| Abstract | More and more teachers and school principals in French-language minority contexts in Canada enroll in Web-based Distance Learning education programs. To reach instructional objectives, they are invited to complete collaborative learning activities using information and communication technologies (ICT). A number of studies have demonstrated the advantages of collaborative learning and practice communities for professional development. However, few studies have addressed the resources, knowledge and competencies adults need to possess to progress in a distance learning context. All the more, we know little about the knowledge management practices of educational institutions, although they offer more and more distance learning opportunities. As part of their research on organizational capabilities for the implementation of e-Government, St-Amant and Renard (2005) have elaborated a framework for the development of capabilities. According to the authors, two management fields need to be mastered in order to manage the development of organizational capabilities: problem resolution management and knowledge management. These two fields are strongly interrelated. Inspired by this work, our study aims to create and evaluate an initial knowledge repository associated with individual competencies as well as organizational capabilities for collaborative work supported by ICT in a distance learning context. This article reports on preliminary results obtained from experimentation conducted with Francophone teachers and school principals enrolled in an online distance learning program, as well as the knowledge and know-how included in an initial knowledge repository. According to the results of this study, the majority of participants found the repository useful since it has improved the quality of their work and made it easier to reach instructional objectives. |
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