As Confidence Builds

by Robin Ellis

One of the challenges of my position in the district where I work has been how to “teach” others about social networking, how do you convey the benefits of virtual personal learning communities / networks, in a 3 hour workshop? How do you cover all the options, explore all the tools available to assist in creating those communities, and also build a comfort level for those interested, but who most likely have never been involved in something like this? As I reflect on my participation in PLP over the past several months and look at the foundations that have been laid for all teams across the cohorts participating this year and examine the structure in place it helps to answer the questions I struggle with. My conclusion is I don’t think you can adequately teach these concepts in an hour or two, to honestly understand the value, having the opportunity to be immersed in the conversations/immersed in the environment is the best way to learn.

What I have been able to see throughout all of the cohorts is the growth of individuals in this environment, there are emerging voices, those who are becoming comfortable are beginning to start discussions, add comments to posts others have made, share their own teaching experiences, as well as personal experience. Here is an example of one who has begun to incorporate some of the tools we have been learning about in PLP in her personal life.

One of the things I remember Will saying at our first meeting was a way to be successful with technology this year. He said that we are all so busy, so technology can’t be added to your life, but must take the place of something you already do. He used the example of how he used to watch the news, but now he uses technology to stay informed. I really thought that was important for me to remember this year. So what I’ve tried to do is use and learn about technology in the things I am already spending much time on. I attended a workshop on gifted students. The keynote speaker was talking about using technology with gifted students, he talked about 21st century skills, web 2.0, wikis, blogs, nings, etc.  I understood everything he was talking about and used much of what he talked about with my students. This is the first time ever that I have understood more technology than many other teachers. I am so proud of what I have done the past few months and how much I have learned.

New Jersey cohort member Laura Sipes.

She started using tools she had been introduced to in her cohort, in her personal life, and as a result has gained confidence and understanding in the value of using technology as an integral part of what you do every day rather than add it on to your daily life.

Another portion of a post, from Scott Godshalk, principal, Tohickon Valley Elementary School.

Last year, I tried, unsuccessfully, to facilitate the use of a wiki at our school. I asked teachers to post a reflective document of their work during their Collaboration Sessions. As I reflected on this, I realized I dove in headfirst with the concept of a wiki. This was a new idea for the teachers, and a new way to collaborate. Teachers followed through with this expectation, and posted their Collaboration Session reflections, but there weren’t any additional comments, posts, or discussions about the content of their work. This year, I took a couple steps back, but pushed forward with the idea of a wiki. I send out a weekly bulletin to share my reflections and give teachers my thoughts on school and district initiatives. I spend a great deal of time preparing the weekly bulletin. Recently, I had an epiphany. Why am I working so hard on this? There is a school full of brilliant teachers who have fantastic ideas. They should help me with this! For the last two weeks, I posted a simple question on the wiki site, and had the teachers write a brief response to this question. The results have been phenomenal. Last week, I asked teachers what it means to teach in the year 2008. To be an effective teacher, what are the words that come to mind? Their response was awesome. Our staff is beginning to enter a new phase of collaboration.

Others are beginning to blog, some are sharing classroom experience, resources for teaching and professional development, creating Delicious accounts and sharing web sites with their cohorts. It is remarkable to see the growth of individuals who are supported and encouraged as they expand their knowledge and level of comfort in an area, just a few short months ago; many had never been introduced to before. This is the work of PLP, creating environments for collaboration and learning in ways that are relevant to all of us.

An invitation— reflecting on 21st century learning

By Lani Ritter-Hall

“Picture a raging river in the mountains with its white water, large boulders and powerful currents picking up speed and washing away anything that gets in its path. Some people are in kayaks in the middle of the river, moving this way and that, loving being in the moment and responding to the current rapidly. Others are on the banks contemplating where to enter and exit the ever changing waterways. Where are you on this journey?”
–Scott Warren, North Brook, IL, Illinois/Ohio PLP Cohort

And a request for reflection —

“Are you where I am? Have you been here too? How have others dealt with the need for deep reflection in a digital world that calls for rapid response?”

21st Century Learning — raging rivers, white water, powerful currents

Reflection — pensive, quiet, thoughtful, pondering, musing

This sense of cognitive dissonance resonated with many community members as they responded to Scott’s queries. Their responses –- celebrating his contribution, sharing their journey, validating his thoughts, offering their own take on learning and reflecting in an online community of practice — focus and deepen the learning of all.

And now embedded in that continuing dialogue Scott’s additional insight:

“Here is one thing that I am finding out as I write this (comment) – when I started my own discussion, I am more connected to it and want to see what others are writing. I think that personal connection is important for those of us that may be holding back a bit.”

An increasing willingness to be transparent; a brilliant, appropriate metaphor; questions asking that others think more deeply, realizing opportunities for more personal connections — and now a community on the brink of the falls, recognizing the potential of this dissonance to grow its global practice

Taking a deep breath, not looking back — with additional invitations from its members; more short, relevant questions — this community will be traversing the falls themselves, tranquil reflective waters, and then more whitewaters — energized, exhausted, renewed by this 21st century learning — together.

What Makes PLP Work

By Dean Shareski

Being part of 3 cohorts and witnessing and hearing the work of 4 others I’m trying to get a feel for these geographically diverse communities.

As someone who is charged with a leadership position in my own district and trying to achieve much of the same kind of work as PLP, it’s a wonderful learning experience for me.

