Creating+Environments+that+Support+Possibilities-+The+Role+of+Emerging+Technologies+in+the+Core+Curriculum

=Networks and Communities: How We Share Teaching Practice in the 21st Century=

//We live in a world where the fabric of many of our traditional institutions are unraveling and re-raveling as the disruptive nature of social technologies on the Web foster new ways to communicate and collaborate. While political, media, and business models are evolving under the pressures of these shifts, education systems are lagging in their understanding and response.

This moment presents us with difficult challenges and huge opportunities. And the opportunities go far beyond the simple ability to publish to the Web, far beyond the simple use of tools. They revolve around connecting, forming groups, creating personal classrooms and networks in which we can learn and do good work together and create change. But that process requires a deep understanding of these shifts on a practical level, especially for the educators who must prepare students for this new reality. So how do we do that? How do we reconfigure our systems to embrace social Web tools and the literacies required to use them to leverage these powerful potentials for participation? How do we begin on that journey not just to create and share but to connect and collaborate? And what does that new reality look like in practice?//

=Building Communities and Networks of Change: Here Comes Education=

====**"For any given organization, the important questions are 'When will the change happen?" and "What will change?" The only two answers we can rule out are never, and nothing."** --[|Clay Shirky]====

Change Brings Opportunity
A world where it is easy to form groups around the things that we are passionate about is a world where //we can learn from and with the smartest people we can find from around the world whenever we need to or are ready to.//

That goes for even our youngest children, who can not only [|change the world] but [|change their own learning worlds] in the process. (Laura Stockman)   And it goes for professional learning communities where participatory technologies allow us to [|connect quickly and easily] to receive [|"just in time answers"] and support. The kind of support that changes us for the better.

This is a world of networks. And a world of communities.

Our premise is that for our students to be adequately prepared for their futures, they must not only know how to [|create, navigate and grow their own personal learning networks in safe, effective and ethical ways], but they must also be able to [|exist in, support and grow situated learning communities] where they pursue their passionate, scholarly interests with a group of learners to whom they are committed.

In other words, understanding both networks and communities are crucial to learning in this connected world.

Networks are created through publishing and sharing ideas and connecting with others who share passions around those ideas who learn from each other.

[|Communities] are different from networks in that they typically are situated learning communities are where people come together in groupings, build relationships, establish norms, manage knowledge and carry out activities in everyday life, in the workplace, and in education. Relationships are based on the idea of mutual engagement around a common interest or problem. The community is [|co-created by its members and grows and changes over time]. Members develop a shared repertoire of resources and make a commitment to each other to improve. Sharing and co-creation of content is at the heart of a community building. Through the sharing of content and ideas and by working through a "None of us is as good as all of us" perspective a [|thriving community] results that informs classroom practice and results in transformational change through a systemic lens.

How Do We Get There?
According to Shirky, there are four stages to mastering the connected world: **sharing, cooperating, collaborating, collective action**. What we want to talk about is how those for are important in the context of networks and communities.


 * Sharing** is the key to connecting online, and it's a fundamental skill of network literacy. And the tools make sharing easy. But we need to understand sharing, however, in the context of what happens after we share. We share because we want to connect with others around our passions, not simply communicate. Our students future is that they become "clickable," findable by others.

When we think of students sharing, [|we think of Myspace], and of the problems that ensue. These are the early stages of networks. Sharing leads to [|connecting] which is the starting place for community building. Sharing is important within the context of communities as well. It leads to deeper understanding and movement along a [|developmental continuum]of expertise. 
 * Cooperation** can take many forms, but it starts with working together toward a common goal. Cooperation can create classrooms that are [|global and not dependent on time or place.]. Teachers come in [|all shapes and sizes]. (Andrew from Perth, Scotland.)


 * Cooperation** in communities allows many schools across an entire state to work together to [|create artifacts] and [|thin walled classrooms.]


 * Collaboration** requires the best effort of those involved to build something together.


 * Collaboration** within a community can result in [|outcomes that impact policy], influence working conditions, or result in a project that displays the [|"wisdom of the crowd"] at its best.


 * Collective action** in a community often results in [|positive global change.]

media type="custom" key="3565752" || http://www.slideshare.net/secret/b01xgKxOhAjd0q ||
 * Secret URL:

=Tools that support community and networking=

[|Twitter]- microblogging site used for networking [|Plurk]- microblogging site used for networking

[|Delicious]- online bookmarking tool

Wikispaces - one of many wiki sites [|NING]- whitelist product used to create social network [|Tappedin]- Web 1.5 social networking site (walled garden)

[|Ustream]- social broadcasting tool [|K12online]- collaborative online conference where sharing and connecting starts

=Twitter messages= Please say hello to Virginia Independent School Association educators. Many new to Twitter. Many are asking, "Why should I use it?"

= =

media type="custom" key="3565708"



=Resources Related to Community Building=

http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/2006/06/roles-in-cops.html http://blog.core-ed.net/derek http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers http://techenhancedlearning.wikispaces.com/ http://abpc.wikispaces.com/ http://del.icio.us/abpcjohn [|http://abpc21.org]
 * 4 L Model**
 * Derek Wenmoth**
 * Blogging Community**
 * Tech Enhanced Learning**
 * 21st Century Teaching and Learning**
 * Alabama Artifacts**

Ning [|http://ning.com] Tapped In [|http://www.tappedin.org]
 * K12Online08**
 * http://k12onlineconference.org/

Powerful Learning Practice [|http://plpnetwork.com]

PLP2007-08 Cohorts** WNY-cohort Independent Schools NYC-cohort

International Cohort Independent School Consortium Year 2 Archdiocese of Philadelphia ADVIS Cohort Illinois/Ohio Cohort PEARLS-NYC YEAR 2 New Jersey State Cohort
 * PLP2008-09 Cohorts**

http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2007/08/the_art_of_building_virtual_co.php http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2007/07/pd_20_its_all_about_building_c.php http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2007/07/virtual_communities_as_a_canva_1.php http://www.ewenger.com/ http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/onfacblog.htm http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitymanual.htm
 * Blog posts about VLCs with many comments that extend the conversation**
 * Etienne Wenger**
 * Nancy White**
 * Online Community Toolkit**

CltNet
http://cltnet-blogs-wikis-podcasts.wikispaces.com/ (learn the basics about blogs, wikis, podcasts)

=Human Network= http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/human+network.mov

=Learning to Change, Changing to Learn= http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/learning2chg.mov