For the past two years I have been studying for a Master’s degree in education. I have finally completed the final project, which was to design lessons for students to study English using an online virtual world, in this case Second Life. You can find a summary of that project here.
Category Archives: Education
Project Management Helps Instructional Design
After a long journey, we have finally arrived at the end of our four-part project management series. My classmates and I are finishing up our final projects now. Mine, a digital pen pal project, will be posted to this site in the Education section, accessible by the menu above. All of our projects are at the intersection of instructional systems design, educational technology, and project management. In this post, I would like to reflect on the most important things I learned in this class.
Current Various Projects
This is a summary of our current interactive projects. These are available online for anyone to edit. The staff here has done a lot of work on them, but we also need your help too.
Polyglot Vocab Project – An ambitious project to translate the 3000 most common words in English into 10 other languages. So, if you speak some Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese, please add as many words as you know to our handy mini-dictionary. Could also be used by English students to improve their vocab.
Essential Vietnamese Vocab Grid – This grid will be indispensable for those of you studying Vietnamese. I made it from scratch when I was learning. It has many of the most important words for everyday usage, and they are arranged in rows and columns by spelling (and therefore pronunciation). Each column represents a different initial consonant and each row represents a different vowel sound. However, I haven’t updated it in a while so I’m sure there are some words missing. Let me know if you can think of any.
Encyclopedia of Vietnamese Fruit – Do you happen to know a lot about the fruits found in Vietnam? If so, help us fill in this table with information about seasonal/regional availability, storage, ripening, recipes, etc.!
List of Dualities – Leave a comment to suggest another one not listed.
List of Famous People – This is sort of an experiment in progress. The definition of famous could be open to interpretation. But let’s try to name the people you personally think are the most famous and important from history. Let’s try to dwell on people who made an impact on society. Who is not already listed?
Timeline of Famous Characters – Here are many of the most famous characters from legend, literature, and popular culture, arranged chronologically. Who do you suggest we add to the list?
Thanks once again for supporting the site. There will be many more projects to come.
Project Plan and Communication
Welcome to part 3 of the PM/ISD series. First we talked about the definition of a project and the importance of identifying stakeholders. Then we discussed project charters, design documents, and task analysis. Today the topics are the planning stage (including budgeting and a work-breakdown structure) and communication among stakeholders.
Project Charter and Design Document
You may remember that two weeks ago this site introduced the 4-part series “Project Management for Instructional Designers. We defined the term “project” and talked about the importance of identifying stakeholders early on in the process. In today’s second installment, we continue with the additional related topics of project charter, design document and task analysis.
Project Management in ISD
I just finished my Integrating Technology & Learning course and you can find the final project here. You know what that means. It’s time for a new course, and this one is Managing Instruction and Technology. It’s all about how the fields of Project Management and Instructional Design intersect.
Technology Integration
There are many ways technology can be integrated into the ESL/EFL classroom. I decided to pick one and develop a lesson plan for it. Interopia presents A Speech Recognition Game in EFL.
MEd Reflection
As most of you know I am currently studying for an Education degree, and the end is in sight. Only a couple more courses to go and then I finish in spring. My current class has only a week remaining, and my teacher asked us to write a reflection about our time in the class. She wanted us to talk about our experiences and what we have learned. This is that reflection.
Second Life and EFL
Even before I began to pursue a master’s degree in education, I had heard of the potential the Second Life program had for learning. Created in 2003, Second Life is an online virtual community of millions which is much like life itself; you can choose to do with it what you will. You can spend your time socializing, exploring, creating, or learning, and there are many options for each. Recently I decided to try it out, specifically from the perspective of education grad student and teacher of English as a foreign language. How could I integrate SL into my EFL class?
