What Adds Community Value?

Today, new and emerging Web technologies are connecting our children in ways never before possible. Through blogs, social networking sites, multimedia and other 'Web 2.0' tools, their worlds are becoming more and more networked and engaging, creating environments for learning and collaborating that look little like our traditional classroom spaces. And they are not alone in these changes. Businesses, journalists, politicians and others are struggling to find new models that take full advantage of the opportunities these technologies and shifts afford (Richardson, 2006). 

Conversely, schools have by and large been resistant to these shifts. Yet, this networked landscape of learning challenges us to re-envision what we do in our schools and classrooms or risk a growing irrelevance in our students’ lives. And at the core of this challenge is how well educators realize the potentials of these technologies for collaboration in their own professional and personal learn­ing practice. How do we best begin to help teachers leverage these connec­tions in their own learning in order to better understand the pedagogies and literacies that are required to help students embrace them in effec­tive, ethical and safe ways? Unfortunately, many teachers have seen a constant revolving door of the latest and greatest strategies come and go and efforts to implement mandated change have been superficial at best. Teachers argue that they simply do not have the time to master the needed strategies. Attempts to gain the knowledge needed through workshops are often fragmented and unable to provide the ongoing daily guidance needed as teachers attempt to modernize their teaching methods.

One form of professional development that has increased in popularity for improving teaching and learning is teacher led communities of practice. The idea behind communities of practice is that by encouraging teachers to share and exchange knowledge through collaborating around common objectives, using a common language, and developing a culture of professional learning, the desired educational improvements that communities of practice are intended to support can occur (Riel and Polin, 2004).

Timing and Tools
Emerging technologies such as social networking and other Web-based tools have the potential to offer opportunities for new kinds of communities of practice for teachers and students. These tools bring enormous leverage to teachers at relatively little cost — intellectual leverage, social leverage, media leverage. Virtual learning communities use technology to established connections across barriers of time and space (Johnson, 2001). Teachers can participate in discussions at their convenience- anytime, anyplace.

A burgeoning body of opinion and research suggests that virtual learning communities are becoming the venue through which agents for change operate (Palloff & Pratt, 1999: Johnson, 2001; Barab & Duffy, 1998; Dede, 2003). The potential is enormous, as knowledge capital is collected and the community becomes a sort of an online brain trust, representing a highly varied accumulation of expertise.

According to Dede (2003) the most important challenge for educational leaders today is fostering 21^st Century skills and knowledge in today's students so they will be prepared to participate in our global economy. This challenge requires that teachers understand what types of knowledge and skills are required in leading edge workplaces and future careers. Teachers will also need to become adept at higher order cognitive, affective, and social skills such as systems thinking, creativity, and collaboration. This will require transformational strategies for developing deeper core content, new models of pedagogy, and development of personal learning networks (Dede, 1998). Virtual learning communities are one way to provide the intellectual, emotional, and social support needed for teachers to unlearn and relearn contextually in an effort to bring about the needed behavior changes necessary to make way for the next generation of classroom practices (Dede, 1999).

Attributes of successful communities

• A shared vision of what constitutes the mission or niche of the community

• Having 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 organically to assume that role.

• Opportunities for content creation such as book reviews, book chats, PD opportunities, lesson sharing, etc.

• Regular posting of relevant provocative issues, topics which draw in a variety of participants from different angles to give new perspectives.
  

Twitter Community's Response to Value Added in CoP

As I pondered these and other ideas in my research, I decided to ask my Twitter community what they found valuable in the communities to which they belong. What keeps them coming back?

plugusin: Like-minded people, instant communication, diverse opinions.
 
mikeparent: membership #s first (need more minds in the action), 2nd - number of discussions going on, 3rd - timely discussion and posts

ehelfant: needs to bring efficiency of idea generation/modification(twitter,bkmarks filter internet) and needs to bring an element of fun.   

