Knowledge sharing among teacher trainees in a transnational blended learning exchange

Abstract

A Blended Learning (BL) format allows for the generation and sharing of knowledge online in the context of a learning community that has, in turn, the possibility of meeting and interacting in person. For the study presented in this article, an action research approach was designed in the academic context of the teaching practicum, based on a pilot transnational exchange programme between students from two universities, in Spain and England. To this end, a virtual exchange platform was set up in which the participants shared experiential knowledge during their placements in early years and primary school settings. Prior to and during the communication process, face-to-face meetings took place in the two national contexts, where the exchange tools were designed and regulated, and the interculturality of the participants was nurtured. The data has been extracted and compiled from the virtual exchange platform, used for documenting the interchange of narratives and images pertaining to the students’ training experience in situ as well as the subsequent dialogic interaction that was generated. A qualitative analysis of the text, using an inductive coding process, allows us to identify three key areas of knowledge exchange related to teaching practice: those linked to the identification of motivation for learning; those associated with the values ​​of innovation; and those focused on curricular elements. The discussion addresses the benefits of online tools in virtual academic exchanges, as well as the link between knowledge around teaching and formative values ​​of the practicum. Finally, we conclude that a blended learning format, due to its dual and complex nature, substantially affects the nature of and communication dynamics that are established between the participants, for which special attention should be paid to the management, guidance, and regulation of the entire process.