Over the course of a few days, I created an avatar, took some tutorials, and figured out how to navigate this brave new world. I took classes within SL on subjects that interested me and had conversations with the people I ran into. Within the program, I searched for ways that SL could help my own students. I also researched some outside sources to find out how others had used SL to teach English. I kept a list of possible applications for EFL students:
Attend virtual classes – A major advantage of online learning is that teachers and students can be brought together regardless of geographic location. In Second Life, teachers can broadcast their voices, show streaming video, pass out class notes, and do a variety of other actions that help make these virtual classes as educational as brick-and-mortar classes. Best of all, most of these are free!
Listen to podcasts – There are podcasts on nearly any subject imaginable, so students can choose what interests them. Interest level is a major factor in students’ success.
Meet and chat with new friends in English – This is perhaps the most valuable opportunity for English learners. Often my students ask me where they can meet native speakers to practice English with. If the students have a computer with Internet, then Second Life provides the chance to meet plenty of speakers from around the world, and in an environment that is more exciting than just a box of text.
Explore and experience while using English – Students can practice English while simply roaming through the program’s world, viewing what others have created. They can practice their shopping language while shopping or their restaurant language while eating.
Play alternate reality games – While SL is not a game itself (it is an immersive environment), it does contain many games within it. Some of the more involved of these are alternate reality games or “quests”. Advanced students will have so much fun playing these that they will forget they are even studying English.
How would I use these applications in my classes? First of all, my students are of all ages, but it seems clear that SL is not for everyone. The world is intended for only those 16 and above. Computer literacy is also a prerequisite. There is the concern about inappropriate content, but the site has safeguards built in, and many educational institutions all over the world feel comfortable using it everyday. So, for my older and more advanced students, there appears to be two options. They can either use the computer lab at school to try SL with a teacher assisting, or they can connect from home. Then they can discuss their experiences next time they come to class.
Second Life can be downloaded from its official site. It is an open educational resource that should not be overlooked. For further information about EFL in SL, read this paper.
Wang, C.; Lefaiver, M.; Wang, Q.; & Hunt, C. (2011). Teaching in an EFL program in second life: Student teachers’ perspectives and implications. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange, 4(1), 27-40.
The Names of Languages
The names of 13 languages in each of those same 13 languages.
The bold words are the names of the languages in their own language.
Horizontal scrolling enabled.
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Spanish |
Portuguese |
Italian |
French |
German |
Russian |
Arabic |
Japanese |
Chinese (Mandarin) |
Vietnamese |
Korean |
Swahili |
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English |
ingles |
inglês |
inglese |
anglais |
Änglisch |
angliskiy английский |
alengleziah الإنجليزية |
eigo 英語 |
Yīngyǔ 英语 |
tiếng |
yeong-eo 영어의 |
Kiingereza |
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Spanish |
español |
espanhol |
spagnolo |
espagnol |
Schpanisch |
ispanskiy испанский |
الأسبانية |
supeingo スペイン語 |
Xībānyá yǔ 西班牙语 |
tiếng |
seupein-eo 스페인어 |
Kihispania |
|
Portuguese |
portugués |
português |
portoghese |
portugais |
Portugiesisch |
portugal’skiy португальский |
البرتغالية |
porutogarugo ポルトガル語 |
Pútáoyá yǔ 葡萄牙语 |
tiếng |
poleutugal-eo 포르투갈의 |
Kireno |
|
Italian |
italiano |
italiano |
italiano |
italien |
Italiänisch |
italianskiy итальянский |
الإيطالي |
itariago イタリア語 |
Yìdàlì yǔ 意大利语 |
tiếng |
itallia-eo 이탈리아의 |
Kiitaliano |
|
French |
