PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Pre-service educationStudy groups

Curriculum writingContinuing education

Formal Informal

Individual developmentPeer collaborationPeer coaching or

mentoring

What Is An Online Learning Community?

Much of the learning currently happening on the Internet comes from self-motivated individuals with a common interest and a desire to interact with others who share the same interest (Wenger, 1998).

The focus is on interaction…

Centralized, bureaucratic,risk averse, multi-leveled, limit

access to data, inward focused culture

Empowering, non bureaucratic,risk tolerant, fewer levels,distribute data widely,externally oriented.

Walled Garden

NETWORKING IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

helps us reach for helps us reach for what we need, what we need,

according to our according to our contexts and contexts and

knowledge levels.knowledge levels.

provides us with provides us with opportunities for opportunities for

experiential experiential learning with learning with different tools different tools and platformsand platforms

builds an online builds an online professional and professional and social presencesocial presence

helps us gain confidence and practicehelps us gain confidence and practice and then apply experience and then apply experience

to our teaching and learning. to our teaching and learning.

MULTI-CHANNEL APPROACHSYNCHRONOUS

ASYNCHRONOUS

PEER TO PEER WEBCAST

Instant messenger

forumsf2f

blogsphotoblogs

vlogs

wikis

folksonomies

Conference rooms

email Mailing lists

CMS

Community platformsVoIP

webcam

podcasts

PLE

Worldbridges

Blogs and RSS

My Bloghttp://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com

RSShttp://www.bloglines.com/public/snbeach

Wikis

Tech Enhanced Learninghttp://techenhancedlearning.wikispaces.com/

21st Century Teaching and Learninghttp://abpc.wikispaces.com/

EduBloggerConhttp://edubloggercon.wikispaces.com/

21st Century Collaborative Wikihttp://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com

Look at What We Can Build When We Work Together!

21st Century Wiki

Del.icio.us

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

Virtual Communities

Ning

Tapped In

Tapped In Homepage

Vision

Student achievement is directly linked to teacher quality.

Teachers must engage in ongoing professional development throughout their careers.

Provide a free virtual meeting place that supports rich collaborative discourse.

• For teachers to share strategies, resources, and support.

• For teachers to find high quality resources in minutes rather than hours.

• With support to implement effective, classroom-centered learning activities.

Funding & Support

Tapped In was created by SRI International in 1997 to transform teacher professional development for PD providers and educators.

Tapped In currently relies on support from SRI, grants and tenant organizations

Tapped In relies upon its community to collaborate and support each other voluntarily in the spirit of collegiality

Tapped In has an active volunteer force that supports guests and members

Center for Technology and Learning

Sun Microsystems

Tapped In Discussion

Campus Metaphor

National Writing Project

Milwaukee Public Schools

Clicking the Tapped In tab in the top frame of TIwill show you a clickable campus map. Click on a building and teleport to that building’s Reception room. Tenants have their own buildings

Why Take Part In An Online Community?

I value this virtual environment where you educate me, stimulate my thinking, probe my educational values and viewpoints, get me to think and have helped me to grow. Often by the time I am ready to formulate my words, others have done it beautifully, and I marvel at the quickness of your thoughts. I love the diversity of views, the discussions of issues on which opinions go in all directions, but no matter how far apart the opinions, everyone has the best interest of the students at heart, and that is one of the underlying unifiers of all members of TLN.

Thank you for being you- collectively.

Cathy Kinzler

Attributes of Successful Learning Communities

- a shared vision of what constitutes the mission of the community

- a core group who is willing to chime in on a variety of topics, keep the conversation rolling, and self-monitor the conversations is critical. This can be a formal group "appointed" to the role or just a group who steps forward to assume that role.

- a moderator who maintains the consistent integrity of the group

- opportunities beyond just a listserv, such as book reviews, book chats, PD opportunities, lesson sharing, etc...

- provocative issues, yes... topics which draw in a variety of participants from different angles to give new perspectives

http://www.techlearning.com/blog/

First, with several hundred of us from all corners of the field, we have acollective pulse on everything that's going on in education and teacherleadership. 

Second, and just as important, our interactions are daily,even hourly. We are not prisoners of time and location.  We caninstantly connect with one another to get insight, practical advice, andlanguage to use while working with teachers. I've lost count of thenumber times I've used something I learned on the TLN when working with teachers, administrators, or schools.

Rick Wormeli, Herndon, VA

Questions?

Let’s join a community!