This study examines the use of electronic networking technologies in the context of a secondary science methods course and an accompanying student teaching experience. Specifically, I examined the effects of social context on the student teaching reflections written by three different groups of students in three different online settings: a private journal, an asynchronous discussion forum, and a discussion forum within a web-supported community of teachers. The results indicate that these different online social contexts had effects on reflections themselves, as well as how the students perceived the assignment. Students in the private journal wrote better initial reflections than the other two groups; however, both of the discussion forum groups reflected on their teaching in their initial posts and in the responses that they wrote to other students. Furthermore, only the students using the discussion forum within the web-supported community of teachers found both the assignment and reflection in and of itself to be of value. This study has implications with regards to how one can structure online interactions for preservice teachers in a way that will encourage meaningful reflection and collaboration.
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