francés |
francês |
francese |
français |
Französisch |
frantsuzkiy французский |
فرنسي |
furensugo フランス語 |
Fǎyǔ 法语 |
tiếng |
peulangseueo 프랑스어 |
Kifaransa |
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German |
alemán |
alemão |
tedesco |
allemand |
Deutsch |
nemetskiy немецкий |
ألماني |
doitsugo ドイツ語 |
Déyǔ 德语 |
tiếng |
dog–il–eo 독일어 |
Kijerumani |
|
Russian |
ruso |
russo |
russo |
russe |
Russisch |
russkiy русский |
الروسية |
roshiago ロシア語 |
Èyǔ 俄语 |
tiếng |
leosia-eo 러시아어 |
Kirusi |
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Arabic |
árabe |
árabe |
arabo |
arabe |
Arabisch |
arabskiy арабский |
alarabiah العربية |
arabiago アラビア語 |
Ālābó yǔ 阿拉伯语 |
tiếng |
alab-eo 아랍어 |
Kiarabu |
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Japanese |
japonés |
japonês |
giapponese |
japonais |
Japanisch |
japonskiy японский |
اليابانية |
nihongo 日本人 |
Rìyǔ 日语 |
tiếng |
ilbon-eo 일본어 |
Kijapani |
|
Chinese (Mandarin) |
chino |
chinês |
cinese |
chinois |
Chineesisch |
kitaiskiy китайский |
شجرة |
chūgokugo 中国語 |
Zhōng yǔ 中文 |
tiếng |
jung-gug-eo 중국어 |
Kichina |
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Vietnamese |
vietnamita |
vietnamita |
vietnamita |
vietnamien |
Vietnamesisch |
v’etnamskiy вьетнамский |
الفيتنامية |
betonamugo ベトナム人 |
Yuènán yǔ 越南语 |
tiếng |
beteunam-eo 베트남어 |
Kivietinamu |
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Korean |
coreano |
coreano |
coreano |
coréen |
Koreaanisch |
koreiskiy корейский |
كوري |
kankokugo 韓国語 |
Cháoxiǎn yǔ 朝鲜语 |
tiếng |
hangug-eo 한국어 |
Kikorea |
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Swahili |
swahili |
suaíli |
swahili |
swahili |
Suaheli |
suakhili суахили |
السواحلية |
suwahirigo スワヒリ語 |
Sī wǎ xī lǐ 斯瓦希里 |
tiếng |
seuwahillieo 스와힐리어 |
Kiswahili |
The Polyglot Vocab Project
Did you know there’s really no limit to the number of languages you can learn? The average person can get to a respectable level in a language in about two years of study and practice. That means you could learn 10 languages in 20 years. So that’s what I’m doing. Remember, if you get to 10 languages you can officially call yourself a polyglot!
So far I’ve worked on Spanish, Vietnamese, and a little Japanese. In studying those languages, I found out the two most important things for learning a language: vocabulary and practice. You need words because they are the building blocks of language. You can’t communicate at all if you don’t have them. Especially in the beginning, you need to make an effort to do a little homework and learn as many new words on your own as possible. You need a strong vocabulary foundation so that you can start the other vital part…practicing. With practice everything else (grammar, pronunciation, spelling) will fall into place.
You all know I love lists, so it should be no surprise that I love grids too. What if, I thought, I could make a giant spreadsheet translating the most important words in English into the various languages I wanted to learn? This plan became known as The Polyglot Project. Then I found out there was already a Polyglot Project. So it became the Polyglot Vocab Project.
With the creation of Interopia, it became obvious that crowd-sourcing would be the best way to accomplish this. I’ve already done a lot of the work by creating an approximate list of about 3000 most common words in English. Some words, like about, for instance, will be difficult to translate into other languages, but we will do our best. Other words, like cat, should be pretty straightforward translations. I’ve set up the project for 13 languages besides English: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, and Swahili. I narrowed down the languages to these for population, geographic, cultural, and personal reasons. So, the number of words times the number of languages means about 45000 total words that need to be entered.
I have no idea how much interest people will have in helping me complete the project. Even if just one person helps me, it would be appreciated. Just e-mail the site if you would like editing privileges. I’ll be working on it myself even if no one else helps, so you can tune in to see my progress. Whether it takes a month or twenty years remains to be seen. The Google Docs Spreadsheet is available here.
