unities have always existed as school grade levels, departments, and entire faculties… they never extended much farther. Becoming aware of this new community that extends beyond the school and district boundaries is a first step.
- Taking The Big Plunge: Becoming aware is important, but taking the plunge is necessary for the process to begin. The plunge involves not only learning about, but actually getting on the web to investigate the rich opportunities and possibilities. This sometimes means taking a step outside one’s comfort zone. The experience is well worth it… especially when the reward is the next step!
- Experiencing The WOW Moment: The plunge suddenly results in the “Wow Factor.” Educators become amazed and somewhat overwhelmed by all of the resources and opportunities. They begin to bookmark, copy/paste, commit to memory, and take notes on all the possibilities. It is in this phase that the art of curation becomes important. More on that later..
- Enter The Time Warp: Ever seen time fly by? Well, it sure begins to as goldmines of resources and amazing tools are discovered. Read this article, check out this app, watch this webinar, or wow… another cool website! By the way… what time is it? I think I forgot to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
- Making The Big Grade: The “WOW” becomes bigger and bigger as time goes by like the speed of light… or at least kind of close. Soon teachers must begin to do what they have always been known to do. That is, making the big grade, assessing the situation and all it’s possibilities.
- Experiencing The Light Bulb Getting Brighter: As the light bulb begins to illuminate this new path, discoveries are made. Educators realize they can’t connect with everyone nor can they read every collection of resources on the web. After all, they do have to teach and there are new things on the web everyday! Possibly there are some resources that apply best… and others people who can help and assist! Perhaps with the help of their growing and helpful new learning community they spend less time doing all the work themselves! They now have time to discover the thought of making it all a reality in the classroom.
- Putting Into Practice: Many times educators find outstanding material but seem to save it for someday. Sooner or later, they try a resource or tool from their learning community in their classroom. The “WOW Factor” re-ignites them and the fruits of labor can be seen. Maybe it is time to share the success or contribute a resource to their learning community.
- Paying Ahead To Others: It might just be fun to share, comment, author, and contribute. After all, if one gives back a little so much more is discovered… especially with the help of that awesome learning community. In fact, the educator has now taken one step closer to being a fully certified contributing member!
- Entering The Super Highway: This process just might take a while, and perhaps someone decides to hang out at one of these stages for a while. That really is OK! Once the two way street of collaboration begins, the opportunity to transform it into a super highway of learning becomes a possibility! It really is life on the road that is both the process and the reward. Educators will indeed discover some neat destinations and people along the way
- Thinking Like A Living Museum … And – The day comes when one cannot find that awesome resource they bookmarked or placed somewhere. Perhaps it is time to take a new journey into learning communities and discover the ultimate ways to curate their resources. “The WOW Factor” returns when they find that curation, collaboration, and discovery can all fit together using some awesome new Web 2.0 tools.More on this in a later blog in November.
Did I mention that there is another possible step?…. The realization that my students could do this!… “WOW!” …
That’s a little bit of the next post!
I hope you enjoyed this opportunity to define and reflect on learning communities. Join me in the next post as together we explore learning community development with five simple steps, along with 