Thursday, November 02, 2006
QUESTION: Can Blogs be used as Asynchronous Learning Communities?
We're currently working on a series of 3-hour high-yield strategy training modules that will be delivered at school sites. We would like to incorporate a learning community follow-up activity into each 3-hour module; however, considering the challenges often involved at the school level when trying to get a group of teachers to all meet in synchronous time, we have begun to think about the possibility of formatting a blog space for the specific purpose of hosting a cyber learning community. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to structure the blog or how to ensure quality participation? Thanks. :-)
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4 comments:
Well - aren't we sorta modeling just that here? From my brief experience in guiding this group I think that you need to agree on minimum goals(what, when and how often people need to post) and then have some very specific, guided questions or prompts. I suggest having a CAB conference to accompany the blog with a calendar so that people can keep up what it is they are supposed to do and by what time. I will be postin the BET for this group on CAB - you may want to take a look at the time structure to see if it will work for your LC - this one of course is AR based.
Participants need to see the value and you bit about journaling and the vlaue in keeping track of your notes, thoughts, reflections etc may be useful.
“We're currently working on a series of 3-hour high-yield strategy training modules that will be delivered at school sites. We would like to incorporate a learning community follow-up activity into each 3-hour module”
From Richard and Rebecca DuFour ,"… It (Professional Learning Community) starts with a group of teachers who meet regularly as a team to identify essential and valued student learning, develop common formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, share strategies, and then create lessons to improve upon those levels. Picture these teams of teachers implementing these new lessons, continuously assessing their results, and then adjusting their lessons in light of those results."
Do you think teachers should be forced to participant in this type of learning structure?
“Any thoughts or suggestions on how to structure the blog or how to ensure quality participation?”
A few things to think about…
1) If a pilot’s checklist that is reviewed five times prior to take-off does not ensure a safe flight, what will?
2) How can you describe the proportion between compliance and commitment?
I like the idea about very specific guidelines. When it comes to CAB conferences, I remember the complications we had at my school site when trying to make our Reader's Theatre CAB conference at Nova Middle accessible to participants throughout the entire Nova Zone (5 schools). Since the conference was created at the Nova Middle site, getting the icons onto remote desktops seemed somewhat cumbersome. Is this just my perspective, or is it simply easier to initiate within-school CAB conferences as opposed to multi-site CAB conference access?
At a meeting this week TM noted correctly that a particular system was not user friendly because it required users to check email at a place they would not normally go for their email.I think the same thing is true with regard to CAB conferences, blogs, and podcasts. I can't, won't, don't chase info at multiple CAB conferences-unless there is great value to me to do so.
I think that ties into RD's comments about commitment. Some folks will always go the extra mile, others will choose to meet the MDR. Do we invest trying to change that-or focus on building with those committed to excellence?
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