ADDIE: Implementation Phase
Welcome to the fourth and final part in the series “ADDIE: The Key to Instructional Design”. Today’s installment: Implementation. The ADDIE stage of implementation comes after the stages of analysis, design, and development. Continue reading
Meet the Interopia Team
Trent, musician
Rock star and songwriter, he just wanted a place to showcase the music he was writing. He didn’t know that so many of his friends would come on board with their own contributions. But he is thankful for them. Their ideas are in line with his own, so he lets them help. Now even he doesn’t know what to expect anymore.
Liffey, lister
Viewing Interopia as a repository for the lists he is constantly creating, he particularly likes those lists related to music, movies, and art. He enjoys all sorts of statistics, records, superlatives, numbers and limits. One specific areas of interest is geography: countries, maps, populations, etc. He currently lives as a teacher and student of languages and life.
Dr. Tiwtta, researcher
A genuine PhD holder who has attended Cornell, Princeton, AND Harvard, Dr. Tiwtta acts as advisor to the group. He is most interested in subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, dinosaurs, sharks, undersea life, cats, robots, computer programming, codes, artificial intelligence, the environment, aviation, rockets, astronomy, planets, and black holes.
Ghoteman, guru
A shaman who spent decades in silent isolation, he only recently returned from his spiritual journey, one which brought him to all seven of the planet’s continents. His interests appear to be meditation, time, movement, change, God, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, ghosts, magic, creation, dreams, light, time travel, dualities, destiny, fate, nostalgia, and synesthesia. He’s responsible for most of the artwork on the site. He creates it upon waking from hypnogogic states.
Fenix, sadist
Fenix is an evil daemon, and he’s also one of the editors over here at Interopia. He is most interested in serial killers, genocide, mass murderers, nuclear weapons, disease, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.
Barnopulis, dreamer
Even he will admit to be a connoisseur of the absurd. Barnopulis is constantly coming up with new ideas. Usually they are just random and weird, but every now and then they are genius. He’s unemployed and spends most of his time ingesting hallucinogens, marijuana, and alcohol. He’s always whispering in people’s ears.
A love of travel binds them together. Trent and Dr. Tiwtta enjoy road trips and seeing the world. Ghoteman enjoys exploring the realms of the mind. And Fenix likes to teleport between concentric dimensions. At the moment, the group is based in Saigon, Vietnam, so that’s why you’ll see a lot of Vietnam-related content on the site.
Somehow, their collaboration works. The disparate personalities making up the group are the reason why Interopia covers so much ground: lists, original music and art, travel and education-related material. Even though they are all so different from one another, they still manage to come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts, in the most unexpected of ways.
From all of us here at Interopia.com…welcome.
ADDIE: Analysis and Design Phases
Have you ever heard of ADDIE? It’s an instructional design model. In other words, you can use this acronym to help you design any type of education, whether it be an elementary school class, a foreign language class, occupational training, or another type. It stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate. As you can see from the diagram below, it is a cycle, repeating over and over as the course being designed is modified and refined.
ADDIE Instructional Design Model
Today let’s talk about the first two phases of the model, Analyze and Design.
First, before any designing can begin, we have to gather information about the specific situation we are designing for. This is the Analyze phase. We need data to work with, as we cannot begin designing with a blank slate. The information gives us a direction, and sets boundaries, for our course. What information do we look for? According to Hodell (2011), we must first determine whether there is a need for the training. If there’s no need, we shouldn’t do the training. Once a need is found, we must determine the root cause of the problem that necessitated the training. Next, we decide on the goals of training. These goals should be in line with the goals of the organization we are working for, but they need to be realistic. Another step is determining what further information needs to be gathered and how to go about getting it. We also need to make a note of how training will be structured, how it will be delivered, and when it should be revised.
One very important part of the Analyze phase is population analysis. This means gathering as much information as possible about prospective students. On the surface this means demographic data, such as age, gender, ethnicity, work experience, education, etc. This information can be used to determine the cultural environment of the classroom. When making the population profile, we also discover the students’ skill levels in various areas, which will help us set the difficulty level of the course as well as its prerequisites. Digging deeper, a population analysis should find out students’ attitudes, values, and opinions. Instructional designers can learn a lot about what should be included in their projects by listening to potential students’ insights.
