Shifting from a PLC to a CoP

2. Digital Footprint
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Co-Founder & CEO
Powerful Learning Practice, LLC
http://plpnetwork.com
sheryl@plpnetwork.com
President
21st Century Collaborative, LLC
http://21stcenturycollaborative.com
Follow me on Twitter
@snbeach

3. My community work

5. Please join me at
the session wiki
http://plpwiki.com

6. Mantra for today’s keynote…
We are stronger together than apart.
None of us is as smart, creative, good or
interesting as all of us.

7. Things do not change; we change.
—Henry David Thoreau
• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
What are you doing to contextualize and
mobilize what you are learning?
How will you leverage, how will you enable
your teachers or your students to leverage-
collective intelligence?

9. The world is changing...

10. 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

11. Shifting From Shifting To
Learning at school Learning anytime/anywhere
Teaching as a private event Teaching as a public
collaborative practice
Learning as passive Learning in a participatory
participant culture
Learning as individuals Learning in a networked
community
Linear knowledge Distributed knowledge

12. Source: enGauge 21st Century Skills

13. Right now, schools are:
Time and place. Filtered. Teacher-directed.
Predictable. Standardized. Push oriented.
Content-based. Group assessed. Linear.
Closed. Sept-June. Local.

14. Learning will be (already is):
Mobile. Networked. Global. Collaborative. Self-
directed. Inquiry based. On demand.
Transparent. Lifelong. Personalized. Pull.
Unpredictable.

15. Our kids have tasted the honey.
dangerouslyirrelevant.org
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/02/a-taste-of-honey.html

16. Free range learners
Free-range learners choose
how and what they learn. Self-
service is less expensive and
more timely than the
alternative. Informal learning
has no need for the busywork,
chrome, and bureaucracy that
accompany typical classroom
instruction.
16

17. The Disconnect
―Every time I go to school, I have to
• THE --a high school student
power down.‖ CONNECTED EDUCATOR

18. The pace of change is
accelerating

20. Knowledge Creation
It is estimated that
1.5 exabytes of unique new information
will be generated
worldwide this year.
That’s estimated to be
more than in the
previous 5,000 years.

21. For students starting a four-year
education degree, this means that . . .
half of what they learn in their first year
of study will be outdated by their third
year of study.

22. “For the first time we
are preparing
students for a future
we cannot clearly
describe.”
- David Warlick
http://communications.nottingham.ac.uk/podcasts/

23. “In a time of
drastic change
it is the learners
who inherit the
future. The
learned usually
find themselves
equipped to live
in a world that
no longer
exists.”
Are there new Literacies- and if so, what are they?
-- Eric Hoffer,
Reflections on

24. Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-
solving
Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of
improvisation and discovery
Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world
processes
Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to
salient details.
Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that
expand mental capacities
.

25. Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with
others toward a common goal
Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different
information sources
Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the flow of stories and
information across multiple modalities
Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and
respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.
.

26. What does it mean to work
in a participatory 2.0 world?
Reflection

27. Learning
One-on-one Classroom community
27

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

29. 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.

30. Learner First---Educator Second
It is a shift and requires us to rethink who we
are as an educator. It requires us to redefine
ourselves.
Think About
What does that mean to you– learner first?
What does it look like in the classroom or in
a position of leadership? Why is it important
in today’s world?

31. http://bit.ly/QSqfjI

32. Be a learner first--educator second
• It's all about asking hard questions and then listening deeply
• A connected learner isn’t afraid to admit that they don’t know the answer
to a question or problem, and willingly invite others into a dialogue to
explore, discuss, debate, or generate more questions. (@barb_english)
• Asking our questions out in the open in connected ways @lisaneale
• I believe that being a connected learner leads to more questions than
answers and that is good. I also believe that connected learners have to
learn to take risks - exposing your learning and thoughts can be challenging
@ccoffa
• Lurkers become learners. Learners become contributors. @sjhayes8

33. Community is built through the
co-construction of knowledge
BE collaborative. Own it. Share with others.
nvest in personal knowledge building so what you share with others
will be of value.
The power of connections leads to collective efficacy, collective wisdom
and long standing collective intelligence
Connected learners talk to strangers. We do not have to know the
people with whom we are co-learning, co-constructing, co-creating.
Do you know--what who you know--knows? Leverage collective
wisdom.
Innovation comes from wildly diverse experiences and loose
connections

34. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

35. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

36. 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

37. Meet the new model for professional
development:
• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
Connected Learning Communities
In CLCs educators have several ways to
connect and collaborate:
• F2F learning communities (PLCs)
• Personal learning networks (PLNs)
• Communities of practice or inquiry
(CoPs)

38. 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)

39. Professional Personal Learning Communities of
Learning Networks Practice
Communities
Method Often organized for Do-it-yourself Educators organize
• THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
teachers it themselves
Purpose To collaborate in For individuals to Collective
subject area or gather info for knowledge building
grade leverl teams personal knowledge around shared
around tasks construction and to interests and goals.
bring back info to
the community
Structure Team/group Individual, face to Collective, face to
F2f face, and online face, or online
Focus Student Personal growth Systemic
achievement improvement

40. Community is the New Professional Development
Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999a) describe three ways of knowing and constructing
knowledge…
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.

