Group items tagged

Documents and materials to help craft a technology vision statement

The study in the paper was interesting as it looked at K-12 educators and their use of Twitter to research, relate and form PLNs. Twitter and other social medias have allowed teachers to form networks that are specific to their needs and wants in terms of their own professional growth. In the "End of Isolation" the researchers findings touched on the fact that "over 82% of the time, the educators in this study chose to follow other educators or content experts related to their field of teaching so they were able to create a personal learning network meaningful to their professional needs." Now I just need to work with teachers at my school site to help them realize the individualized professional potential!

This study underscored the benefits of Twitter for the educational community. The article shared the advantages to new teachers in particular, where one participant stated it changed her vision and practice in the classroom. Very powerful!

Of all the resources I have read thus far on PLNs, this particular article forced me to think deeper and reconsider my interpretation of this concept. First of all, I found that the article provided a picture of the quality of interaction that can occur within Twitter. The data collected by researchers provides an in depth look at Twitter as a PLN - a feat that few other resources I have read have accomplished. By detailing the amount, quality, and type of interactions and connections, a tangible conception of a PLN emerges, even for someone who has little to no experience with Twitter. Of the 10 surveyed, a majority of their connections and tweets were professionally related. According to Nussbaum-Beach (video I posted), the difference between a PLN and a CoP is the familiarity of the people and the connection to an idea or problem. However, this study provides a different perception of a PLN that is largely professionally based with strong two-way connections. These conclusions made me wonder if it is possible for facets of a PLN on Twitter to transform into a CoP. Further, at what point can one argue that a PLN has successfully transform into a virtual CoP? Thanks for sharing. This was an excellent read!

Although this was originally developed in 1995, we can see that they were truly visionary and yet we still haven't completely accomplished this vision.

This article discusses adding CoPs to different organizations. It mentions the Internet Generation and describes various tools that will benefit a CoP. Finally, it describes that a CoP should have a purpose that has goals aligned with a specific purpose or vision in order to be effective.

I really appreciated this article and in particular the sense of purpose as a topic. So often I feel that CoPs can feel very purposeful and vibrant when they are created but lose their vigor or meaning as the primary task has been resolved. It seems that strategically placing emphasis on keeping the systems open and renewing purpose in order to develop leaders and new members creates a different energy for everyone involved.

P21 Vision and Mission P21's mission is to serve as catalyst for 21st century learning to build collaborative partnerships among education, business,

STEM faculty members who are working in educational research are participating in communities of practice. The communities of practice were used to increase capacity, engagement, and collaboration amongst the members. Communities of practice can be differentiated depending on the needs to the members participating in the learning community. A vital part in communities of practice is that it's members need to share a common goal or vision and work collaboratively to contribute to the learning community.

Learning communities help to share the responsibilities of student success within a school system. Since PLNs require a shared goal, when used in a school it helps align the vision for students, teachers, and administrators. PLNs are a continuous cycle of research, planning, and implementation. They are data driven and reflected upon. Everyone within the PLN is responsible for the development and implementation of the community. When everyone participates it creates an environment of trust and expertise that can be shared equally amongst all of the members. The learning that takes place within PLNs helps to keep school systems aligned and functioning.

This was a very interesting article that really had me thinking deeper bout PLN. One specific line " Learning communities convene regularly and frequently during the workday to engage in collaborative professional learning to strengthen their practice and increase student results" really caught my eye. How does one find time for such intensive participation? Separate from that I like the idea of learning being a group responsibility and not just an individual one.

Hi Ryann, I love this article and how it chunks the topics into easy comprehension for the reader. Collective responsibility stuck out to me the most. I think this is so important whenever tackling a project as a team. The team is interdependent and I think its important for each member to take responsibility of their strengths that they bring to the table. Nice article!

Learning Forward notes that learning communities are those in which "Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment."

Greetings Molly, Thank you for sharing this article. I especially liked the video. In a perfect world all grades and subjects would be aligned. I think most schools attempt continual improvement by evaluating student data. I hope. I like the idea of owning students in such a way as to be responsible for all student learning. Good article.

Bookmarked from Molly on EdTech SN

541, obstacles, technology

A great article on how high school musicals qualify as communities of practice. Impacts are shown beyond the "stage" and onto personal development, family, and work ethic.

Ryan John is an elementary and middle school music and theatre teacher in New York City. In this case study, he examined how the community of practice formed in a musical theater group impacted their personal development.

The Described and Captioned Media Program is a free-loan library of accessible educational media for use by teachers and family member of K-12 students with a vision or hearing loss. This U.S. Department of Education-funded program also serves as a clearinghouse of accessibility information and training resources as well as a gateway to accessibility information from partnering organizations.

This article applies communities of practice as learning networks specifically for the purpose of life-long learning. The need for life-long learning continues to rise, and the authors reviewed research and applied findings to design a framework for an improved model that looks at life-long learning within these newer visions based on developing theories. The authors point out that lifelong learners are not only consumers of learning, but benefit as active contributors that also creates an enduring membership of the community. Included are learning network model diagrams to show the relationships in the learning community network. In the conclusion, the authors admit the work is still in an exploratory phase and much work is still needed to refine the framework and improve the evaluation of effectiveness in practice.

Resources, including technology, for helping students with limited vision participate fully in science classes

This blog describes some differences between social learning and communities of practice. While it is written by an instructional designer in the corporate sector, many of the details and examples are still applicable to education.

This post aims to distinguish between social learning and communities of practice. It offers an interesting take on the two sides. What I really got most out of it was actually from the first comment from another reader who offers an amazing example of a community of practice. The author of the comment uses Professional Chefs as an example of a community of practice which was one of the best real world and simple to understand explanations I have seen. "My favorite example of a community of practice is professional chefs. They are a community in every sense of the word even though no one maintains a membership list. Chefs identify with one another. They spend time together. They share their knowledge and swap secrets with one another. They enrich the practice of the profession. They nurture people entering the professional and guide their professional development. They set and maintain standards. You can even spot them by the clothes they wear. What brings them together is the "practice." That's terrible term, for it's subject to misinterpretation. We're talking practice as in legal practice or medical practice, not as in piano practice or football practice." Their goal is not making profits; it's furthering the practice.

CoPs are becoming much more popular with the use of technology. Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave are two of the most respected names when it comes to communities of practice. CoPs are groups that are focused on collaboration of common interests while having a purpose and motivation.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier nonprofit organization serving educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than 100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world. The vision of ISTE is a world where all learners thrive, achieve and contribute.

A look at how students today use the technologies at their disposal.

Doctopus is a Google Drive add-on created by New Visions for Public Schools. It is used to manage students work, groups, turning in assignments and much more via Google Drive. In some ways it's more powerful and versatile that Google Classroom. There are teachers who swear by Doctopus. It's usefulness is especially evident in a 1:1 environment where students have constant access to technology.

The National Education Technology Plan is the flagship educational technology policy document for the United States. The 2016 Plan, Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education, articulates a vision of equity, active use, and collaborative leadership to make everywhere, all-the-time learning possible. This recently published plan provides guidance and recommendations for use of technology in education. The report is separated in sections, with the Teaching section being a wonderful place to start for teachers looking for ways to learn, as well as innovative models from other teacher-leaders.

P21's reports and publications support a vision for learning to ensure 21st century readiness for every student. This link provides resources on the 4Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking.