WhatsApp as a Platform of Community of Practice and Its Affordances Toward Capacity Building of Teachers in Online Teaching

Abstract

The current study examined the efficiency of Whatsapp as a mobile-based Community of Practice (CoP) toward capacity building of teachers in acquiring online teaching skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected using mixed- methods in which both survey and in-depth interviews were used to for data collection. The sample for the study were secondary school teachers from six private schools in Chennai, India. The authors collected data from 170 secondary school teachers via a web-based survey using a questionnaire adapted from the Community of Practice Evaluation Questionnaire (CoPeval). To elicit the best practices for utilising Whatsapp as a CoP platform for professional learning, qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews with six participants, including two teachers, subject headteachers, and principals. The findings confirmed that Whatsapp CoP is a viable mobile-based platform for upskilling and capacity building of teachers in online teaching skills. The suggestions and recommendations of the study are presented.