What we have learned aboutBuilding Vibrant and Purposeful Virtual Learning Communities

http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com

GETTING STARTED~ Who are you?~ What do you do?

~ How would you define teacher leadership in the 21st Century? In one-two, adjective-driven sentences…

Who we are and our journey to teacher leadership

Nancy Flanaganhttp://www.teacherslead.com/Bio_Nancy.html

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach http://www.21stcenturycollaborative.com/about-me/

If you were working with colleagues,the way it could be—and should be:• What would it look like?• Who would be there?• What would you be talking about?• What actions would those conversations lead to?• What plans would surface?

Dream Big!!

Four quick sketches: Virtual communitiesthat never gelled.

Take notes!

Four virtual communities that grew and thrived.

Take notes!

Causes and Correlations

• What are the factors that led to success?• What may be the factors that caused VLCs to falter—and fail?• What are the takeaways fromthese examples?

Communities and Networks in the 21st Century…

6 Trends for the digital age

Analogue DigitalTethered MobileClosed OpenIsolated ConnectedGeneric Personal Consuming Creating

Source: David Wiley: Openness and the disaggregated future of higher education

Define Community

Define Networks

A Definition of Community

Communities are quite simply, collections of individuals who are bound together by natural will and a set of shared ideas and ideals.

“A system in which people can enter into relations that are determined by problems or shared ambitions rather than by rules or structure.” (Heckscher, 1994, p. 24).

The process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. (Wikipedia)

A Definition of NetworksFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Networks are created through publishing and sharing ideas and connecting with others who share passions around those ideas who learn from each other. Networked learning is a process of developing and maintaining connections with people and information, and communicating in such a way so as to support one another's learning.

Connectivism (theory of learning in networks) is the use of a network with nodes and connections as a central metaphor for learning. In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node: information, data, feelings, images. Learning is the process of creating connections and developing a network.

PLP takes a 3-pronged approach to PD

- Professional Learning Communities- Global Communities of Practice or Inquiry- Personal Learning Networks

PLCs = local, f2f, collectiveCoPs = online, deep, collectivePLNs= online, nodes, individual

The Connected Educator: Leading and Learning in a Digital Age Solution Tree Press Coming out in September

The driving engine of the collaborative culture of a PLC is the team. They work together in an ongoing effort to discover best practices and to expand their professional expertise.

PLCs are our best hope for reculturing schools. We want to focus on shifting from a culture of teacher isolation to a culture of deep and meaningful collaboration.

Professional Learning Communities

FOCUS: Local , F2F, Job-embedded- in Real Time

Communities of Practice

FOCUS: Situated, Synchronous, Asynchronous- Online and Walled Garden

Personal Learning Networks

FOCUS: Individual, Connecting to Learning Objects, Resources and People – Social Network Driven

Community is the New Professional Development

Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999a) describe three ways of knowing and constructing knowledge that align closely with PLP's philosophy and are worth mentioning here.

Knowledge for Practice is often reflected in traditional PD efforts when a trainer shares with teachers information produced by educational researchers. This knowledge presumes a commonly accepted degree of correctness about what is being shared. The learner is typically passive in this kind of "sit and get" experience. This kind of knowledge is difficult for teachers to transfer to classrooms without support and follow through. After a workshop, much of what was useful gets lost in the daily grind, pressures and isolation of teaching.

Knowledge in Practice recognizes the importance of teacher experience and practical knowledge in improving classroom practice. As a teacher tests out new strategies and assimilates them into teaching routines they construct knowledge in practice. They learn by doing. This knowledge is strengthened when teachers reflect and share with one another lessons learned during specific teaching sessions and describe the tacit knowledge embedded in their experiences.

Community is the New Professional Development

Knowledge of Practice believes that systematic inquiry where teachers create knowledge as they focus on raising questions about and systematically studying their own classroom teaching practices collaboratively, allows educators to construct knowledge of practice in ways that move beyond the basics of classroom practice to a more systemic view of learning.

We believe that by attending to the development of knowledge for, in and of practice, we can enhance professional growth that leads to real change.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S.L. (1999a). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teaching learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24, 249-305.

Passive, active, and reflective knowledge building in local (PLC), global (CoP) and contextual (PLN) learning spaces.

Dynamics of Different Network TypesCommunity of Practice

Project Teams Informal networks

Purpose Learning SharingCreating Knowledge

Accomplish specific task

Communication flows

Boundary Knowledge domain

Assigned projector task

Networking, resource building and establishing relationships

Connections Common application or discovery- innovation

Commitment to goal

Interpersonal acquaintances

Membership Semi - permanent Constant for a fixed period

Links made based on needs of the individual

Time scale As long as it adds value to the its members

Fixed ends when project deliverables have been accomplished

No pre-engineered end

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/google_whitepaper.pdf

Looking Closely at Learning Community Design

4L Model (Linking, Lurking, Learning, and Leading) inspired by John Seeley Brown http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/2006/06/roles-in-cops.html

This model is developed around the roles and interactions members of a community have as participants in that community.

CelebrationCelebration

Connection

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Communication

Collaboration

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User Generated Content

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Connection

Communication

Collaboration

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The New Third Place?

“All great societies provide informal meeting places, like the Forum in ancient Rome or a contemporary English pub. But since World War II, America has ceased doing so. The neighborhood tavern hasn't followed the middle class out to the suburbs...” -- Ray Oldenburg

Designing Your Own Community

Elements of community-building Purpose Governance Leadership Activities Tools Audience

Presence

Conversations

Sharing

Relationships

Groups

Reputation

Identity

Self

Community

Activity

Rules & Repercussions

Purpose/Passion?

Co-Creation?

Planning?

Caretakers?CollectivelyRate?

Publish?

How Do You Know…

That your community is healthy? What are the indicators of success? A scale for success?

Degrees of Transparency and Trust

Join our list Join our forum Join our community

Increasing collaboration and transparency of process

Groups

Groups• Norms

- Vilification - Veneration - Rules

• Jargon & In-Jokes

• Collective Choices

NormsMissing block?

Conversations

Metrics

Your community’s life-cycle

Plan

Start-up

Grow

Sustain/Renew

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TimeDiscover/imagine

Incubate/ deliver value

Focus/ expand

Ownership/ openness

Let go/ remember

From: Cultivating Communities of Practice by Wenger, McDermot and Snyder

http://www.microsoft.com/education/demos/scale/

What Are Your Plans?Your Plans? Ideas? Questions? Vision?