RSA #4: Community Engagement

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The importance of collaboration among team members in a professional learning community has been discussed greatly; however it is also important to discuss the key elements that lead to successful collaboration and groups. Particularly in an online community, the promotion of teamwork and forming relationships can assist in lessening feelings of isolation students and professors often experience especially when interactions are meaningful and connect the learners (Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. 2007). Beginning the course with student and facilitator introductions is a great way for students to get to know one another and to also share expectations for the course (2007). Another important step to introductions is allowing students to comment on their classmates’ posts, whether for introductory purposes, discussions or both. This will give learners a welcome feeling and encourage more participation among the group (2007). With the encouragement of open discussion in a comfortable online environment, the learning community can achieve intergroup collaboration in which the sharing of resources or the transmission of documents in the form of collaborative writing can encourage students to take more responsibility for their own education (2007). The implementation of successful collaboration strategies will ensure a successful and comfortable online classroom that will then allow participants to create new ideas and provide critical reflections of their works and the work of their peers (2007). With this, transformative learning can be achieved and the students participating can make meaning out of what they are learning and participate in deep learning (2007).
Ramona Browder Lazenby and Rhonda Collins Morton (2003) that “through transformative education, students are free to investigate alternative approaches to problem solving at both a personal and social level” (Browder, R.L. & Morton, R.C. 2003). They praise transformative learning for allowing the creation activities appropriate for the individual’s learning needs, which enables education to become a participatory activity (2003). Their article, Facilitating Transformation through Collaboration, emphasizes the importance of being part of a team and, furthermore, each member feeling as though they are a part of that team. Through collaborative activities such as peer teaching and discussions, an atmosphere of creativity and inquiry was encouraged. The class observed in the article was a group of twenty-one nursing students learning to care for medically fragile children and a key activity that promoted collaboration in order to reach transformative learning was when the facilitator had the students debate relevant legal cases, such as the use of a seeing-eye dog in a classroom (2003). Each person’s input and critical analysis of the issue was appreciated and taken into consideration, encouraging deeper thinking of that and many other issues.
Collaboration, deeper understanding of materials and the ability to generalize information to real situations is important for every educational community, whether or not it takes place online. However, the ability to achieve these is often more difficult when learning is taking place solely online. With the development of collaborative technologies that allow relationships to form and discussions to take place, such as Skype or personal blogs, participating students can begin to establish feelings of safety and comfort in their online classrooms. With the establishment of active participation and collaboration, learners can make real meaning from the materials and establish transformative learning that is based on reflection of experiences, ideas and assumption gained from previous knowledge (Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. 2007). This will create lifelong learners who are able to think for themselves (Browder, R.L. & Morton, R.C. 2003).

References:

Browder, R.L. & Morton, R.C. (2003). Facilitating Transformation Through Collaboration.

Nursing Education Perspectives, 24(2), 91-93.

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities: Effective strategies for the
virtual classroom, (2nd ed.). San Franciso: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-0-7879-8825-8, pages

157- 204.

RSA #3: Online Learning Communities

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This week’s reading discussed the importance of the human involvement and understanding of how to make online learning with technology successful. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt bring to light the critical roles of both the teacher and the learner in “Building Online Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom”. The authors state they believe the main elements to creating successful learning communities include: “honesty, responsiveness, relevance, respect and empowerment” (22). And while many people are aware of their ethical rights to safety and privacy while using technology, many have difficulty reaching beyond the fact that there is a strong lack of face-to-face contact while using online learning. Palloff and Pratt touch base on technologies that allow voice-overs and synchronous interactions, but also go on to state the difficulties of reaching out to students who are more withdrawn (48). It is important to understand that many of the same behaviors learners will display in a physical classroom, people can just as easily shy away from discussions, they can exhibit in an online forum (49). These are reasons why it is important for both the learner and presenter to know how to use many forms of communication and technologies to reach each other in various ways. Remembering that “it is people who are using the machinery that makes the course go” and that the instructor and students must establish comfortable terms of communication that can be maintained from beginning to end will create successful experiences.
It is clear that online learning is on the rise and that the results of using online learning have proven it to be a valuable tool. Qing Le discusses the significance of online forums to the world of online learning, reflecting that is a more attractive way to promote student participation because of its flexibility and allowing students more time to think over responses is appealing to both introverted and extroverted students (25). Ways for both students and instructors to create a positive learning environment while using the internet technologies include establishing the proper context, encouraging appropriate content, emphasizing the role of the facilitator, creating a manageable format, designing and developing a working system and conducting ongoing assessments (Qing Le, 26). For example, when establishing the context of the community, students should be encouraged to interact and use each other as resources by critically reviewing their peers’ work and providing appropriate feedback (26). And the facilitator should have a balanced role in discussion forums, rather than act as a lecturer (27). Achieving group cohesion results from clear and upfront expectations from the facilitator and active participation from the learners, means to initiate communication should be plentiful and appealing to all students.
With considerate planning and careful implementation by both the online facilitator and the online learners, a collaborative learning community with technology can be achieved. Maintaining open and constant communication is a vital element that must be utilized by both students and teachers. Many times students may feel a lack of understanding in online learning due to not having a physical classroom, but it should be known that they are responsible for their education and must make an attempt to reach out to peers and instructors. Consequently, students and professors using an online learning system must understand the need and abilities to make themselves available as a support system and valuable supply of information. Online learning is very different than being in a physically structured class, but attitudes of participation and roles should still be employed with the same sense.


