Communities of practice

Dylan Wiliam: 'Every Teacher Can Improve' I watched a short video of Dylan Wiliam giving a talk to teachers yesterday through Zoe Elder’s blog – see here. I thought the short extract was so good and such a positive way to begin the new year, and the new school term, that I transcribed it in full here: “I think the only way that we can improve teacher quality is to create a culture of continuous improvement. That is given lip service in many districts, but nobody is really facing up to what it really means in practice. Every teacher fails on a daily basis. Many of you will walk out of this room absolutely convinced I said stuff I know I didn’t say. Our daily experience as a teacher is a failure. This is something you are never going to have to worry about. Thanks to Zoe for finding the video. Like this: Like Loading...

Gilly Salmon "Professor Gilly Salmon has been a digital learning innovator for more than 20 years. She was the was a founding director of All Things In Moderation, in 2001. She was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor of Learning Transformations at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia in January 2012. She speaks, researches and publishes widely on the themes of innovation and change in higher education and the exploitation of new technologies of all kinds in the service of learning. She is internationally renowned for her significant contributions to online education, including research, innovation, programme design, teaching methods and the use of new technologies. Prior to her Swinburne appointment, Professor Salmon was Executive Director and Professor (Learning Futures) at the Australian Digital Futures Institute, University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Bibliography[edit] Books Salmon, G. (2013). Book Chapters Salmon, G. (2011). Journal Articles Salmon, G., & Angood, R.

Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design This report is a synthesis of ongoing research, design, and implementation of an approach to education called “connected learning.” It advocates for broadened access to learning that is socially embedded, interest-driven, and oriented toward educational, economic, or political opportunity. Connected learning is realized when a young person is able to pursue a personal interest or passion with the support of friends and caring adults, and is in turn able to link this learning and interest to academic achievement, career success or civic engagement. This model is based on evidence that the most resilient, adaptive, and effective learning involves individual interest as well as social support to overcome adversity and provide recognition. This report investigates how we can use new media to foster the growth and sustenance of environments that support connected learning in a broad-based and equitable way. To join the Connected Learning Google + Community, click here.

somerville skillshare | 12 – 6 pm March 2nd, 2014 | Somerville Armory | 191 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA 'The Butterfly Effect' in Schools ‘The Book of Life’ by David Kracov (see here: “If a single flap of a butterfly’s wing can be instrumental in generating a tornado, so can all the previous and subsequent flaps of its wings, as can the flaps of the wings of millions of other butterflies, not to mention the activities of innumerable more powerful creatures, including our own species.”Edward Lorenz, ‘Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?’ The genius concept of ‘the butterfly effect’ has long since flourished in popular culture since Professor Lorenz, of MIT, founded this central tenet of chaos theory. The beautiful image provides a striking analogy for how small actions can have tremendously powerful effects – often independent of the intent of the initial action. The theory can inspire different interpretations. Such butterfly analogies are beguiling. Like this: Like Loading...

eLearning Technology How Collaborative Learning Leads to Student Success A culture that emphasizes collective wisdom and collaborative work has helped students at The College Preparatory School (above) in Oakland, California, achieve academic success. It's a foggy, grey morning in Oakland, California, but that hasn't deterred Betsy Thomas, a math teacher at The College Preparatory School (College Prep), from taking her students outside for a geometry lesson. Today, her students will become land surveyors, using rope and chalk to draw geometric shapes on the courtyard's blacktop. A team of three boys begins constructing an equilateral triangle, after which they will construct two parallel lines and a triangle circumscribed by a circle. College Prep is an elite, coed, nonprofit private high school, tucked into a scenic glen in the foothills of Oakland, California. It's obvious that the school possesses opportunities and resources beyond the dreams of the majority of America's schools. The Sights and Sounds of Peer-to-Peer, Student-Led Learning

Wikipedia Free multilingual online encyclopedia Wikipedia has received praise for its enablement of the democratization of knowledge, extent of coverage, unique structure, culture, and reduced degree of commercial bias; but criticism for exhibiting systemic bias, particularly gender bias against women and alleged ideological bias.[13][14] Its reliability was frequently criticized in the 2000s but has improved over time, as Wikipedia has been generally praised in the late 2010s and early 2020s.[3][13][15] The website's coverage of controversial topics such as American politics and major events like the COVID-19 pandemic has received substantial media attention. It has been censored by world governments, ranging from specific pages to the entire site. Nevertheless, Wikipedia has become an element of popular culture, with references in books, films, and academic studies. History Nupedia Wikipedia originally developed from another encyclopedia project called Nupedia. Launch and growth Milestones Openness

A bottom-up approach to CPD is ‘best’ Imparting knowledge of teaching is not always best done from the “top,” explains Andrea McMahon. After attending his first Learning Lunch in the newly-established Centre for Excellence in Teaching (CET) at Newham College, maths lecturer Anwar Faruqh summarised his experience, saying: “What an excellent idea – it’s like having our own Institute for Learning on our doorstep”. His enthusiasm is exactly the sentiment that those involved in centre hope will gather momentum and inspire other teachers in the college to take ownership of their professional development. Engaging in activity whose primary purpose is to develop professional practice is the bedrock of expert teaching and training. The recently updated Teaching Standards capture this clearly as demonstrated through the three domains: professional values and attributes, professional knowledge and understanding, and professional skills. Professional development is most effective when a bottom-up approach is favoured over a top-down one.

National College for School Leadership Problem-Based Learning (PBL) | Department of Chemical Engineering Website at McMaster University by Don Woods There are 3 topics on this page: What is PBL? Problem-based Learning: PBL is any learning environment in which the problem drives the learning. That is, before students learn some knowledge they are given a problem. Research projectsEngineering design projects that are more than a synthesis of previously learned knowledge.The traditional and well-known "Case approach", popular with business schools, may or may not be problem-based learning. Small group, self-directed, self-assessed PBL is a use of problem-based learning which embodies most of the principles known to improve learning. If small group, self-directed, self-assessed PBL is so great for learning, why isn't everyone doing it? PBL and Problem Solving Problem solving is the process used to solve a problem. Doesn't putting students in a PBL environment develop their problem solving skills? Can you have problem solving skill development without using PBL? PBL and cooperative learning References Books to Help you with PBL

community The Wikipedia community is the community of contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Individual contributors are known as "Wikipedians". The overwhelming majority of Wikipedians are volunteers. With the increased maturity and visibility of Wikipedia other categories of Wikipedians emerged, such as Wikipedian in Residence and students with assignments related to editing Wikipedia. A significant controversy was stirred with paid contributors from the Wiki-PR agency to Wikipedia, which even prompted an intervention from the Wikimedia Foundation.[1] Size[edit] Studies of the size of the community of Wikipedia showed an exponential growth rate of the number of Wikipedia contributors during the early years. Motivation[edit] Video which articulates the enthusiasm of the Wikipedia Community Various studies have been done with regard to the motivations of Wikipedia contributors. To these six motivations he also added: Media[edit] Wikipedia has spawned several community news publications.