Content Proposal
(Professional Learning Communities in Education using Technology)
EDM-613 Media Asset Creation
Education Media Design & Technology MS Program
Full Sail University
Prepared by:
(Carlos Mendoza III)
(March 8, 2010)
I. THESIS ABSTRACT
In a 2008 report for the U.S. Department of Education (Bakia, Yang, & Mitchell, 2008), 75% of the teachers surveyed indicated that they have never used technology to participate in professional online communities. This may be due to a lack of familiarity with online communities and the tools that accompany them (Carr, & Chambers, 2006). If so, a relevant online professional community with technical tutorial support for teachers will attract more participation. The non-experimental qualitative research for this thesis paper will examine an online professional community of a high school district in California. It is the thesis statement that online professional communities with relevance to teachers and have tutorial support for its use will attract participation from teachers.
II. Introduction
In a 2008 report for the U.S. Department of Education (Bakia, Yang, & Mitchell, 2008), 75% of the teachers surveyed indicated that they have never used technology to participate in professional online communities. This is problematic for teachers. Aside from not being able to relate to students growing up familiar with online social networks, it is a setback in the 21st century professional development of public school teachers. The problem may be due to a lack of familiarity with online communities and the tools that accompany them (Carr, & Chambers, 2006). Such being the case, a relevant online professional community with technical tutorial support for teachers will attract more participation.
The non-experimental qualitative research for this thesis proposal will examine an online professional community of a small high school district in California. The online professional community will be created on the Ning platform. It will have all the elements of an online social network. The online community will have the endorsement and sponsorship of the local teachers association. Tutorial support will be provided on the website under a group page called Digital Immigrants. Providing relevancy and tutorial support will encourage participation with this online professional community.
Only members of the Victor Valley Teachers Association will be invited to participate in this online community. The expressed purpose of the website is to promote interactive communication among its members. Establishing collaboration is key in facilitating deep learning in online staff development (Chapman, Ramondt, & Smiley, 2005). The first wave of district email invitations will go to the association representatives to populate the website. They will establish their profile pages, create blogs, and initiate forum discussions. The second wave of invitations will include the remaining 500 members of the association.
III. Goals and Objectives
The media project is a Ning platform social network created to be an online professional learning community. The goal of this media project is to promote online interactive communication and collaboration among teachers where it did not exist previously. It has been established among researchers that the power derived from professional learning communities is the most promising approach to school improvement (Eaker, 2010). PowerPoint and video presentations will serve as tutorial support under a group page called Digital Immigrants for teachers unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technologies. The online community will have the endorsement and sponsorship of the local teachers association. Providing relevancy and tutorial support will encourage participation with this online professional community.
The instructional strategies used in the media project fall into the cognitive and affective domain. Under the cognitive domain, teachers unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technologies will learn to create a profile page, navigate the website, chat, participate in forum discussions, and create a blog. The development of a community falls under the affective domain.
The lack of an identity and community will prevent an online teacher network from becoming a community of practice (Karagiorgi, & Lymbouridou, 2009). The characteristics of a learning community include a shared mission, vision, values, and goals (DuFour, 2010).
Participants in the media project will:
▪ Create a profile page in the online professional learning community.
▪ Be able to navigate around the website.
▪ Participate in chat.
▪ Participate in a forum discussion.
▪ Create a blog
Participants in the media project will also express a shared mission, vision, values, and goals.
IV. Presentation
This media project uses the constructivist theory approach to instruction. Using an online community for the purpose of communication and collaboration explores the constructivist understanding that it leads to deeper learning (Chapman, Ramondt, & Smiley, 2005). Participants will have to create their own understanding of how to use Web 2.0 technologies to interact as a collaborative community. Participants will have to create their own understanding of community.
Professional learning communities defy a hard definition because their participants create them uniquely. Leaders in the education industry advocating the concept have worked collaboratively to promote it as a movement. Richard and Rebecca DuFour, and Robert Eaker are best know for their advocacy of professional learning communities. Their publisher, Solution Tree Press, describes them as the 3Rs of professional learning communities. They are prolific authors and speakers on the development of professional learning communities. In all of their writings they make it clear that every school must find their own way of creating an interdependent collaborative community.
