaborations and discussions.
Individuals who want to design their own on-line community or discussion groups
would need to purchase the server software from SoftArc Inc. (www.softarc.com).
Our website is www.dac.neu.edu/cp/consult The site
contains more information and pictures about the Network, as well as RealAudioª
interviews and programs.
Support for the Network is provided by the Massachusetts School Psychologists
Association, New Jersey Association of School Psychologists, SoftArc, Inc.,
Division 16 of the American Psychological Association, Northeastern University,
and Massey University.
April 1999
National Association of School Psychologists Convention
SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATION
The Global School Psychology Network
Louis J. Kruger, Northeastern University
Gayle L. Macklem, Manchester Public Schools
Kruger, L. J., & Macklem, G. (1999, April). The Global School Psychology Network.
In J. Cummings (Chair), How will the Internet change worldwide communities of
practice and training in school psychology? Symposium conducted at the Annual
Convention of the National Association of School Psychologists, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Overview
The Global School Psychology Network (GSPN) is a professional development community
on the Internet. The GSPN is an outgrowth of a collaborative research project
between the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association and Northeastern
University which began in the Fall of 1994. The project initially focused on
computer-mediated consultation as a means of promoting teacher knowledge of
how to work with students (Kruger & Struzziero, 1997; Kruger, Struzziero, Kaplan,
Macklem, Watts, & Weksel, under review). However, in the Fall of 1997, we decided
to alter the focus our project, and develop and investigate a worldwide professional
development community for school psychologists.
Three principles have guided the development and ongoing improvement of the
community. First, we believe that any successful project must have a clear direction
that is meaningful to potential participants. In this regard, our vision was
to build "a home away from home" for the hearts and minds of school psychologists.
We wanted to develop a place on the Internet, where school psychologists and
graduate students would receive peer support, problem-solving assistance, learn
new ideas, and in the process feel more closely connected to their fellow school
psychologists across the world. In addition, it was very important to the architects
of the project to systematically investigate and evaluate the community.
Second, although many sites on the Internet purport to be a "community", few
sites have been designed on the basis of this concept. In contrast, we took
the concept of community very seriously, and assumed that learning, effective
peer support, and problem-solving assistance are embedded in stable and trusting
relationships. For example, true communities have values which are both explicit
and guide the participants' actions. Therefore, the research team in collaboration
with the participants, developed a set of values for our community. Every time
a participant connects to the Network for the first time, he/she receives a
welcoming e-mail message. The message informs the new member that our professional
development community is dedicated to ensuring that: (1) the on-line ambiance
makes participants immediately comfortable and "at home"; (2) participants treat
one another with the utmost respect; (3) there is a sense of security and safety
(i.e., people will not get verbally attacked because of their views; (4) relevant
professional ethical guidelines are followed; (5) there is a sense of humor
and fun to our environment; (6) the needs of participants (and not the needs
of the steering / research committee) are the primary consideration in decisions
pertaining to the community; (7) whenever possible, the steering / research
committee will obtain input and feedback from the participants on the direction
of the community; and (8) all members take responsibility for promoting these
values in our community.
The third principle which has guided the development and implementation of our
community is teamwork. Tackling a global technology project on a shoestring
budget is daunting task. We have been able to implement this project only because
of the collective and collaborative efforts of a hardworking team, each of whom
who have volunteered hundreds of hours. The research / steering team is composed
of several practitioners, university faculty and graduate students. This team
has recently developed and adopted a constitution to safeguard the values the
aforementioned values of our community. We seek to keep the nucleus of our team
intact by ensuring that the professional developments needs of team members
are met through various activities, including research, publications, presentations,
and participatory decision-making. In addition to the research / steering team,
many of the participants take leadership roles within the on-line community
by serving as facilitators of discussions, organizing on-line chats, and proposing
new directions for our community.
Ethical Issues
Use of the Internet for professional purposes poses a veritable minefield of
new ethical dilemmas. One of our former research team members, Virginia Harvey
(Harvey & Kruger,1998), helped sensitize the team to many of the potential ethical
problems related to computer-mediated collaboration. As a result, all GSPN participants
are given guidelines for computer-mediated collaboration and must sign a two
page document pertaining to appropriate use of the GSPN. The following several
guidelines are particularly germane to ethical issues:
* Leave important decisions about cases to face-to-face meetings. Use e-mail
for generating possible alternatives.
* Remember that many social cues are absent when using electronic mail. Therefore,
don't use phrases that might be misconstrued as being critical, insulting or
dismissive. When you are unsure of the intent or meaning of a message, ask the
sender to clarify the point.
* Sometimes, it is easier to clarify an issue with a brief telephone conversation
or an in-person meeting than e-mail. Use e-mail, telephone, and in-person meetings
as needed.
* If the matter is urgent and you are unsure of when the person will read your
e-mail message, don't hesitate to use the telephone.
* Do not use information that will lead to the possible identification of a
student, client or colleague. For example, use a pseudonym in replace of the
actual name. Be careful to protect the identity of the others.
