Group items tagged

This article on Resource Link, September 21, 2011, captures the learning environments we wish to bring to businesses, nonprofits, and membership associations. "Social Media - what do you need to know? In the 21st century, learning networks are richer than ever before. Social media, including tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow connections with professionals to be developed in offline and online worlds in new and exciting ways. No longer are we limited geographically. Social media allows us to connect not only to those we know, but also to those who we don't know, but who share our passions, our interests and our profession. Despite never having met in the physical sense, it is now possible to share links, comment on educational research, debate, collaborate and create new knowledge with individuals no matter where they are working." Another excerpt: So….Social Media and Professional Learning Communities? What is the connection? A school which is a professional learning community focuses upon removing the walls between classrooms (metaphorically, in all cases, physically in some!), encouraging collaboration, dialogue, ready access to colleagues and an openness to challenge understandings and current 'accepted' knowledge. Excerpt: Roberts and Pruitt, in their book Schools as Professional Learning Communities (p3, 2009) quote research that suggests that the major obstacle for schools who wish to develop as learning communities is the provision of resources such as time to collaborate, leadership support, information and ready access to colleagues. Social Media is not the total answer; but in schools where money and time are in short demand (and which school isn't in this situation?), they can go part of the way in meeting these needs. 1. social media providing to time to collaborate 2. social media providing leadership support 3. social media providing information 4. social media providing access to colleagues

This excerpt from an interview with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, PLP founder, captures critical points for PD online. "Will and I agreed that we would only work with teams of school-based educators because the research made it clear that it was collaborative teams within in a school, working together, that really brought about sustainable improvement. That would give us what we needed to anchor the virtual experience in a local context. We also wanted participants to experience a global community of practice-to be able to have conversations with people very different than themselves, with fresh perspectives. Our thinking was that if we put teams of educators who had different ideologies, different geography, different purposes and challenges, all together in the same space, then they could each bring what they did well to the table and people could learn from that. Ultimately that would mean public, private, Catholic, and other kinds of schools; educators teaching well-to-do, middle-class, and poor kids; educators in different states and nations, at different grade levels, and in different content areas and roles. What ultimately grew out of our brainstorming was a three-pronged model of professional development that emphasizes (1) local learning communities at the school/district level; (2) an online community of practice that's both global and deep; and (3) a third prong that is more personal-the idea of a personal learning network that each educator develops as a mega-resource for ideas and information about their particular interests and areas of practice. (These three prongs are described in depth in a new book, The Connected Educator, where PLP community leader Lani Ritter Hall and I tell the story of the evolution of our model and the very solid research base behind it.)

Interview of Kio Stark by Howard Rheingold on interdependent learning, April 2013. See video (15 minutes). Kio Stark wrote a handbook on how to do in(ter)dependent learning--"Don't Go Back to School" From post: "But one important change has erupted in recent decades, enabled by the advent of digital media and networks, that alters the traditional power equation between holders and seekers of knowledge: schools no longer hold the monopoly on learning. When I want to learn how to do something, I can find a video, an Instructable, a blog post, a peer-learning platform. Schooling is still essential for many - perhaps for most - but for independent learners, tools we didn't dream of a generation ago are available through the nearest web-connected device." Excerpt: In our brief video interview, I talked with Stark about what she learned from independent (more properly, we should probably call them "interdependent") learners like "Cory Doctorow about learning to be a working writer, Dan Sinker about learning to code, Quinn Norton about learning neurology and psychology." I suspect that Anya Kamenetz, Kio Stark, and the Peeragogy Project are forerunners of an entire nascent genre about how to learn anything outside of formal schooling.""

A blog by Kirsten Olson on her new book, Wounded by School. Really like the Learner's Bill of Rights she has here: A Learner's Bill of Rights Every learner has the right to know why they are learning something, why it is important now, or may be important to them someday. Every learner has the right to engage in questioning or interrogating the idea of "importance" above. Every learner has the right to be confused and to express this confusion openly, honestly, and without shame. Every learner has the right to multiple paths to understanding a concept, an idea, a set of facts, or a series of constructs. Every learner has the right to understand his or her own mind, brain wiring, and intellectual inclinations as completely as possible. Every learner has the right to interrogate and question the means through which his or her learning is assessed. Every learner is entitled to some privacy in their imagination and thoughts. Every learner has the right to take their own imagination and thinking seriously. -From Wounded By School

excellent explanation by Tom Vander Ark on why parent-managed learner profiles are becoming more important all the time for young people.  Is the corollary true for adults owning their learning in portable, digital carry-alongs for sharing with potential employers, etc.  

