Exploring pre-service teachers’ perceptions of and participation in online communities

Abstract

The study focuses on the participation of pre-service teachers in a course website set up on Moodle and a website developed by students on their own initiative to support their Teaching Practice. It explores PSTs’ experiences and perceptions of the two different types of websites and how their online participation linked with the sense of community. Utilizing questionnaire as the main source of data, the paper reveals that the student teachers had more positive perceptions of the self-initiated website which was regarded as a useful platform for exchanging teaching ideas, sharing resources, gaining support, and maintaining communication with their fellow coursemates. The frequency of reading the self-initiated website was also correlated with the sense of community.