* Use only high security e-mail systems to discuss cases. If you are in doubt
about the security of your system, talk to your computer administrator.
* If you use a computer that is accessible to other individuals, do not leave
you "user id" and "password" on the computer. If you do, other people can log
on to your account.
* If you download files or messages to your computer, make sure that other people
will not have access to those files on your computer.
As an added measure of security, the GSPN uses a special "messaging" software
program, FirstClassª Collaborative Classroom. FirstClassª provides a powerful
e-mail program, live chat features, and the opportunity to create databases
within a single, customizable on-line environment. FirstClassª also has many
excellent security features, which makes it difficult for unauthorized individuals
to disrupt the system or read the participants' messages. For example, FirstClassª
encrypts messages as they travel on the Internet so that if even if a message
is intercepted by a "hacker" the message would be indecipherable. Using a highly
secure software system as well as educating participants about the risks of
using e-mail, help reduce the potential that the system will be used inappropriately
(Kruger, 1998).
Description of the Global School Psychology Network
The core of the project is the concept of community. We assumed a strong professional
development community is predicated upon people feeling safe from verbal attacks,
finding support, learning, and feeling that they are making a contribution to
their peers. Different people, however, might prefer different interpersonal
contexts for achieving these aims. Some prefer small intimate groups for support
and problem solving, whereas others prefer the blizzard of messages generated
from a large group of individuals, as well as the stimulation of several lines
of conversation suspended in time. Just as educators have created small schools
within larger schools (e.g., Meier, 1996) our neighborhoods are intended to
meet the needs of participants who want a smaller, more intimate group. Thus,
for example, we have several different practitioner neighborhoods, including
one for elementary and preschool psychologists.
All participants have access to the Community Forum, which is an open discussion
group for the entire membership, as well as have access to "Theme of the Month",
another large group discussion area. Ideas for the monthly themes are generated
by the participants. Themes have included head injury, attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder, gifted and talented children, and behavior management.
In addition to the discussion groups, the community has offered several specialized
learning services. During the spring of 1998, the first on-line mini-course
was offered to the community. The course on functional behavioral assessment
received strong ratings from participants, and provided them with continuing
education credit. Practitioners completed readings and assignments and shared
their work with peers. Course participants were particularly enthusiastic about
the prompt feedback they received about their assignments.
During the Fall of 1998, the first on-line study group began. The study group
is focused on administration and interpretation of a new assessment instrument.
Participants in the study group administer the instrument, score it, offer interpretations
and receive feedback and support for their efforts. As they practice with the
instrument, practitioners can ask questions of each other to refine their interpretive
skills.
The software we use for the GSPN, FirstClassª, also permits live discussions,
better known as "chats". Live group discussions with invited guests have been
held, a scheduling challenge given the worldwide nature of the community. In
addition to organized large group discussions, the chat feature has been used
informally by participants who decide to do "on the spot" problem solving or
to share an immediate interest or concern. If a school psychologist needs immediate
assistance, he/she can use the "who's on-line" feature to find out what other
school psychologists are currently on the Network, and subsequently invite that
person to a live discussion via the chat feature.
Our on-line database of the participants' interests in school psychology can
be searched by keywords or phrases, such as 'consultation' or 'counseling groups'.
This feature allows participants to quickly find someone who might have a specific
area of expertise. Each member also is requested to complete an on-line biographical
sketch to facilitate introductions among the participants. A school psychologist,
for example, could read a participant's on-line biographical sketch and find
out where that particular individual lives or works.
Another area of the community provides access to Internet discussion groups,
such as listservs and news groups which may be of interest to school psychologists.
These originate outside the GSPN. The network also has a document exchange folder
where participants can exchange "electronic forms" such as templates for behavioral
contracts, or guidelines for team meetings, which they have created themselves
(Kruger, 1999). Each person also has a personal mailbox for sending and receiving
private messages. The research / steering team uses a "Project Updates" message
area to informs participants about new developments in the on-line community.
The research team also has its own private on-line discussion area. In addition,
three school psychology associations and a graduate program now have their own
neighborhoods within the GSPN.
Although there is no cost for participation, all participants are requested
to complete a questionnaire and allow their messages to be used as research
data. Information about joining the GSPN can be found on the project's web site
(http://www.dac.neu.edu/consult).
Evaluation and Research Questions
Research and evaluation efforts have focused on identifying: (1) if it is possible
develop a sense of community among professionals communicating to one another
on a computer network; (2) the central components of what composes an Internet-based
professional development community; (3) what factors are related to the community
meeting the social support and professional development needs of the participants;
(4) to what extent involvement in the community is related to commitment to
the profession of school psychology; and (5) how the GSPN experience compares
to the participants' other professional development experiences. This presentation
focuses on the first of these questions.
