Living and Learning in a Global CommunityInnovative Schools Virtual University

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach Co-Founder & CEO Powerful Learning Practice, LLChttp://plpnetwork.comsheryl@plpnetwork.com

Website and blog21st Century Collaborativehttp://21stcenturycollaborative.com@snbeach on Twitter

Learner First—Educator/Student SecondIt is a shift and requires us to rethink who we are as an educator, student, or professional. It requires us to redefine ourselves.

Emerson and Thoreau reunited would ask-“What has become clearer to you since we last met?”Share with someone near you.. What have you learned recently?

6 Trends for the digital age

Analogue Digital

Tethered Mobile

Closed Open

Isolated Connected

Generic Personal

Consuming Creating

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

Do it Yourself PDA revolution in technology has transformed the way we can find each other, interact, and collaborate to create knowledge as connected learners.

What are connected learners? Learners who collaborate online; learners who use social media to connect with others around the globe; learners who engage in conversations in safe online spaces; learners who bring what they learn online back to their classrooms, schools, and districts.

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

What does it mean to be a connected learner with a well developed network?

What are the advantages or drawbacks?

How is it a game changer?

Dedication to the ongoing development of expertise

Shares and contributes

Engages in strength-based approachesand appreciative inquiry

Demonstrates mindfulness

Willingness to leaving one's comfort zone to experiment with new strategies and taking on new responsibilities

Dispositions and ValuesCommitment to understanding asking good questions

Explores ideas and concepts, rethinking, revising, and continuously repacks and unpacks, resisting urges to finish prematurely

Co-learner, Co-leader, Co-creator

Self directed, open minded

Commits to deep reflection

Transparent in thinking

Values and engages in a culture of collegiality

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATORProfessional development needs to change. We know this.

A revolution in technology has transformed the way we can find each other, interact, and collaborate to create knowledge as connected learners.

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)

Community......has been defined as a group of interacting

people living in a common location.

http://www.psfk.com

In the digital age, common location is not as important as

common interest.

What are the characteristics of distributed learning

communities?

Stev

e W

heel

er, U

nive

rsity

of P

lym

outh

, 201

0

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.

In connectivism, learning involves

creating connections and developing a

network. It is a theory for the digital age

drawing upon chaos, emergent properties,

and self organised learning.

“Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st Century.”

- Howard Rheingold

http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu

If ... information is recognized as useful to the community ... it can be counted as knowledge. The community, then, has the power to create knowledge within a given context and leave that knowledge as a new node connected to the rest of the network’.

– Dave Cormier (2008)

Open Networks

Practitioners’ knowledge = content & context

Net

wor

ks

Com

mun

ity

My community work

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

1. Local community: Purposeful, face-to-face connections among members of a committed group—a professional learning community (PLC)

2. Global network: Individually chosen, online connections with a diverse collection of people and resources from around the world—a personal learning network (PLN)

3. Bounded community: A committed, collective, and often global group of individuals who have overlapping interests and recognize a need for connections that go deeper than the personal learning network or the professional learning community can provide—a community of practice or inquiry (CoP)

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

Personal Learning Networks

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

responsiveresponsive

personalized

investing in collaborations

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.

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

Communities of Practice

Virtual CommunityA virtual space supported by computer-based information technology, centered upon communication and interaction of participants to generate member-driven content, resulting in relationships being built up. (Lee & Vogel, 2003)

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

CelebrationCelebration

Connection

cc S

teve

Whe

eler

, Uni

vers

ity o

f Ply

mou

th, 2

010

http://i.imwx.com

cc S

teve

Whe

eler

, Uni

vers

ity o

f Ply

mou

th, 2

010

Communication

Collaboration

http://idirekt.cz/soubory/t-mobile_dance2.png

User Generated Co-

created Content

Celebration

Connection

Communication

Collaboration

Stev

e W

heel

er, U

nive

rsity

of P

lym

outh

, 201

0

Webb/Butterfield/Smith Model

Based on Matt Webb, Stewart Butterfield’s and Gene Smith’s writings

Creative Commons

Ultimately: Freedom to openly access, use, copy, modify and share content

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

Characteristics of a healthy community

CommunitiesOf Practice

PersonalLearningNetworks

F2F Teams

DIY-PD

Do it Yourself PD as Self Directed Connected Learners

"Rather than belittling or showing disdain for knowledge or expertise, DIY champions the average individual seeking knowledge and expertise for him/herself. Instead of using the services of others who have expertise, a DIY oriented person would seek out the knowledge for him/herself." (Wikipedia, n.d.)

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.

I 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.

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

Motivations

• Social connectedness

• Psychological well-being

• Gratification• Collective

Efficacy

The Social Web is built here, from love and esteem

Connected Learning Communities provide the personal learning environment (PLE) to do the nudging

Change is hard

Connected learners are more effective change agents

Let’s just admit it…

You are an agent of change!

Now. Always. And now you have the tools to leverage your ideas.

An effective change agent is someone who isn’t afraid to change course.

Let’s look at some examples…

"The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence. It is to act with yesterday's logic." - Peter Drucker

http://pixdaus.com

Stev

e W

heel

er, U

nive

rsity

of P

lym

outh

, 201

0