After all this data is gathered, the stage is set for the Design phase to begin. Hodell argues that this phase is the heart of the entire ADDIE model, with the other phases depending on it. Design takes place after the Analyze phase but before the Develop and Implement stages. During this phase we detail every part of the project: rationale, target population, objectives, evaluation strategy, participant prerequisites, facilitator prerequisites, and more. We should be able to write a concise, general description of the project. We also produce other deliverables, such as rough drafts of course materials and handouts. We will take these documents into the next phase, Develop.
Studying the phases of the ADDIE model has given me some ideas for improving my own teaching. While I have yet to design a full course, I often do have to design individual lessons, based on textbook material. Therefore this is an opportunity to use the ADDIE model. However, because I teach at a language center, I usually have a different group of students in every class, rather than the same 20 students everyday. Therefore, it is often a surprise to see who shows up to a particular class. Needless to say, I don’t have the opportunity to practice the Analyze phase in these circumstances. One way my school could improve would be to provide teachers, through e-mail, with a list of students enrolled in each of my future classes, including detailed information about the skill levels of each. If I knew the past test scores and teacher comments of my students before I went in to teach, I would have a better idea about whether my lesson will be too easy or too difficult for them.
Are you interested in instructional design yourself now? The best way to learn Instructional Systems development is to take a class on it. If this isn’t possible, you can also utilize the vast resources of the Web to educate yourself. But you don’t have to do it alone. You can use the Internet to collaborate with experts and learners alike. For instance, you can register at Instructional Design Central’s forums to discuss the discipline with others.
Hodell, C. (2011). Isd from the ground up: A no-nonsense approach to instructional design (3rd ed.). United States of America: American Society for Training & Development.
Digitally Mediated Learning Activity
As longtime readers know, at Interopia we know the value of education. We are always educating ourselves, and hopefully our resources can educate you too. We are also interested in how to improve the state of education today. It is our belief that an informed use of technology can increase learning and open up otherwise closed doors for students all over the world. That is why 8 weeks ago we began designing a digitally mediated learning activity for our EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. Please take a look at the project proposal and let us know if you have any feedback.
Open Educational Resources (OER)
Do you know what open educational resources (OER) are? They are any educational resource (textbooks, lectures, videos, images, software, essays, etc.) made available to learners for free through the use of an open license. They can be provided by governments, universities, organizations, or individuals. Of course, in this day and age, they usually come in digital form and are available over the Internet. Do you want specific examples of OERs? Here is a list of 10 such resources to get you started:
10 OER You Might Not Know About (But Should)
A quick search on the topic reveals the many benefits of open education, such as: equalizing information access for all students, removing financial barriers, removing geographic barriers, increased online enrollment, potentially improved reputation of authors/institutions, and even the ability to write notes in the margin (unlike in proprietary textbooks owned by a school). Depending on the type of open resource, there is also the chance to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Other advantages include the ability to continually, through digital means, update the resource, whereas traditional texts or lectures remain static. Also, open resources allow writers to publish their ideas that might be difficult to get into more traditional publications, thereby giving a voice to otherwise unspoken thinkers. I think of all of these, the most exciting is the breaking down of financial and geographical barriers to education. With open education, students with the technological means can access information free of charge that will enrich their lives and those of people around them. In essence, online education, aided by OERs, can help make the world a better place from the bottom up, with each independent learner directing their own educational path, achieving self-actualization, and then hopefully going on to make a positive impact and influencing others.