References:

Li, Qing. (2004). Knowledge Building Community: Keys for Using Online Forums. Tech Trends:

Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning 48 (4), 24-28.

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities: Effective strategies for the

virtual classroom, (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-0-7879-8825-8, pages 3-

65.

RSA2: Creating a Results Orientation in a Professional Community

When professionals collaborate to develop common goals and a means of achieving those goals, they must consider what will make these goals successful. By creating goals that are strategic, measurable, attainable, results oriented and time specific (SMART) teams not only create consistency among many different educators but maintain clarity across educational settings (DuFour, p. 158). These goals will not have a sole focus on the end criteria, but also what it takes to get there. Assessment schedules to identify high achievers that need more challenges or strugglers that require further support can be recognized and provided with the appropriate interventions and the results of the target can be reached. Also, by implementing SMART goals, educators will be able to develop meaningful and powerful instructional strategies that enhance student learning. Data collection will then be more thorough and become “information that can improve teaching and learning” (184).

In “Gaining Grounds in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better”, 303 middle schools displaying various differences in California participated in large-scale surveys to establish what particular practices and policies improve academic outcomes (Education Digest, 2010 p. 14). One of the findings proved that teachers in a middle school who collectively worked together and then individually in their own classrooms on shared missions created a successful learning environment and better prepared their students for high school (p. 18). The article stated “schools serving similar student populations can vary widely in how well their students perform. This study shows that, although the socioeconomic backgrounds of students are one strong predictor of school-level academic achievement, the practices and policies enacted by educators also have a significant relationship with outcomes” (p.18). Educators who collaborate in order to develop a common goal or mission can improve the educational experience for their students in the present and in their future. As a special education teacher, I work closely with our program's speech pathologist to provide ongoing communication instruction across the curriculum. I can often provide her with reports on student progress in a more natural setting than a speech therapy session and she can provide me with ways to work on improving student success in speech. We develop goals together that are beneficial for the students and something that we both understand how to implement.

The idea that professionals working together on specific outcomes and establishing common expectations for their students despite differences in subject matter, grade level, learning needs, etc., is proven to benefit all participants in the learning community. Providing consistency in teaching methods, assessments and instructional delivery and focusing on successful results continues the precision intended by SMART goals developed by educational teams.


References

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Chapter 3, 4 and 5. In Learning by Doing

(pp. 59-154). Bloomington, Indiana: Solution Tree Press.

Gaining ground in middle grades: Why some schools do better. (2010, October). Education

Digest, 76(2), 14-18. Retrieved from http://www.eddigest.com/index.php

RSA1: Online Professional Learning Community

In this week’s readings, the focus on a team collaborating and designing instructional components that benefit the learners in focus was the most apparent issue. Professionals that serve students in different purposes are able to collectively achieve overall goals by applying different opinions, practices and success stories in an organized fashion (DuFour et al, 139). When educators choose to use collaboration time effectively to focus on the greater needs of the student, success rates of the students increase and the school as a whole reaches a place of improvement (140). When professionals are strictly focused on the right work at hand, students will achieve more at higher levels. This can be maintained by directing the focus of meeting times to the four central questions of a Professional Learning Community:

1. What is it we want our students to learn?

2. How will we know if each student has learned it?

3. How will we respond when some students do not learn it?

4. How can we extend and enrich the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency (119)?

When professional educators are able to take time and effectively focus on the issues of concern, students benefit with higher levels of success and a greater understanding of the materials presented to them.

Rudolfo Bercena Rulloda emphasized in “School Improvement Model to Foster Student Learning” the need for collaboration among teachers in school communities (2011). With the push for students to be taught in the least restrictive environment, diverse learners are becoming more apparent in regular education classrooms. If a student is succeeding in math but failing in reading, a need for a partnership that fosters the student’s preferences, strengths and weaknesses should be acknowledged between the different educators. Using strategies such as a portfolio, a student can reflect on his or her own work and evaluate their own achievements, teachers can use these artifacts to understand how students learn and make connections to experiences the student has had across their school day (Rulloda, p. 8).

Based on research supported by the assigned readings and researched article, it is clear the high impact of team collaboration has on student achievement. Students remain separate individuals regardless of the classes they are placed in and should be treated as so. Each one learns differently than the next and their learning styles need to be taken into consideration throughout the design and implementation of curriculum building. Professionals have much to offer students but very little time to do so, through team work and focus on what is important, students can benefit from the various skills and knowledge each has to offer.

References

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Chapter 3, 4 and 5. In Learning by Doing (pp.

59-154). Bloomington, Indiana: Solution Tree Press.

Rulloda, R. B. (2011). School Improvement to Foster Student Learning (Master's thesis, North

Central University, Minneapolis, Minnesota). Retrieved from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED523516.pdf