Fascinating article by Marina Gorbis on Fast Company site regarding how we must be able to learn online in micro-learning episodes that may last minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. far removed from schools, MOOCs, and other structured and semi-structured curricula. Excerpt: "We are moving away from the model in which learning is organized around stable, usually hierarchical institutions (schools, colleges, universities) that, for better and worse, have served as the main gateways to education and social mobility. Replacing that model is a new system in which learning is best conceived of as a flow, where learning resources are not scarce but widely available, opportunities for learning are abundant, and learners increasingly have the ability to autonomously dip into and out of continuous learning flows. Instead of worrying about how to distribute scarce educational resources, the challenge we need to start grappling with in the era of socialstructed learning is how to attract people to dip into the rapidly growing flow of learning resources and how to do this equitably, in order to create more opportunities for a better life for more people." In the comments, this summary: "It doesn't matter if you are a physicist, chemist, sociologist, welder, mathematician, teacher, economist, lawyer, restaurant owner, farmer, trucker, whatever, the information most relevant and valuable to your employment is up to you to find! The task requires you find and digest information, on your own. This task used to be a pain, but now we have near-instant access to the entirety of information across the planet. The author is talking about making this access actually instant, not near-instant. Its really just an inevitable thing. "

Excellent exploration of a PLE and how it may or may not integrate with a formal institutionally based and managed VLE (through a school or employer perhaps?) and how the learner needs to own his/her PLE for lifelong and portable learning. Acknowledges the eportfolio that a school might provide a learner (but this can be set up and managed by learner as a formative and summative device).

Blog post by David Truss, Pair-A_Dimes, January 4, 2011, on learning at work by professionals, i.e., teachers. Has much more good stuff to say than this excerpt but I find this useful for Information Overload. Another term I ran across lately--practical obscurity--in relation to why we are now part of NSA's scope--because costs have fallen so low to monitor so much behavior online--voice and text--that what was once unavailable without a lot of costs is now quite feasible for someone to monitor, such as NSA, Google, Facebook, etc. Excerpt: "I read a post recently by Jeff Utecht, whom you have worked with, that said this: "Today at school I answered personal e-mail, updated my Facebook status, Tweeted, looked up flights for winter break, and even read articles that didn't pertain to school. And they say we're becoming less productive at work. What really is happening is the line between our work life and our social life is becoming blurred more and more every day." and he continues: "Sure I use some of my work time to do social things, yet I get home from work after 3pm and answer work e-mails, text faculty members about a computer problem, and work on lessons and things that need to be done. So it's an even swap. I'll use some of your time, you can use some of mine.""

Blog post by Brianna Crowley, Oct. 23, 2013 Excerpt "Then I found an online community of educators who taught in schools across the country and in classrooms ranging from pre-K to higher education. They were authors, keynote speakers, and policy advocates. This interdisciplinary and diverse community challenged me to adopt a new perspective: Rather than simply identifying problems in my district, my classroom, and the educational system, I should propose the solutions. The CTQ Collaboratory transformed my practice by allowing me to see myself as a teacher leader whose experience in the classroom should empower me to affect decisions outside of my classroom. With the support and encouragement of this teacher-leader community, I began to engage with other educator communities through Twitter, ASCD, and Edmodo. Through these networks, I found not only teachers, but principals, superintendents, and authors willing to discuss the issues I was passionate about: educational technology, educational policy, and reimagined schools"

blog by Ross Brenneman, August 12, 2015 that elevates tension between student-centered and teacher-led learning and includes rationale on why people need to be able to learn informally after they finish school.