Though most sites seem to list the many advantages of the open education movement, it is important to look at the opposing views. Some difficulties society may encounter with open education are: quality control issues, lack of social interaction, language barriers, technical barriers to Internet/computer availability, and copyright concerns. The challenge I see for OER is the same one that we have with a lot material available on the Internet…copyright and licensing. These days music, movies, software, etc. can easily be downloaded illegally for free with little chance of punishment. The same holds true for educational resources. By making these resources open, people now don’t have to worry about breaking a law by downloading or viewing them. However, there is not simply one type of open educational resource. There are many levels of permission. According to Michael McNally, some OERs are completely open and users can do whatever they wish to do with it. However, others have certain restrictions placed upon them (you can download and share it, but not alter it and make it your own). In the same way it is difficult to police illegal music downloading, how will authorities make sure that OERs are being used in accordance with their specific license?
Despite the problems that I can see with OERs, I still think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Wouldn’t you agree?
10 open education resources you may not know about (but should). (2011). Mindshift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/05/10-open-education-resources-you-may-not-know-about-but-should/
Open educational resources. DEOracle. Retrieved from http://deoracle.org/online-pedagogy/emerging-technologies/open-educational-resources.html
WesternUniversity. (2012). Democratizing access to knowledge . Youtube retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2IPOgl0ZE8
Three Types of Classroom: Face-to-face, Online, and Hybrid
For a long time, most of history, the most popular type of formal education was one in which a teacher sat down with students in a brick and mortar building and taught material with the use of textbooks and other teaching aids. Then, along came the internet, which introduced a new possibility, teaching students through computers over long distances. No longer was a common physical meeting place necessary. It was replaced by a virtual one. The hybrid classroom also emerged, combining the traditional and online classrooms in various degrees. Each of these three education scenarios has its advantages. For example, there are many teaching strategies listed on the MERLOT Pedagogy site (link below), and each one might be most suitable in one of three learning environments.
The face-to-face (F2F) learning environment is the one usually associated with traditional formal education. One advantage of this setup is that communication is made easier, as it could be considered more personal than communicating digitally. Teachers and students can read the expressions on each other’s faces, allowing for more information to be passed along than just mere words allow. This allows people to pick up subtleties in language, such as a teacher’s sense of humor, or perhaps a student’s hesitation and lack of understanding. In many cases, students can also get more immediate feedback than they would be able to in an asynchronous online learning environment. All the student has to do is raise their hand or stop by the teacher’s office to get help. The teaching strategy of Problem-Based Learning would probably work best in a F2F situation. In this strategy students are faced with problems that they must solve by working in groups. It makes sense that students should meet in “real life” to solve these real life problems. And group work is also easier to do in person, until the day virtual reality becomes sufficiently realistic and commonplace.
Online learning might lack the aforementioned communication advantage, but it has its own benefits. Of course, online education covers a very wide variety of methods, so it is hard to make blanket statements covering them all. For instance, my online class, an asynchronous discussion-based class, is only one form that online learning can take. This type allows students to create their own study schedule around the other responsibilities in their lives. Online learning can also be synchronous, in which class members log in at the same time and communicate via text, audio, or video. The most obvious advantage that both of these forms have is that students don’t have to be living in the same place. For instance, I am able to study for my master’s degree while living internationally. Other advantages, depending on type of online education, include more access to online resources and possibly less fear of participating and sharing opinions. I think the Writing Assignment teaching strategy described on the MERLOT site would be perfect for an online learning environment. The teacher’s job is to assign a writing assignment which involves critical thinking and then evaluate the student’s work. Because this can all be done through the written word, online education often uses this teaching strategy.
Combining F2F and online learning creates hybrid (or blended) learning, which can also take many different forms. Perhaps the class is mainly taught in a classroom and the online component is used as a supplement to the F2F learning. Or perhaps the class is predominantly online, but meets occasionally in person for activities not possible in cyberspace. Perhaps lectures are in person, but homework is submitted online. The possible permutations of hybrid education are limitless. One advantage of hybrid classrooms is that they can assist students who have trouble staying motivated in a purely online class. However, hybrid classes take a lot preparation time for teachers. For more information about hybrid setups in K-12 schools, including 6 different hybrid models, read this paper, The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning. A teaching strategy from the MERLOT site that might work well in a hybrid situation is Team-Based Learning. This is group work in which student teams retain constant members from week to week. Students are responsible to make their own contribution to the group in each class, based on what they have learned outside of class. By making this a hybrid activity, group members could collaborate both in and outside of class, keeping in contact through discussion boards or team-authored wikis.