Considerable debate has occurred about whether it is possible to develop a sense
of community among people by means of a computer network. (For an argument for
virtual communities, see Rheingold 1993; for the argument against, see Gergen,
1991 against). This might have considerable significance for professionals,
such as school psychologists, because some authors have asserted that a special
type of a community, that is, a professional development community can have
a major impact on improving the knowledge and skills of the community's participants
(e.g., Louis, Marks, & Kruse, 1996). In essence, a community and its attendant
norms are viewed as a potential supportive environment for promoting learning.
The growing ubiquity of the Internet and local computer networks have given
rise to interest in building on-line learning communities (Ryba, Selby, & Kruger,
in press). Although polemics and anecdotal accounts have dominated the debate,
whether or not it is possible to create an on-line community is an empirical
issue.
In this regard, Dunham, Hurshman, Litwin, Gusella, and Ellsworth (1998) have
lead the way for future studies. They adapted Bachrach and Zautara's (1985)
sense of community scale (for face-to-face groups) to assess an e-mail support
group composed of young single mothers. The mothers' ratings indicated they
had developed a strong sense of community with one another. Moreover, the researchers'
also found that consistency of participation during the six months of the network
was related to a sense of a community. In particular, the more an individual
participated on the network, the more likely he/she was to report a strong sense
of community.
We also adapted Bachrach and Zautara's (1985) sense of community scale for the
purpose of assessing the GSPN. We wanted to know if Dunham et al.'s (1998) findings
might be generalizable to a professional group, that is, school psychologists.
The adapted scale was part of a questionnaire disseminated to 131 GSPN participants,
each of whom posted at least one message to a group discussion area during the
first 9 months of the network's implementation. Eighty-eight percent (N = 115)
of the participants returned completed questionnaires. They were from 26 states
and 6 countries.
The adapted scale was composed of eight items: (1) I feel at "home" on this
Network; (2) I feel satisfied with this Network; (3) I feel I am an important
part of this Network; (4) I share the values and opinions of the other people
on this Network; (5) I feel I belong on this Network; (6) I am interested in
what occurs every week on this Network; (7) If I could no longer participate,
I would feel sad about losing this Network; and (8) I make it a high priority
to spend time on this Network. A seven point rating scale was used which ranged
from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The adapted Bachrach and Zautara
scale had a high level of reliability (alpha = .89) and was highly correlated
(r = .68) with another modified scale measuring a closely related construct,
psychological membership (Goodenow, 1993). Despite the wide variability on participation
measures such as number of messages sent and the number of times a person connected
to the GSPN, the mean rating of the adapted version of the sense of community
scale (M = 5.2) was over 1 standard deviation above the midpoint (4) of the
scale, indicating that most participants had developed at least a moderate sense
of community. Similar to Dunham at al., we also found a positive relationship
between frequency of participation and sense of community. In particular, both
the number of messages sent to group discussions (r = .46) and the number of
weeks of participation on the Network (r = .48) were related to a sense of community.
Despite this positive finding, it is possible that the sense of community ratings
do not solely reflect the participants' experiences on the GSPN. Compared to
other professions, the field of school psychology is composed of a relatively
small community of individuals. Many of the GSPN participants have had face-to-face
with one another before and during their participation. Some authors (e.g.,
Dunham, Hurshman, Litwin, Gusella, and Ellsworth, 1998) have speculated that
face-to-face contact might increase the cohesiveness of an on-line community.
As a result of concern about the possible confounding influence of outside face-to-face
contact, we included an item on the questionnaire pertaining to how many people
on the GSPN that the participants' had met in-person. The mean number of GSPN
participants each person had met was 5.2 (SD = 8.5). However, 38 percent had
not met in-person any of the GSPN participants. Much to our surprise, we found
no relationship between face-to-face contact with GSPN participants and sense
of community. Participants who had not met any of the participants were just
are likely to have a strong sense of community as the participants who had outside
contact with other participants. Factors related to the participants' on-line
experience, such as the extent to which learning and social support needs are
met, might prove to be more important to building a virtual community than what
occurs outside the computer network. However, support for this speculation awaits
further research.
It should be kept in mind that both Dunham et al.'s (1998) and our network were
composed a relatively homogeneous group of individuals, who shared similar interests.
This factor might have made it easier to build a sense of community among the
participants. Thus, it might be more difficult to build a sense of community
among a heterogeneous group of individuals.
In conclusion, our preliminary data suggest it is indeed possible to build a
sense of community among participants of a computer network. Our next task is
to investigate the computer network structures, on-line behaviors, and attitudes
which might be related to this construct.
Research Team
Practitioners: Joan Struzziero, Gayle Macklem, Regina Watts, Terry Weksel,
Donna Burgess, Patricia Donovan, Jocelyn Fierstien, Kristin Williams, Rachel
Kalinsky.
University faculty: Louis Kruger, Ken Ryba, and Sharone Maital.
Graduate students: David Shriberg, Lisa Chan, Kate Drinkwater, Deb Silk,
and Sapna Patel.
Support for the project is provided by the Massachusetts School Psychologists
Association, New Jersey Association of School Psychologists, Division 16 of
the American Psychological Association, SoftArc, Inc., Northeastern University,
and Massey University.
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