Video on PAR (Predictive Analytics Reporting) by Ellen Wagner on evaluating work by secondary educators (including online schools) to affect graduation rates, progress, competency development, and completion. Need common data. Differences in performance by 2 year and 4 year schools, not between public and for-profit so much. Knowing what you can do with the numbers makes the difference.

blog by Eli Dourado on March 6, 2013 on binge learning. Excerpt: A combination of technology (DVRs) and market service providers (Netflix, Hulu, On Demand) have transformed how and when and where we watch "television." I suspect that students want the same things. Technology and market forces appear to be reshaping how and when and where we learn. Perhaps we education providers should pay attention. But the kind of bingeing that people might like to do with online courses is entirely different. Most people who sign up for an online class at Udacity or Marginal Revolution University want to take the class for its own sake, not as a requirement for some broader credential. The point is not to learn and forget-it is to indulge an interest. This seems like a more natural way to learn than traditional educational structures can offer: develop an interest and mercilessly indulge it until another interest supersedes it. It is a method that conserves the mental energy associated with willpower, leaving more of the brain's resources to focus on the material itself. Since it relies on the student actually being interested in the class, it is hard to fit into a physical schooling environment, where classes have to begin on a schedule, go slow enough for everyone to keep up, and run in parallel with other classes. Online education also saves the resources associated with context switching. Humans are notoriously bad multitaskers. Each time a high school student has to change classes, she has to quickly stifle the thoughts and questions raised in previous classes to focus on the current class. She has to expend mental resources remembering where the previous session of the current class left off. And when she returns to the class that stimulated the thoughts that had to be stifled, she may not recall them. Far better to focus on-or even to binge on-one subject until she is at a good stopping point.

great blog post by Scandinavian Posted by ingvihrannar | February 26, 2014 on obsolete practices including 13. One-Professional development-workshop-fits-all A school that just sends the entire staff to a workshop once a month where everyone get the same are obsolete. Professional development is usually top down instead of the ground up where everyone get what they want and need. This is because giving everyone (including students) what they need and want takes time & money. With things like Twitter, Pinterest, articles online, books, videos, co-operation & conversations employees can personalize their professional development. (Read about my article on Personalized Professional Development here)

Op ed piece by David L. Kirp, a Berkley professor. The business models that are proliferating in educational thinking and assessment does not work, and the greatest determiner of success are the interpersonal relationships of students and teachers, students and students, and teachers and teachers. Adding more and new technology has not been successful because of this. Rewarding "good" schools with merit pay while closing and punishing those in areas of poverty because they are "failing" schools without instituting known programs that engender success is a crime in his view.

great testimony by John Spencer, a former middle school teacher, who burned out on the constant group approach to teaching and PD, offers really good ideas for helping introverts make their unique contributions in ways that respect their learning styles

Wow, look at this issue of Knowledge Quest (November/December 2012) on PLNs! Also, below are several learning opportunities of interest: KQ webinar on professional learning communities, curation, 30 second Thought Leadership, etc. These are school librarians.

Don Kilburn/Tom Vander Ark blog post on how formative assessment made possible by technology is helping GenerationDo-It-Yourself students (and teachers?) remediate while still in high school. Pearson is behind this article (remember Barb McDonald's mention of this in a CPSquare discussion).

Maybe we should do 8 APPS for ???

An amazing project that utilizes gaming, social media, digital badging, and virtual worlds as methods to promote digital literacy to youth in high risk areas. These after-school programs are designed to "Global Kids believes that youth be not merely critical consumers but active producers of digital media". Kids produce games on social issues impacting them (such as neighborhood violence or racial intolerance) that are designed to teach others about not just about the issue but how it feels to be impacted by the issue.

The Global Kids definition of leadership is very in tune with what we have been trying to convey, I think. Here is there goal statement: "The Global Kids Online Leadership Program (OLP) integrates international and public policy issues into digital media programs to encourage digital literacy and technical competency, foster global awareness, promote civic participation and develop 21st Century skills. OLP was created in 2000 to bring new media into Global Kids' after school programs, introduce these programs into online communities, and explore how the combination of the two could develop 21st Century Learning Skills. Through programs utilizing video games, virtual worlds, social media, and other forms of participatory media, youth involved in our programs now have the opportunity to have their voices heard and make a global impact in ways that were previously unimaginable."

"students in medical and dental school explain why they find lectures of value. from McGill University researchers, Medical Science Educator "

"students in medical and dental school explain why they find lectures of value. from McGill University researchers, Medical Science Educator "