Our paper focuses on cooperative learning of school teachers and teacher program students within blended learning courses. We want to generate answers on the two following research questions:

• Which benefits has cooperative learning for teachers and teacher program students in blended learning courses?
• Which factors influence the positive/negative effectiveness of teachers and students learning together in blended learning courses?

The German teacher education is divided into three parts. The initial phase is a study program at university which lasts three to six years, depending on the type of school. The second phase is a two year practical training at teacher seminars and at teacher education training schools (Krueger, 2000). Phase three is the non-compulsory further teacher education (Sander, 2000). For several years now, there is a striving for closer connection of the different phases. Most activities focus on enabling students to gain practical teaching experience. From that, teachers benefit less than students do. We think that it is also possible to connect the different phases of teacher education in a way making teachers and students benefit equally from it (win-win-situation).

Our approach is to bring graduated school teachers and teacher program students within VET together for learning. This is based on the assumption that both, teachers and students profit from learning together. We expect that their interaction helps them to expand their perspective, reflect on their own attitudes and behavior, and leads to exchange of experiences. The approach is realized as a blended learning course. This enables flexibility regarding the time and location of learning, at least for the e-learning part of the course. A few lectures in university complement the e-learning. That course design enables the integration of teachers into the university lecture system. During the e-learning phase teachers and students interact digitally. Exercises and the lectures in university are aligned to promote face-to-face interaction between teachers and students.

Krueger, Michael (2000). Teacher education in Germany. Contribution to the first Conference on Teacher Education Policies in the European Union and Quality of Lifelong Learning in Loulé (Algarve) 22 and 23 May 2000. Available at: http://entep.unibuc.eu/portugal/reports/NAT_REPORTS_KRUEGER.DOC [Date of access: January 29, 2013]. Mayring, Philipp (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis [28 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 1(2). Available at: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~kmacd/IDSC10/Readings/text%20analysis/CA.pdf [Date of access: January 25, 2013]. Sander, Theodor (2000). Structural aspects of teacher-education in Germany today - a critical view. Available at: http://tntee.umu.se/publications/te_structure.html [Date of access: January 29, 2013].