Week3- Blog Posting #6- Communities of Practice

As President Bush neared the end of his term, the fate of No Child Left Behind legislation hung in balance. Whether or not that was joyous news for educators, many have already seized opportunities to improve. One process that was implemented throughout North America was the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work™, developed by Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour. The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work™: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life is a new video set designed to benefit PLC veterans and novices alike. Released June 4 by Solution Tree, an educational publishing and services company, The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work explores how a focus on learning, collaboration, and results can radically improve student learning (eschoolnews 2009).

It takes the audience inside eight PLC schools, where teachers and administrators share successful strategies and personal experiences in unscripted, candid conversations and collaborative team meetings. Throughout the program, the DuFours’ and Eaker spotlight the essentials of the PLC process, with supporting commentary from education experts Larry Lezotte, Tom Many, Mike Schmoker, and Rick Stiggins.

Developed to guide educators new to PLC concepts, as well as those who have already embraced the process, The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work details the logistics and benefits of this school improvement model. Educators who use this as a staff development tool will learn how PLC strategies can improve student learning, even in schools facing 21st century challenges like mobile populations, increasing numbers of English language learners, and high poverty.

Solution Tree President Jeff Jones commends the DuFours and Eaker on their commitment to improving education. "Rick, Bob, and Becky are the architects of professional learning communities, which have been heralded by every major educational association. Their life work brings forth the most powerful opportunity we have in North America to truly transform education at a systemic level."The video set is divided into four programs: "What Is a Professional Learning Community?" "A Focus on Learning," "A Culture of Collaboration," and "A Focus on Results." Administrators and teacher team leaders can present this resource in four half-day workshops.

Another form of Community Practices is the ConnectYard, Inc. The ConnectYard® Student and Enterprise Edition - powered by Facebook Connect. The ConnectYard solution leverages social networking to support “better teaching and learning” by helping students expand student-to-student and student-to-faculty connections for collaborating beyond the classroom - which has been shown to be a key component of student persistence.

"We are pleased and excited to offer a service that will truly extend the learning environment into where today's students live and socialize – online. We know that a number of Universities have had great success integrating learning into students' physical living environments through the establishment of living learning communities,” said Donald Doane, the Company's CEO. “Similarly, ConnectYard allows institutions to establish virtual learning communities, or Yards, that are integrated with popular social networking sites like Facebook as well as University services, which serves to keep students involved and engaged both in and outside of the classroom.”

ConnectYard is a budget friendly, subscription-based service offering that eliminates the need for additional IT staff and support. In today's challenging economy, as colleges and universities look to trim expenses, many are implementing creative solutions like ConnectYard that can impact multiple domains with minimal overhead (eschoolnews 2009).

References:

ConnectYard Launches a Hosted Social Learning Service on the Face Book Platform. Found September 18, 2009 at the website http://eschoolnews.com

Despite NCLB Controversy, Educators Embrace Opportunity to Improve. Found September 19, 2009 at the website http://eschoolnews.com