It seems questions like, “How do we systematically move our teachers forward?” “What do we do with resistance teachers?” “How do we sustain momentum?” “How do we get momentum?” and you can add a few more standard questions are ones that leadership deal with all the time.

What’s exciting is the model of online communities that is now gaining validity among these districts. I don’t think all districts are ready to invest in online communities as an integral part of teachers’ professional learning. That’s because most of our leaders have never experience it. Fortunately with at least the leadership in these 7 cohorts somebody gets it.

I’ve been teaching pre-service teachers online for the past few years and while I still long for face to face experiences, it’s what happens online that make face to face experiences rich and meaningful. Teachers and students are busy people. Spending even 3 hours a week in a class usually offers little time to engage with each other. That’s the power of these communities. They provide an opportunity not only to learn beyond face to face experiences, but provide a space for people to get to know one another. I love this quote from one of my students as she reflected on our class experience.

…this is my only university class that I know every student by name, and know at least one important thing about them. This is really weird, because I wouldn’t have been able to do that even in high school.

PLP is based upon building communities and building communities doesn’t happen in the limited times we gather face to face. Inside many of the NING communities, I’ve enjoyed looking at people’s pictures, seeing them challenge one another and asking good questions and even having a little fun. You come and go as you please, you choose topics and conversations that engage you and you decide when you’re ready to jump in. Many of these things are not easily replicated in face to face settings for many reasons. Getting to know people is often overlooked as people jump into an online learning experience. If learning is truly social, then these spaces must allow people to be themselves and be social.

So as I reflect on what’s working here, I know that ultimately sustainability and change only occurs with a culture that values risk taking and innovation combined with strong support. PLP is providing this with the use of expert voices and the constant activity within each group.

One thing I do know. When I have discussions with teachers about change, many understand we should change but complain about the lack of time to do it. Meaningful change will never occur if teachers only want to invest in a few PD experiences throughout the year. Meaningful change does occur when strong communities are developed and that takes time. The online experience of the PLP cohorts is creating this exact environment. I’m just happy to be part of it all.

Expert Voices

By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

I am happily paddling, running in and out with the discussion waves, splashing a bit in the groups, occasionally sticking my head under and blowing a few small blogging bubbles. Feeling I can’t yet go too long with out taking a breath to edit and definitely still need my Google goggles, although am learning to keep my eyes open for new ideas and applications. I’m still, perhaps irrationally, scared of sharks and so sticking close to the shore. Perfectly happy to watch and learn from those who can swim competently. Enjoying my day at the beach.

International Cohort Member- Amanda Ritter, Melbourne, Australia

For many educators sharing and posting in a situated community of practice is awkward and risky business. It is a process of slowly building trust and taking small steps while trying to find their online voice. It takes time before many of the team members in PLP feel like their input is going to contribute much to the discussion. Amanda describes it as not wanting to get in over her head but looking towards relinquishing her “Ning floatie ring” and “swimming on her own into open water while building her cyber confidence.”

Part of the mission of PLP is to help participants build their cyber confidence while at the same time starting to build their personal and professional learning networks. One way we do that is by bringing in Expert Voices. The idea behind “Expert Voices” is twofold. First, it’s to bring into the PLP communities folks knowledgeable about both the tools and the pedagogy, and have them help PLP members explore various topics related to teaching and learning in the 21st century. Second, it’s a way to help PLPers slowly expand their learning networks by giving them some thoughtful folks to learn from and to follow.

It is with great pleasure that Powerful Learning Practice welcomes this year’s Expert Voices.

International Cohort
Graham Wegner – Building a Personal Learning Network
Ben Hazzard – Classrooms as Communities
John Evans – Podcasting Purpose
Chris Harbeck – Classroom Blogging
Alanah King – Collaborative Tools

Independent Cohort
Kim Harrison – virtual worlds, particularly Second Life
John Hendron – blogs and other read/write tools in education
Chris O’Neal – developing technology leaders, particularly school administrators
Meg Swecker – Voice Thread as well as other collaborative tools such as wikis
Paula White – Web 2.0 tools in the classroom

Illinois/Ohio Cohort
Kathy Cassidy – on Blogging
Alec Couros – on Building a PLN
Brian Crosby – on Collaborative Tools
John Evans – on Podcasting
Jo McCleay – on Social Networking

ADVIS Cohort
Kim Cofino – Collaborative Projects with Multiple Schools
Ben Wilkoff – Blogging (with RSS and Social Bookmarking thrown in)
Scott McLeod – Disruptive Innovation: What School Leaders Should Be Doing Now in Their Schools and Classrooms
Kristin Hokanson – My Digital Responsibility in a Global World
Wes Fryer – Wikis and Digital Storytelling

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Cohort
Barbara Barreda – Leadership and Change
Bill Kist – Wikis and Digital Storytelling
Susan Sedro – Technology Integration
Sara Kajder – New Literacies
Jo McLeay – Social Networking

New Jersey State Cohort
Michelle Bourgeois - Collaborative Learning
Scott Elias – Balancing Your Real and Virtual Lives
Dean Shareski - Lesson 1- Share
Brian C. Smith – Educator as Learner
Adina Sullivan – Audio and Visuals to Support Learning for All

PEARLS NYC Cohort
Tom Barrett- Publishing Tools
Graham Wegner- Blogging
Lee Kolbert- Social Networks
Darren Draper- Dimensions of Change
Jeff Utecht- PLN