Join a Community

A Powerful Learning Practice Community is an ongoing, job-embedded professional development experience built around emerging, social Web technologies. Within these communities, participants are supported in an intensive community-building process online and in person by a passionate team of experienced experts and educators. Our professional development model encourages you to learn through immersion and then as a team develop an action plan for how you will scale what you are learning with others.

Interested in joining for 2012?

Our Communities are closed for the 2011-12 school year, but please sign up to receive information about our 2012 opportunities. Enter your email address below to make sure you’re the first to know about what’s happening when next year’s activities kick off.

Join a community

Trying to fit Powerful Learning Practice into a traditional course-like description contradicts the philosophy of what we hope will be accomplished. This is not a linear learning experience. A major part of learning collaboratively is organic and learner-directed in nature and this journey is designed to help you become an active contributor, team member, and community member in both face-to-face and online, collaborative cultures.

Learning in the 21st Century: Networks and Communities

Year 1 focuses on understanding the global changes created by online social technologies and their implications for teaching and learning. We provoke deep thinking about professional and personal learning practice and work on understanding practical and pedagogical implications for classrooms. Teams will conduct action research that is aligned to school improvement goals while initiating district-wide conversations and planning around long-term change and the scaling of these ideas and technologies.

Teaching in the 21st Century: Passion-based Learning

Year 2 focuses on project, problem, and passion-based learning. We teach you how to use inquiry-based learning through the lens of social technologies. You’ll have provocative conversations and explore collaborative solutions to assessment. We work on re-envisioning classrooms and curriculum through hands-on, online, student/teacher collaboration. These teams will develop a cross-curricular project aligned with state standards and embedded with 21st Century skills and literacies. We look closely at how to scale learning while involving students in the PLP process. See an example of how our students and teachers saved the world through their problem-based learning experience. Learn more about Year 2 by clicking on the pricing tab below.

Ready to Join? Already know you want to join a Community? Fill out a “Letter of Intent” to reserve your spot . We limit PLP Communities to 20 teams.

The Year 1 Process

These intensive learning communities will be created with and supported by:

  • Two full-day, face-to-face workshops (Learning Community Kick-off and Culminating Learning Showcase) for community participants held at a regional site.
  • Five two-hour, synchronous, online webinars taking participants from “What is 21st Century learning and why is it important?” to long-range planning and implementation in your school.
  • Immersion in an asynchronous Virtual Learning Community where teams can collaborate, connect with other educators, and reflect deeply upon their learning anytime.
  • Ongoing support from Powerful Learning Practice Community Leaders, Connected Coaches, Fellows and visiting Experienced Voices.

Each community connects

  • 20 school or district teams from around the state (or world)
  • 5-6 educators (administrators/teachers) from each school or district
  • Connected Coaches selected from participating districts

Outcomes for participating Administrators and Teacher Leaders

By participating, you can expect your team and your leadership to gain:

  • Knowledge: An understanding of the transformative potential of emerging technologies in a global perspective and context and how those potentials can be realized in schools.
  • Pedagogy: An understanding of the shifting learning literacies that the 21st Century demands and how those literacies inform teacher practice.
  • Connections: The development of sustained professional learning communities and personal learning networks for team members to begin experimenting, sharing and collaborating with each other and with online colleagues from around the world.
  • Sustainability: The creation of long term plans based on action research to move the vision forward in participating districts at the end of the program.
  • Capacity: An increase in the abilities and resources of individuals, teams and the community to manage change.

The Powerful Learning Practice process is also closely aligned with ISTE’s NETS. Widely adopted and recognized worldwide, the NETS integrate educational technology standards across all educational curricula for students, teachers and administrators.

Questions? Chat live with us and learn more about joining a Community during an info session. Reserve your seat now.
View plans & pricing