Blogs As Communities (Resource #4 Take 2!)

Blogs As Communities

This article effectively summarizes the content of chapter one from Palloff. It restates the definitions of community and why it is important for both communication and creating learning environments. It serves as an excellent resource to both review and redefine some of the content that we have covered in our course so far.

I particularly like some of the arguments for the importance of “virtual community”, especially how it can promote a more democratic involvement and find ways to include many participants that may otherwise shy away from conversation or conflict. This article also cites studies that say involvement in virtual communities can increase involvement in face-to-face communities, serving as almost a gateway to a broader participation.

This also has a good point about the definition of blogs as a form of community. I believe that with the right “followers” or groups forming, blogs can be an effective form of community where all participants can be informed and up-to-date. Blogs, when used correctly, can be useful for staying involved in communication and participate in conversation/dialogue with other community members.

The author, Anita Blanchard, also talks about the meaning of a sense of community. I think that this is important because these characteristics are important in professional learning communities as well. Feelings of membership, influence, emotional connectedness, and feelings of support foster all types of communities and can lead to very effective professional learning communities.

Module 4 Resrouce

Thoughts About Virtual Education

This blog post supports the needs for establishing online communities and the necessary contracts for their success. These contracts take the form of a set of expectations, or guidelines, that allow all participants to take part in a safe and comfortable virtual environment. This post also gives an example for a set of rules to govern an online learning community and also some of the qualities of a skilled (successful) online classroom leader/facilitator.

Palloff and Pratt, as well as Martin-Kniep, state that an effective leader or facilitator will establish a set of rules or guidelines early on in the formation of the learning community. This will help govern discussion and promote growth/learning within the community. The characteristics that are stated in this blog post fall very much in-line with the characteristics of effective leadership that I have discussed in recent posts for our own learning community. This was the main aspect that caught my attention when searching for a good resource to share.

Teachers Grade Parent's?

An interesting article on CNN. Not sure about it personally...

"Think Tank" Learning Communites

I came across this blog post while researching for Module 3. This is a really useful type of learning community, and not far off of what I'm used to. I would argue that meeting every 6 weeks may not be often enough. It would depend on the student population and what type of information is being shared/cultivated during community meetings.

I particularly liked this passage from the blog post:

PLC’s are a powerful tool in education because it allows for collaboration among colleagues. PLC’s are a form of adult professional development that builds the skills and learning capital of the teachers. This in turn benefits the students as the focus of teacher attention becomes specific students and specific learning outcomes.

Professional learning communities do, indeed, build skills and "learning capital". I also agree that they are a cutting edge initiative.

Elk Heard Blog

Michigan Professional Learning Strategic Plan 2006-2010

Michigan Professional Learning Strategic Plan

This resource is not necessarily an article but rather a plan for the outcomes of professional learning within Michigan school systems. I came across this document while searching for professional learning community outcomes and I thought it was pretty much in line with our assigned readings in regards to community outcomes. I would recommend the Executive Summary because it’s a pretty long document.

One of the “promises” of professional learning communities is that they can “develop space for people to operate as learners”, creating “structures and processes that support learning while doing” (Martin-Kniep, pg. 151). This goal of creating environments for educators to learn from themselves, peers, and other sources is stated in Outcome III of the Strategic Plan. The stated goal of this Outcome is to create a “system that supports and implements effective professional learning”, with Indicator C mentioning professional associations to ensure this outcome. I argue that this shows educational institutions are recognizing the importance of learning communities to the growth of its educators.

I think that professional learning communities will only become more prevalent as more states/districts/schools seek to improve student performance. These communities take advantage of educators (at any level) working together to share knowledge and expertise across subjects and grade levels. It goes with the old saying that “two heads are better than one”.

I, too, am "Wild About Math"

Here is the blog that I've decided to submit that connects directly with what I teach. I'm a math teacher and I'm always looking for ways to make it more fun and/or interesting for the students. This blog has a lot of information and links that can be used to do just that. It seems to be well written and informative so I'm following away!

Great Site!

I came across this blog while looking for things that would be useful for our whole class. We don't all teach the same thing or have the exact same interests so I thought that this one would be a good place to start for people.

And one more. Posts through the NY Times, great for educators/students/parents. Has some good stuff!

Here's a good resource for any teacher. It has some useful tips, information or some good ol' entertainment.

Welcome, everyone, to my blog!

New class, new post!

Well this blog hasn't seen much action, but here we are. My goal is to get a lot more use out of thus account and hopefully be able to share done useful information. With anyone that happens to stop by. More to follow!

Welcome fellow EDT 6030 classmates!