plug us in: using digital tools to support learning teams
DESCRIPTION
This slide deck contains the resources that Bill Ferriter will refer to during his Summer of 2011 sessions on using digital tools to support the work of professional learning teams.TRANSCRIPT
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Plug Us InUsing Digital Tools to Facilitate the Work of PLCs William M. Ferriter
http://wferriter.posterous.com
+Websites Worth Exploringhttp://go.solution-tree.com/plcbooks/
Includes downloadable handouts from all of the Solution Tree PLC books, including Bill’s Building a Professional Learning Community at Work: A Guide to the First Year
http://go.solution-tree.com/technology/
Includes downloadable handouts and tutorials on using all of the tools that you’ll see presented in today’s session.
+Checking In
Working with the participants at your table, share what brings you to this particular session.
What individual experiences or expertise do you bring to the conversation?
+Central Contention
Collaborative work requires a measure of new coordination that teachers are not used to.
Digital tools can make that coordination more effective and efficient.
+Coordination [n: ko-or-de-nashe-ion]
The harmonious functioning of parts for effective results
+An Inconvenient Truth
“[Teachers] weigh the perceived benefits of new interactions against the additional mental and physical demands of collaboration before changing their behaviors.”
—Graham & Ferriter, 2010, p. 130
+Lowering Transaction Costs
New technologies can lower transaction costs by reducing the need for close coordination between colleagues. Such technologies allow people to work collaboratively and efficiently.
(Shirky, 2008)
+Checking In
Working with participants around you, brainstorm examples of tasks that members of a PLC must coordinate together to produce effective results.
+Coordination Task 1:Managing Information
Teams must manage huge volumes of shared information, including lesson plans, curriculum maps, common assessments, student learning results, and team meeting notes.
How do your teams typically manage this information?
+Coordination Task 1:Managing Information
My learning team uses a wiki to organize this information.
http://6sci.pbworks.com
+Coordination Task 1:Managing Information
My team has also started using shared tags and a social bookmarking service to organize collections of websites connected to their curriculum.
http://bit.ly/salem6scisolar
+Coordination Task 2:Communication
Teams must find ways to communicate with one another even when faced with few opportunities for shared interactions.
How do your teams typically manage these interactions?
+Coordination Task 2:Communication
Our school used an asynchronous discussion forum to reflect on professional learning communities.
http://ed.voicethread.com/ share/113288
+Coordination Task 2:Communication
I use a microblogging service to gather information and resources connected to my professional interests.
http://twitter.com/plugusinhttp://bit.ly/twitterforsingletons
+Coordination Task 3:Collaboration
Teams must find ways to collaborate with one another on shared lessons and/or projects.
How do your teams typically collaborate around the creation of shared materials?
+Coordination Task 3:Collaboration
My PLC used a collaborative document service to generate a unit plan together.
http://snipurl.com/saunitplan
+The Costs of Coordination
“By using digital tools, teachers can offer… targeted support to their peers from their classrooms, their workrooms, or their living rooms. The costs of coordination are reduced to just about zero.”
—Graham & Ferriter, 2010, p. 130
+The Costs of Coordination
“There are no digital tools that will meet a team’s every need because different tools do different things well. Successful digital collaboration depends on selecting the right tool for the right task.”
—Graham & Ferriter (2010), p. 131
+Planning Into Action
Use the handouts “Tools for 21st Century Learning Teams: Planning Guide and Matrices” to think through the kinds of digital work that are right for your learning team.
+References and Resources
Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York, NY: Penguin.
Graham, P., & Ferriter, W. (2010). Building a PLC at Work™: A guide to the first year. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
The Tempered Radicalhttp://snipurl.com/temperedradical
Twitter Username: @plugusinEmail: [email protected]
Bill Ferriter has about a dozen titles—Solution Tree PLC author and associate, ASCD columnist, senior fellow of the Teacher Leaders Network— but he checks them all at the door each morning when he walks into his sixth-grade classroom!
Bill Ferriter
+Bill Ferriter Author and Teacher
+Thank You!
To schedule professional development, contact
Solution Tree at (800) 733-6786.