Learning Partnerships and Networks

The LIFT Framework is predicated on the belief in the power of professional collaboration and partnership as a means to improve student learning and strengthen educator professional practice. For this reason, learning partnerships, networks, and teams are central to the LIFT Framework. Professional partnerships:

are core components of professional learning within the LIFT Framework,
serve as scaffolds for educators as they learn and work through the framework with a learning partner,
are the structures by which LIFT Facilitators apply their learning and collaborate with their colleagues as instructional partners, and
promote dynamic professional learning communities to extend and expand learning beyond this framework.

This section will examine two key topics -- communities of practice and professional learning networks. You will explore why learning networks and communities have value, what they are, who is in your learning network, and how you can expand your community to support your professional learning and practice.

Definitions

In Connect and Inspire: Online Communities of Practice in Education, the U.S. Department of Education offered the following working definitions.

Personal (or professional) learning network (PLN)—A group of people and information sources that can help an individual reach personal or professional goals. For an educator, a PLN guides learning, points to learning opportunities, answers questions, and contributes knowledge, experiences, and resources that respond to individual needs (Tobin, 1998; Warlick, 2010).

Community of practice (COP)―Groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). True communities of practice have three core elements (Wenger et al., 2002):

A domain—A shared area of interest (e.g., science instruction or inquiry-based learning or autism spectrum disorder) to which members are committed and in which they have a shared competence that distinguishes them from other people.

A community—In pursuing the domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. This social dimension is a hallmark of true communities of practice.

A practice—As a result of pursuing the domain together, members develop a repertoire of resources—experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—that together define the practice of their profession or area of shared interest.

As the focus of this report and subsequent research, they explore the concept of the online community of practice which "supports these three core elements with technology-based platforms, tools, features, and configurations, removing barriers of time and space."

Communities of Practice

Building Successful Communities of Practice

Emily Webber, the British author of Building Successful Communities of Practice offers a variety of answers to the question "Why Communities of Practice?" While she is not explicitly speaking to an education audience, Webber provides compelling reasons why and how communities of practice support educational collaboration, learning partnerships, and effective teams.

Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction

This article by Etienne Wenger provides a concise introduction and examination of Communities of Practice. Wenger first proposed CoPs with Jean Lave in their 1991 book Situated Learning.

Activity Directions

Learning outcomes

Examine communities of practice as a means to support professional learning and improving practice
Identify ways in which collaboration and partnership support educational outcomes

Activities

View the video Building Successful Communities of Practice and

Read the article Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction

Discuss these questions with your learning partner.

Even if they are not called 'communities of practice,' what partnerships, groups, or teams are you part of which have some or all of the characteristics of Wenger's definition?
Why are the three elements (domain, community, practice) necessary for a community of practice?

Create a collaborative Padlet with your learning partner and respond to the following prompts. Make sure to include a link to your shared Padlet in your LIFT Portfolio.

1. How could a community of practice help classroom teachers effectively integrate technology and innovate their practice?
2. How could a community of practice support your learning as you work through the LIFT Framework?
3. How could a community of practice support and sustain your work after you complete the framework?

You may also create a table in your LIFT Portfolio if you choose not to use Padlet.

Professional Learning Communities

Professional Learning Networks (PLNs)

This video introduces and explores the idea of the professional learning network. The optional deep dive below is co-written by this presenter.

What Is a PLN?

This resource provides an overview of PLNs and includes a short video and simple steps to build (or grow) your own.

Activity Directions

Learning outcomes

Examine professional learning communities as a means to support professional learning and improving practice
Identify ways to explore and expand your learning community

Activities

View the video Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) and

Explore the resource What is a PLN?

Discuss the questions below with your learning partner.

What word best describes your current PLN?
- Healthy | Growing | Underfed | Uneven | Non-existent
How do you currently digitally collaborate with colleagues?
- Email? Text? Social media? Collaboration tools (Google Hangouts, MS Teams, Slack)
What are some benefits to you as an educator by creating and maintaining a PLN?
What are some ways in which a PLN can operate without social media?

Respond to the following prompts in your LIFT Portfolio.

In your professional network, who do you look to as a professional MVP or hero? Why?
Are there professional colleagues or friends who look to you for leadership, guidance, or support? Why?
What are some next steps that you might do to explore or build your professional learning network?

Optional Deep Dive

Deep Dives are additional resources that explore module topics in greater detail. They are not required for satisfactory completion of the learning stack, but offer an opportunity for additional learning for one or both learning partners. While you are free to read or view the resources in their entirety, some curated guidance is often provided to direct your time and effort. If you find these resources of value, feel free to save them to your bookmarks and/or your LIFT Portfolio.

Deep Dive: Professional Learning Networks

Exploratory Research on Designing Online Communities

"The Connected Educators project investigated two overarching questions in its research:

• How do successful online communities of practice for educators create value for their members that may lead to improved outcomes for students?

• For newly launched communities, what are the key challenges and decisions that leaders must negotiate in the crucial first year? How can what is learned from successful communities inform the process of helping a new community thrive? "

This study by the U.S. Department of Education examines how educator communities of practice support student learning outcomes and educator professional growth. While focused on systemic (vs. individual) considerations for learning networks, this report explores five specific areas in which learning networks impact educator practice.

Introduction (pdf page 6)
How Communities Create Value (pdf pages 8-11)

“Together we are better”: Professional learning networks for teachers

"We live in an era of rapid technological and educational change, and adapting and responding to this shifting landscape requires new knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Such variability means that the work of teachers is in flux, and the process of learning to teach should be flexible and adaptive to support this process. Educators’ responses to such conditions must be multifaceted and persistent."

This article, co-authored by the the educator in the video above, provides a thorough examination of professional learning networks including research with teachers about how they conceive and define PLNs. It has all the bells and whistles of an academic article. But reviewing the following areas will build out your understanding of learning networks:

Section 3: Literature Review
Section 5: Findings
Section 6: Discussion
Section 9: Conclusion

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