What Is Communilytics? : A community analytics funnel in practice Online Communities Part Three: Growing the Community inShare00inShare This report is part of the Online Communities bundle. Downloads Online Communities Part Three: Growing the Community (827 KB PDF) About this report Online Communities Part Three: Growing the Community is the third report in a series of four that focus on digital community building. The first report in this series, Starting a Community, focused on establishing communities. The third report introduces the use of email marketing to grow and enhance your community. Dispels the myth that email marketing is deadDiscusses how email marketing is the digital glue of social mediaExplores ways in which email marketing and social media go together like Batman and Robin to help grow online communities The author, DJ Waldow, is a marketer, social community manager and frequent blog author who writes from his experience building communities for clients in a variety of industries including retail, travel & tourism, and not-for profit. Table of contents
Communities of practice The term “community of practice” is of relatively recent coinage, even though the phenomenon it refers to is age-old. The concept has turned out to provide a useful perspective on knowing and learning. A growing number of people and organizations in various sectors are now focusing on communities of practice as a key to improving their performance.This brief and general introduction examines what communities of practice are and why researchers and practitioners in so many different contexts find them useful as an approach to knowing and learning. What are communities of practice? Note that this definition allows for, but does not assume, intentionality: learning can be the reason the community comes together or an incidental outcome of member’s interactions. The domain: A community of practice is not merely a club of friends or a network of connections between people. It is the combination of these three elements that constitutes a community of practice. Where does the concept come from?
Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge - Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice In a new book, Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge, the authors offer a practical guide to making knowledge work inside an organization. In this excerpt, the authors detail seven design principles for cultivating communities, everything from "design for evolution" to "combine familiarly and excitement." by Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder Seven principles for cultivating communities of practice In Silicon Valley, a community of circuit designers meets for a lively debate about the merits of two different designs developed by one of the participants. Because communities of practice are voluntary, what makes them successful over time is their ability to generate enough excitement, relevance, and value to attract and engage members. How do you design for aliveness? Design for evolution. 1. The dynamic nature of communities is key to their evolution. 2. 3. A large portion of community members are peripheral and rarely participate. 4.
The PLP model: Research-based professional learning A vast body of literature underlies the connected learning communities model — our three-pronged approach at Powerful Learning Practice. Here we cite the studies and literature most relevant to connected learning in the digital age and offer supporting points to help readers understand the rationale behind the PLP learning model here. We’ve grouped the findings under three headings — the three components of connected learning communities: professional learning communities (PLCs), personal learning networks (PLNs), and communities of practice (CoPs). Professional Learning Communities The literature proposes the characteristics of professional learning communities in which educators are connected and engage in face-to-face collaboration: collaborative learning with a purposeful shared vision and practice and a focus on inquiry and improvement building (Hord, 1997, 2003). Theories Experience and Knowledge Effectiveness for Teacher Professional Development Anticipated Growth or Decline
Introducing The Map - A Proven Process For Developing Successful Online Communities Here is a simple map for those of you whom aren't on the Pillar Summit mailing list. The Map The map is based upon the online community lifecycle. Over the past few decades the lifecycle has been developed by academics, refined by practitioners and perfected by us. There are four stages to online community development. {click for larger image} Stage 1) Inception The inception stage of the online community lifecycle begins when the organization or individual begins interacting with their target audience and ends with the community achieving a critical mass of activity. The community reaches critical mass when more than 50% of growth and activity is being generated by members (as opposed to the community manager.) 1) Inviting members to join and keeping them active/engaged.2) Initiating discussions and prompting members to participate.3) Building relationships with members (individual outreach).4) Writing content about the community. 5) Hosting a regular online event. So, where are you now?
7 Must-Have Tools For The Flipped Classroom 7 Must-Have Tools For The Flipped Classroom by first appeared on gettingsmart.com The flipped classroom uses technology to allow students more time to apply knowledge and teachers more time for hands-on education. It’s a continually changing strategy that evolves with technology. Innovative educators are usually on the lookout for the latest technology breakthroughs that will help them better organize and conduct flipped classrooms. The following tools are listed from most basic to most sophisticated and can be used alone or in tandem to make flipped classrooms more engaging. Google Drive Google Drive (Docs) has many advantages over traditional word processing programs, including real-time automatic updates visible to all users, a feature that enables robust discussion and sharing. YouTube Ideal for first-time flippers, YouTube offers a user-friendly, universally understood platform for taped lectures and other educational videos. Teachem The Flipped Learning Network Camtasia Studio
M.I.T. Scholar’s 1949 Essay on Machine Age Is Found Photo It was a vision that never saw the light of day. The year was 1949, and computers and robots were still largely the stuff of science fiction. One of those visionaries was Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), an American mathematician at the . In 1949, The New York Times invited Wiener to summarize his views about “what the ultimate machine age is likely to be,” in the words of its longtime Sunday editor, Lester Markel. Wiener accepted the invitation and wrote a draft of the article; the legendarily autocratic Markel was dissatisfied and asked him to rewrite it. In August, according to Wiener’s papers, which are on file at the M.I.T. “Could you send the first draft to me, and we’ll see whether we can combine the two into one story?” But by then Wiener was traveling in Mexico, and he responded: “I had assumed that the first version of my article was finished business. “I therefore do not consider it a practical thing to do. Consider the Abacus Mass-Produced Laborers The Genie and the Bottle
Digital Differentiation ~ Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences that address the diverse learning needs of all students and help them develop 21st Century Skills. At it's most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand and use information. When combined with student-driven learning experiences fueled by Essential Questions offering flexible learning paths, it can be the ticket to success. Here is a closer look at three components of effectively using technology as a tool for digital differentiation. Note: The interactive graphics you see below have been updated. They can be found in a newer post on this blog. The goal is to design student-driven learning experiences that are fueled by standards-based Essential Questions and facilitated by digital tools to provide students with flexible learning paths. Essential Questions: Student-driven learning experiences should be driven by standards-based Essential Questions.
An Updated Digital Differentiation Model Ten months ago I published a Digital Differentiation model on this blog. I've been using the model to guide the work I do each day and I've been sharing it via webinars and hands-on training sessions.Of course, ten months is a long time in the world of edtech, and I've added some new tools and resources to my personal teaching toolkit, so I decided it was time to update the model and tweak it just a bit. The original article and interactive graphic can still be found on this blog. Here is the new post: Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences that address the diverse learning needs of all students and help them develop 21st Century Skills, an idea supported by the Common Core. At it's most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand and use information. 3 Components: Essential Questions Student-driven learning experiences should be driven by standards-based Essential Questions. Flexible Learning Paths
Flipped Learning: A response to 5 Criticisms -What’s Flipped Learning? Over the past two years, the Flipped Learning method has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures to be viewed in new locations. While the debate goes on, the concept of Flipped Learning is not entirely new. Dr. Eric Mazur of Harvard University has been researching this type of learning since the early ’90s, and other educators have been applying pieces of the Flipped Learning method for even longer. It is our opinion that one of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what Flipped Learning is. With the above framework in mind, we tapped Twitter to learn what educators say are the downsides to implementing the Flipped Learning method, and we have provided our opinions that address the five major criticisms. Implementing the Flipped Learning method makes me, as the teacher, much less important. This could not be further from the truth!