• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Housekeeping

Paperless handoutshttp://plpwiki

Back Channel Chathttp://todaysmeet.com/dob11

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

Website and blog21st Century Collaborative, LLChttp://21stcenturycollabrative.com

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Things do not change; we change. —Henry David Thoreau

What are you doing to contextualize and mobilize what you are learning?

How will you leverage, how will you enable your teachers or your students to leverage- collective intelligence?

Native American Proverb“He who learns from one who is learning, drinks from a flowing river.”

.

Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 National Teacher of the YearDescribes her classroom as a place where the teacher is the “lead learner” and “the classroom walls are boundless.”

Lead Learner

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATORThe Disconnect“Every time I go to school, I have to power down.” --a high school student

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

Are you Ready for Learning and Leading

in the 21st Century

It isn’t just “coming”… it has arrived! And schools who aren’t redefining themselves, risk becoming irrelevant in preparing students for the future.

Web 1.0 Web 2.0 Web 3.0

We are living in a new economy – powered by technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge.

-- Futureworks: Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21st Century

By the year 2012 80% of all Fortune 500 companies will be using immersive worlds – Gartner Vice President Jackie Fenn

It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes of unique new information

will be generated worldwide this year.

That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.

Knowledge Creation

For students starting a four-year technical or higher education degree, this means that . . .

half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

Shifting From Shifting To

A teaching focus A learning focus

Teaching as a private event

Teaching as a collaborative practice

School improvement as an option

School improvement as a requirement

Mandated accountability

Mutual accountability

Shift in Learning = New Possibilities

Shift from emphasis on teaching…

To an emphasis on co-learning

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Defining the Connected Educator

Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads. —Herman Melville

• 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.

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Professional Development for the 21st Century

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Professional Development for the 21st Century

Connected Learning

The computer connects the student to the rest of the worldLearning occurs through connections with other learnersLearning is based on conversation and interaction

Stephen Downes

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

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.

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?

Inclination toward being open minded

Dedication to the ongoing development of expertise

Creation of a culture of collegiality- believing that "None of us is as good as all of us" and that the contributions of all can lead to improved individual practice

Willingness to be a co-learner, co-creator, and co-leader

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

Dispositions and ValuesCommitment to understanding gained through listening and asking good questions related to practice

Perseverance toward deep thought by exploring ideas and concepts, rethinking, revising, and continual repacking and unpacking, resisting urges to finish prematurely

Courage and initiative to engage in discussions on difficult topics

Alacrity to share and contribute

Desire to be transparent in thinking

Define Community

Define Networks

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.

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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.

Making connections

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.

(It’s not what you know, or who you know- but do you know what who

you know- knows? ) Source: Wikipedia

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http://www.pestproducts.com

“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

Netw

orks

Com

mun

ity

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

The connected learning community model advances a three-pronged approach to professional development.

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

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Communities of Practice

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

CelebrationCelebration

Connection

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http://i.imwx.com

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Communication

Collaboration

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

User Generated Co-created

Content

Celebration

Connection

Communication

Collaboration

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Personal Learning Networks

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

responsiveresponsive

personalized

investing in collaborations

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.)

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

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

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.

“The internet eliminates geography. This means that there are now more tribes: smaller tribes, influential tribes, and tribes that could never have existed before.” ~ Seth Godin

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Tribes

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

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

www.newmediamusings.com

Is learning simply about gaining knowledge...? cc

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... or making connections?

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Degrees of Transparency and Trust

Join our list Join our forum Join our community

Increasing collaboration and transparency of process

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Your community’s life-cycle

Plan

Start-up

Grow

Sustain/Renew

Close

Leve

l of e

nerg

y an

d vi

sibi

lity

TimeDiscover/imagine

Incubate/ deliver value

Focus/ expand

Ownership/ openness

Let go/ remember

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

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

Our basic experimental design… Seek out 20 schools/districts

willing to invest some time in exploring the challenge of 21st Century Learning.

Ask the schools to identify small teams of 5-6 educators who are ready for this exploration.

With the support of our PLP Community Founders, Directors of Community Development, Cohort Community Leaders, Cognitive Coaches, PLP Fellows, Experienced Voices, and team leaders we begin that exploration together.

Two all day workshops that build capacity, community and develop 21st Century skills.

WorkshopsLive meetings where teams meet, listen and then reflect in small groups.

ElluminateWhere we deepen understanding, network, share resources and grow as a community of practice.

VLC

Professional Learning Teams

Job embedded teams who meet f2f and work towards scale and alignment of 21st C skills with school improvement goals

Powerful Learning Practice Delivery Model

• THE CONNECTED EDUCATORTeam Action Research Projects

WondermentProblem findingCollaborative culture

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

http://pixdaus.com

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