AngelaStockman: Just thinking of someone who others are naturally "following" now in a local community group, simply because he has this skill and he is knowledgeable too, but is able to keep everyone at the table by navigating these different personalities. There are individuals who do this well within communities, + I love it when these people gravitate toward positions of leadership.

ehelfant: need community to have potential to push my thinking in interesting ways including challenge my thinking/ expanding my 'horizons'

AngelaStockman: in the community. It isn't usually intentional, in my experience. Those who can help others rise above their ego are invaluable

jennyluca: You can't measure in the beginning. Like you say, if it doesn't pan out, you no longer contribute. Not enough hours in the day!!

iteachcomputers: Info exchange, back and forth. Text, voice, posting, responding, like a virtual conversation.

Ginger Lewman: Also, I prefer using wikis over creating websites. Shared control = less for me to manage alone. We can share the work!

Ginger Lewman: Twitter = perfect. Parts of Diigo are TOO much! Time to implement and ease of use is priority for this busy teacher!

trossman1: people with similar job descriptions, willingness of those people to share, opportunity for personal growth

AngelaStockman: transparency, willingness to share/collaborate, ego management (usually ego makes transparency and willingness to share impossible)

jennyluca: people who welcome you and value what you say, ease of use, benefit it is going to bring you for your purposes.

PareidoliAc: The Top 3 things I look for in online communities are - 1. Quality people producing 2. Quality content within a 3. well designed interface

plugusin: Perhaps "the willingness to express diverse opinions?" Absence of "group think."@djakes describes it as the failure of the "echochamber."

iteachcomputers: People who have the same interests (not necessarily the same beliefs), lots of people, ways to share. Probably why I like twitter

Ginger:Similar interests, New-to-me ideas/tools, Uncomplicated environmental design for use

plugusins: Like-minded people = those with shared interests/motivations.

technolibrary: Ease of use--notifications can "come to you" -- Fun and nice layout-- real value of conversations going on   

ehelfant -welcoming=inclusive -supports lots of ideas,respects differences of opinion and divergence of application/refinement of the idea

dogtrax: Welcoming: someone to greet you, to ask your opinion, to invite you into conversation ... so you aren't watching from afar.

nlowell: for Me is : Why/If come *back*

trossman 1: My ability to use new ideas and bring them back to district to change traditional ed thinking

Nlowell: "look for before joining?" - not meaningful since I can't tell much about a community before becoming part of it.

PareidoliA/C: well how to measure online presence in a social network - regularity of activity (daily users are pretty obvious compared to the lurkers. Good conversations are productive and ideally inspiring in their effect

Lisa Paris: Do I know anyone using it already? Is it easy to use? Is it easy to connect with others or does something else take precedence?

ehelfant -its also best if community is two way - learned more from twitter and blogs and bookmarks when I started contributing too -

PareidoliA/C:as for 'quality people' I just go by profiles that show an investment in developing a presence in that community...

dogtrax: Three things I look for: sense of welcoming environment; ability to share and learn from others; and personal connections.

AngelaStockman: I struggle when "those who know" in grp judge "those who don't know" but r unwilling 2 share bcause they r protecting status.

Ginger Lewis: If I was geekier (or had more time to implement) the mashup creates perfect utility. Will sacrifice perfection for utilization.

PareidoliA/C: When I join a community, I look at profiles to see Quality of interactions with others 

Ginger Lewman: I prefer the ning-like atmosphere. Not perfect, but good enough for now and ease of implementation is awesome!

trossman1: personal growth: exposing me to new ideas & new ways of thinking through collaboration with others

kmulford: Community that supports and encourages self-reflection from all members. No one's perfect. When respected members self-eval... wow   

kmulford: Late reply. Integrity is important to me. Have joined communities that were more about self-promotion, less about collaboration.

cbell619: i think lurking is OK in general, but believe the community at large loses out when people lurk

wsigele: 1. Community of like minded ppl who willingly share their trials and tribulations in a give and take way 2. ease of use & time available to connect is variable. 3.Desire 2 lurk rarely exists 'cause desire to collaborate & share is great

jennyluca: I don't think lurking is a problem -not everyone feels confident in expressing their voice but want understand new things. Hate the word lurking for that matter -yucky connatations 

dogtrax : I might lurk for some time, to get a sense of community. But if I didn't feel part of conversation, my lurking would be short.

