Connected Learning Communities for the CELL conference

1. Living and Learning in a
Global Community
Innovative Schools Virtual
University

2. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Co-Founder & CEO
Powerful Learning Practice,
LLC
http://plpnetwork.com
sheryl@plpnetwork.com
Website and blog
21st Century Collaborative
http://21stcenturycollaborative.com
@snbeach on Twitter

4. Learner First—
Educator/Student Second
It is a shift and requires us to rethink who we
are as an educator, student, or professional. It
requires us to redefine ourselves.
Emerson and Thoreau reunited would ask-
“What has become clearer to you since we last
met?”
Share with someone near you.. What have
you learned recently?

6. 6 Trends for the digital age
Analogue Digital
Tethered Mobile
Closed Open
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consuming Creating
Source: David Wiley: Openness and the disaggregated
future of higher education

7. Do it Yourself PD
A 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.

8. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

9. 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?

10. Dispositions and Values
Commitment to understanding Dedication to the
asking good questions ongoing development
of expertise
Explores ideas and concepts,
rethinking, revising, and Shares and contributes
continuously repacks and unpacks,
resisting
urges to finish prematurely Engages in strength-based approaches
and appreciative inquiry
Co-learner, Co-leader, Co-creator
Demonstrates mindfulness
Self directed, open minded
Willingness to leaving one's comfort
Commits to deep reflection zone to experiment with new strategies
and taking on new responsibilities
Transparent in thinking
Values and engages in a culture of
collegiality

11. Professional development needs to change.
• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
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.

12. Define
Community
Define
Networks

13. 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)

14. Community...
...has been defined as a group of interacting
Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010
people living in a common location.
What are the characteristics of
distributed learning
communities? common
In the digital age,
location is not as important as
common interest.
http://www.psfk.com

15. A Definition of Networks
From 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.

16. 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.

18. “Understanding how
networks work is one of
the most important
literacies of the 21st
Century.”
- Howard Rheingold
http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu

19. Open Networks
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’.
Practitioners’ knowledge = content &
– Dave Cormier (2008)
context

22. My community work

23. 1. Local community: Purposeful, face-to-face
connections among members of a committed
group—a professional learning community (PLC)
• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
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)

24. Professional Learning
Communities
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.
FOCUS: Local , F2F, Job-embedded-
in Real Time

25. Personal Learning
Networks
FOCUS: Individual, Connecting to Learning Objects, Resources
and People – Social Network Driven

27. responsive
responsive

28. personalized

29. investing in collaborations

30. 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.

32. FOCUS:
Situated,
Synchrono
us,
Asynchro
nous-
Online
and
Walled
Garden
Communities of Practice

33. Virtual Community
A virtual space supported by
computer-based information
technology, centered upon
communication and interaction
of participants to generate
member-driven content,
resulting in relationships being
built up. (Lee & Vogel, 2003)

34. Dynamics of Different Network Types
Community of Project Teams Informal networks
Practice
Purpose Learning Accomplish specific Communication
Sharing task flows
Creating Knowledge
Boundary Knowledge domain Assigned projector Networking,
task resource building
and establishing
relationships
Connections Common application Commitment to goal Interpersonal
or discovery- acquaintances
innovation
Membership Semi - permanent Constant for a fixed Links made based
period on needs of the
individual
Time scale As long as it adds Fixed ends when No pre-engineered
value to the its project deliverables end
members have been

35. Celebration
Celebration

36. Connection
http://i.imwx.com
cc Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010

37. Communication
cc Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010

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

39. Connection Collaboration
Celebration Communication
Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010
User
Generated Co-
created
Content

40. Webb/Butterfield/Smith Model
Based on Matt Webb, Stewart Butterfield’s and Gene Smith’s writings

41. Creative Commons
Ultimately: Freedom to openly access,
use, copy, modify and share content

42. 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

44. Characteristics
of a healthy
community

45. Do it Yourself PD as Communities
Self Directed Of Practice
Connected Learners
DIY-PD Personal
Learning
Networks
F2F Teams
"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.)

46. 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.

47. 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.

48. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/google_whitepaper.pdf

49. Motivations
• Social
connectedness
• Psychological
well-being
• Gratification
• Collective
Efficacy

51. The Social
Web is built
here, from
love and
esteem

53. Connected Learning Communities provide the personal
learning environment (PLE) to do the nudging

54. Change is hard

55. Connected learners are more
effective change agents

56. Let’s just admit it…
You are an agent of
change!
Now. Always. And now
you have the tools to
leverage your ideas.

57. An effective change
agent is someone
who isn’t afraid to
change course.
Let’s look at some
examples…

58. "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not
the turbulence. It is to act with yesterday's logic."
- Peter Drucker
Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010
http://pixdaus.com