41. 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.

42. What
is community, really?

43. 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)

44. 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)

45. A Place to Build Trust and
Relationships

46. A Domain of Interest

47. A Place to Meet

48. A Place to Construct Knowledge
Collaboratively

49. Celebration
Celebration

50. A Community of Practice is a network of individuals with common
problems or interests who get together to explore ways of working,
identify common solutions, and share good practice and ideas.
• puts you in touch with like-minded colleagues and peers
• allows you to share your experiences and learn from others
• allows you to collaborate and achieve common outcomes
• accelerates your learning
• Improves student achievement
• validates and builds on existing knowledge and good practice
• provides the opportunity to innovate and create new ideas

51. Members of an Active Community
transactional
lurkers
peripheral
occasional
experts
active
core beginners
leaders group
facilitator
outsiders

52. Degrees of Transparency and Trust
Join our list Join our forum Join our community
Increasing collaboration and transparency of process

53. 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.

55. Helping Best Practice Knowledge Innovation
Communities Communities Stewarding Communities
Communities
Drivers Lower cost through Lower cost through Professional Tracks shifting
reuse standardisation development trends
Social responsibility Consistency of Transforming and
project Reforming education
Improves outcomes Designed to evolve
Activities Connecting Collecting, Enlisting leading Share insights
members Vetting experts Development of
Knowledge who’s Publishing Manage content new Policy
who Portal  Attend Webinars Co-Creation of
Share Resources content
Structure Problem solving Index and store Individuals Loose governance
Sub committees Best practice Established leaders Community leaders
and roles Publishing Teams Teams
Emergent roles
Reward for Sense of belonging Desire for Shift in knowledge Passion for the
Assistance to daily improvement and understanding topic
participation work Professional Web 2.0 pedagogy
development Connections and
PLN

56. 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.

57. Connected Learning
The computer connects the learner to the rest of the world
Learning occurs through connections with other learners
Learning is based on conversation and interaction
Stephen Downes

58. Connected Learner Scale
Share (Publish & Participate) –
Connect (Comment and
Cooperate) –
Remixing (building on the
ideas of others) –
Collaborate (Co-construction of
knowledge and meaning) –
Collective Action (Social Justice, Activism, Service
Learning) –

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

60. Knowledge Construction
Practitioners’ knowledge = content &

61. 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 organized
learning.

64. 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

65. By: Stephen Barkley
Big Idea #1- ―The professional learning community model flows from the
assumption that the core mission of formal education is not simply to ensure that
students are taught but to ensure that they learn. This simple shift– from a focus
on teaching to a focus on learning– has profound implications for schools.”
Big Idea #2 - ―Educators who are building a professional learning community
recognize that they must work together to achieve their collective purpose of
learning for all. Therefore, they create structures to promote a collaborative
culture.‖
Big Idea #3 - ―Professional Learning Communities judge their effectiveness on a
basis of results. Working together to improve student achievement becomes the
routine work of everyone in the school. Every teacher-team participates in an
ongoing process of identifying the current level of student achievement,
establishing a goal to improve the current level, working together to achieve that
goal, and providing periodic evidence of progress.”

66. Professional Learning Teams

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

69. responsive
responsive

70. personalized

71. investing in collaborations

72. 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

73. 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.)

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

75. Attributes of a healthy online community

76. Healthy communities are collaborative,
co-created and designed with
evolution in mind.

77. Your community’s life-cycle
Sustain/Renew
Level of energy
Grow
and visibility
Start-up
Close
Plan
Discover/ Incubate/ Focus/ Ownership/ Let go/ Time
imagine deliver expand openness remember
value
Forming Storming Norming Performing

80. “A tribe needs a
Internet tribes shared interest and a
way to communicate.”
“Twitter and blogs ...
cc Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, 2010
contribute an entirely
new dimension of
what it means to be a
part of a tribe. The
real power of tribes
has nothing to do with
the Internet and
everything to do with
people.”

81. 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

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

83. Kollock’s 4 Motivations for Contributing
1. Reciprocity
2. Reputation
3. Increased sense of efficacy
4. Attachment to and need of a group

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

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

88. Simple (hard) Steps
• Have a compelling idea
• Seed
• Someone must live on the site
– Community manager or you
• Make the rules clear (and short)
• Punish swiftly and nicely
• Reward contributions
• Spread the work out
• Adapt to Community Norms
• Apologize publicly, swiftly and frequently
• Simple good software that grows with group

89. Change is hard

90. Connected learners are more
effective change agents

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

92. An effective change
agent is someone
who isn’t afraid to
change course.

93. Real Question is this:
Are we willing to change- to risk change- to meet the
needs of the precious folks we serve?
Can you accept that Change (with a ―big‖ C) is
sometimes a messy process and that learning new things
together is going to require some tolerance for ambiguity.

94. Last Generation

95. "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