Soon I will be carrying out a learning activity of my own design. Its goal is to improve the English of ESL students, namely their grammar and vocabulary usage. Rather than focus on all grammar and vocabulary, my learning activity will address the most common mistakes made by my students. The activity will take the form of a game on a website, meaning it could be incorporated into either an online or hybrid class. Teachers in a hybrid class could choose to either supervise students doing the activity in class, or assign it for homework. Either way, teachers could use the activity to concentrate on the weaknesses they have identified in each student.
Have you ever studied online before? Do you think there will always be a place for face-to-face education?
Horn, Michael B.; Heather Staker. (January 2011). The rise of K-12 Blended Learning. Retrieved from http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Rise-of-K-12-Blended-Learning.pdf
Merlot Pedagogy. (2012). Retrieved from http://pedagogy.merlot.org/TeachingStrategies.html.
Improving Education Through Communities of Practice & Professional Learning Communities
Have you ever heard of communities of practice (CoPs) or professional learning communities (PLCs)? They are both forms of collaborative learning and are similar in many ways. Both can be used in various work environments or fields, but are particularly useful in education. Both attempt to improve students’ learning, by sharing ideas and experiences and by giving and receiving feedback. Both can be assisted by information and communication technologies. However, despite their similarities, they are somewhat different.
Communities of practice focus on learners and are based on the idea that learning is inherently social. Not only can students learn from teachers, but they can also learn from each other. The roots of CoP theory began in the 1960s with research by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, who studied the education of tailors in Africa. They noticed that people working together in a community of practice actually learned more from other students than their teacher (“Etienne”, 2011). In a CoP, members are united by a common interest and a common practice, yet each contributes something unique to the group. CoPs serve to educate each individual member while simultaneously increasing collective knowledge. CoPs differ from project groups in that individuals tend to come together more naturally and tend to have different goals. Not only can CoPs be helpful, they can also make working more enjoyable.
PLCs, another type of community, focus on teachers and how they can improve the end product of their teaching…the students’ learning. In order to form a PLC, a school principal or department head will form groups of about 5 or 6 teachers, assigning one of them as a leader. A regular meeting time for these teachers is set. The group uses this time to collaborate and discuss creative ways to improve their students’ learning (Adams, 2009). According to Richard DuFour, teachers collaborating in a PLC need to answer three questions: “What should students be learning?”, “How do we know when they have learned it?”, and “How will we respond to learning difficulties?” (Bray, 2009). At each meeting, group members have the opportunity to address specific problems they have encountered. An advantage of these groups is that they can accomplish more than the sum of their parts.
Recent advances in technology have streamlined the formation and practices of CoPs and PLCs. Now, instead of being limited by geographic location (as the learning communities in Africa were), students and teachers can collaborate with others from all over the world, given that they have Internet access. Technology also makes these communities more customizable. Members of learning communities used to be uncontrollable, but now everyone can choose who they want to be part of their personal learning community, using social networks such as Twitter. These personal learning communities are becoming larger than ever, bringing more and more ideas into the fold. To prevent information overload, users can be selective in choosing whom to collaborate with, much in the same way they should be selective when finding research on the Internet. Besides giving people a way to meet each other, the Internet also gives them a forum in which to share ideas and work out problems. These online communities can be used to supplement and enhance face-to-face PLC meetings.
I’m thinking about starting a PLC at my school. How about you?
References:
Adams, C. (2009). The power of collaboration. Instructor, 119(1), 28-31. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752271
Bray, Barbara. (2009). Does your PLN help your PLC become a CoP? Rethinking Learning. Retrieved from http://my-ecoach.com/blogs.php?action=view_post&blog=8&post=8035
“Etienne Wenger.” T+D 65.4 (2011): 96-97. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Dec. 2011.
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