Comunidades de prática na formação docente: aprendendo a usar ferramenta da web 2.0

Abstract

Computer assisted language teaching becomes more meaningful with new technological tools of the second generation web known as Web 2.0. The Web 2.0 tools such as Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and social networking offer opportunities for users to interact and collaborate in the virtual environment, using resources with friendly and intuitive interface.Thus, all Internet users can contribute with the content presented on the World Wide Web.Allied to the tools of Web 2.0, Communities of Practice within educational arise as a virtual environment conducive to the organization and dissemination of knowledge. Its use allows an approximation of people who are willing to share and learn collaboratively. To support theanalysis and discussion of this research, its presented a review of Communities of Practice theory Wenger (1998) and Wenger, McDemott and Snyder (2002). In this work, is made an analysis of the participation of members according to the three levels - central, active andperipheral - proposed by Wenger, McDemott and Snyder (2002). These members are formed by graduate students from Letras course of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, enrolled in the course online Digital Literacy during the second half of 2008. This discipline has beencharacterized as a Community of Practice for presenting the characteristics described by Wenger (1998) as domain, community and practice. In addition, students/members of the CoP developed mutual engagement, shared repertoire and joint enterprise, showing thecommitment in the community. Through data analysis, it was proved that, regardless of technical knowledge and level of belonging of students in the CoP, the construction of knowledge occurred collaboratively, each student contributed according to their knowledge, and thus they learned with colleagues located in all three levels of participation. For students,the use of technological tools in education must be discussed in the academic field, encouraging the formation and training of foreign language teachers.