Teaching teachers to teach together between high schools

The proliferation of Internet-based networks linking small schools in rural communities in some countries challenges the appropriateness of teaching exclusively in the closed environments of traditional classrooms. The development of Internet-based school networks,facilitating the creation of virtual classes,has implications for the professional education of teachers who will,it is argued in this article,increasingly teach both face-to-face and on-line,or virtually and actually. Internet-based networks of schools provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate with their colleagues in the open learning spaces between sites that are academically and administratively linked. This paper outlines four ways in which pre-service Canadian teachers are encouraged to collaborate in preparation for teaching together across dispersed sites.