Lesson Structure
The media project is a Ning platform social network created to be an invitation only online professional learning community. The site is endorsed and sponsored by the Victor Valley Teachers Association. The invitation only exclusivity creates a safe online environment for the teachers. The teachers’ association representatives are invited first to populate the site with their profile pages, forum discussions, and blogs. Seeing familiar and respected leaders of the teachers’ association on the network will make the online community more comfortable for the remaining members. Prior to the invitation a PowerPoint introduction will be emailed to the representatives as an overview of the site with instructions on what to do when they receive the invitation.
Once on the site, participants will be directed to the welcome letter. The welcome letter is an overview with instructions on how to navigate around the website. Included for tutorial support is a group page called Digital Immigrants. Links to video tutorials will be provided in this group page.
The teachers’ association representatives will populate the website with their profile pages, forum discussions, and blogs. They will then inform the remaining membership to expect an email invitation to the online community. Prior to the invitation a PowerPoint introduction will be emailed to the membership as an overview of the site with instructions on what to do when they receive the invitation.
V. Evaluation
The media project is a Ning platform social network created to be an online professional learning community. The goal of this media project is to promote online interactive communication and collaboration among teachers where it did not exist previously. The online professional community is an email invitation only network. A respondent to the invitation must wait for final approval from the web administrator before they can enter the website. The web administrator has complete control of the integrity of the website and can count the actual membership of the online community vs. the number of invitations sent.
Other forms of evaluation:
▪ Google analytics will provide the data needed to measure the use of the website.
▪ A monkey survey will be emailed to the respondents to ascertain their reasons for being a member of the online community.
▪ A monkey survey will be emailed to the non-respondents to ascertain their reasons for not yet being a member of the online community.
▪ Interviews with teachers’ association representatives and teachers from the general membership will give personalized description of the process.
The percentage of respondents and the Google analytics will measure the actual usage of the website by the teachers. The surveys and interviews will be the qualitative tools for describing the teachers’ view of the process. Were the teachers drawn to the website because of the endorsement of the association? Were the teachers drawn to the website because they were looking for such a media for communication and collaboration?
The focus of the media project is to promote online interactive communication and collaboration among teachers where it did not exist previously. It will only be able to measure how many teachers responded to the invitation to join the online community. The measurement tools will not be able to analyze if a collaborative community with a shared mission and values was actually established. This will require another examination in the future with a different set of qualitative tools.
The media project as created is not presentation friendly. It would also be a violation of its exclusivity to invite a review committee to navigate the website. The media project will therefore be chronicled and presented in the form of a PowerPoint presentation or Udutu slideshow.
VI. References
Bakia, M., Yang, E., & Mitchell, K. (2008). National educational technology trends study
local-level data summary. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/netts/netts-local.pdf
Carr, N., & Chambers, D. (2006). Teacher professional learning in an online community:
The experiences of the national quality schooling framework pilot project. Technology, pedagogy & education. Vol. 15, Issue 2, 143-157
Chapman, C., Ramondt, L., & Smiley, G. (2005). Strong community, deep learning:
exploring the link. Innovations in education and teaching international. Vol.42, No. 3, 217-230
Chih-Hsiung, T., Blocher, M., & Ntoruru, J. (2008). Integrate Web 2.0 technology to
Facilitate online professional community: EMI special editing experiences. Educational media international. Vol. 45, Issue 4, 335-341
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning
communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press
DuFour, R. (2010). The power of professional learning communities: Bringing the big
ideas to life. 2010 Summit: Professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press
Eaker, R. (2010). What it means to be a professional learning community. 2010 Summit:
Professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press
Graham, P., & Ferriter, W. M. (2010). Building a professional learning community at
Work: A guide to the first year. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press
Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Hoban, G., & Reid, D., (2009). Transfer of online
professional learning to teachers’ classroom practice. Journal of Interactive Learning Research. Vol. 20, Issue 2, 189-213
Karagiorgi, Y., & Lymbouridou, C. (2009). The story of an online teacher community
in Cyprus. Professional development in education. Vol. 35, No. 1, 119-138
Liu, W., Carr, R., & Strobel, J. (2009). Extending teacher professional development
through an online learning community: A case study. Journal of educational technology development and exchange. Vol. 2, Issue 1, 99-112
Moore, J., Chae, B. (2007). Beginning teachers’ use of online resources and
communities. Technology, Pedagogy and Education Vol. 16, Issue 2, 215-224
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