montgorp: Your answer to @LParisi answered me. My Interest? Looking at PhD on learning communities when I can drag myself away from teaching

tom_hemingway: 1. do members do what I do? 2. can I make a meaningful contribution? 3. have to think some more

GingerTPLC: I know you didn't ask me, but lurking beyond the initial "getting to know" isn't community-building behavior. Gets on my nerves.

nlowell: I'm with @GingerTPLC - at some point "lurker" becomes "leech" - too many of those and it's not a "community"

ehelfant: Our 1-to-1plan much more refined, maybe more ambitious because network/community- http://tinyurl.com/3kwykk twitter pushed my ideas

montgorp:Hello. Your intense conversation within my twitter network has aroused my curiosity. Why this conversation? What's your interest?

ehelfant: related question -How many communities can you sustain - twitter has decreased my blogging interaction if you call that community

LParisi: But it doesn't mean I will stay if I know people there. For me, quality has as much to do with ease and purpose than friends.

LParisi: I tried early on but never built a comm. My friends lead me to comm. I build through them.Kinda like it that way. More welcoming.

pareidoliac: not sure about ranking tools... in the learning communities I am in, these don't seem to be used effectively or frequently

plivings: My personal hot button is condescension so if that becomes an element I stop participating

plivings: interesting discussion late however but 4 me a community needs to be supportive, respectful, forward-thinking non-judgemental

dianeh: 1. Need to "know" some members from other situations. 2. Needs focus I'm interested in. 3. Needs to be engaging and welcoming.

AngelaStockman: when people are willing to listen+learn from everyone regardless of status w/in the comm., there is growth.
   
AngelaStockman:  teachers vs. kids, admins vs. teachers, experts vs. novices and I think that the fear of giving up "status" prevents growth

traymur: value in community - encourages collaboration, respect for uniqueness, open to change

I would love it if you would add your take on what *you* find valuable in a community online. What keeps you coming back?

References

Barab,S.A., & Duffy, T. (in press). From practice fields to communities of practice. To  appear in J. Jonassen & S. Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning  environments. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dede, C. (2006). (Ed.). Online professional development for teachers: Emerging modes  and methods. (p. 1). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Johnson, C. M. (2001). A survey of current research on online communities of practice.  The Internet and Higher Education, 4(1):45-60.

Payloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: the realities of online teaching.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for  classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press

Riel, M. & Polin, L., (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical  differences in designing environments. Design for virtual learning communities. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Comments

[Charlie A. Roy]

Our school is biting the bullet and hiring a coordinator for instructional technology. She is a young dynamic teacher. Each teacher is setting goals specific to their ability level. She will offer sessions individually and in small groups to help the staff advance in terms of the penetration of technology and its applications into the classroom.

[Russell Stannard]

Have you seen www.teachertrainingvideos.com It has lots of training videos to get teachers up and running and using technology. It includes blogs, wikis, Seocond Life and all sorts.

[Bill Ferriter]

Hey Sheryl,

As a guy who has learned more from digital learning opportunities in the past few years than any other outlet, I can't thank you enough for your writing. Posts like these lend the credibility of research to the gut feelings that I've always had about creating digital learning opportunities for teachers.

I enjoyed reading this and can't wait to poke through the resources you referenced!

Rock on,
Bill

[Glen Moriarty]

Great post! I love the literature on communities of practice and think they've done the best in capturing what really drives value. I also think there has to be a key personal piece to it as well. We at www.nixty.com think there might be some extra synergy that occurs when you add free ePortfolios with learning networks (communities of practice based on teaching and learning).

We've done some initial research (mostly qualitative interviews) and the main drivers that we have found are:
-ability to network w/other teachers, especially those in the same grade or content area
-ability to share materials
-ability to be mentored by senior teachers and have an open space to ask for tips in teaching specific areas

[Smith]

Web technologies are connecting our children in ways never before possible.Great community