On this episode of TTT join Will Richardson @willrich45 to discuss: With teachers and learning everywhere, why do we need schools? This is the third in a series of webcasts done in collaboration with the National Writing Project's Connected Learning Inquiry Group, which is led by Jennifer Woolven @mswollven and Joel Malley @joelmalley.

On this episode of TTT Paul Allison, Monika Hardy, and Chris Sloan are are joined by Jon Barilone, Jennifer Woollven, Will Richardson, Joel Malley, and Kim Douillard.

This is Will Richardson's About page at http://willrichardson.com/about

A parent of two middle school aged children, I’ve been thinking and writing about the intersection of social online learning networks and education for the past 10 years at Weblogg-ed.com, in numerous journals and magazines such as Ed Leadership, Education Week and English Journal, and most recently atwillrichardson.com. I’m an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of the diverse new learning opportunities that the Web and other technologies now offer.

A former public school educator for 22 years, I’m a co-founder of Powerful Learning Practice (http://plpnetwork.com), a unique professional development program that has mentored over 5,000 teachers worldwide in the last five years. My first book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Corwin Press, 3rd Edition 2010) has sold over 80,000 copies and has impacted classroom practice around the world. My second book, Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education, (Solution Tree) was released in May, 2011. And my third book, a collection of blog posts titled Learning on the Blog, was published in August of 2011 by Corwin Press.

Over the past six years, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to speak and work with to tens of thousands of educators in over a dozen countries about the merits of online learning networks for personal and professional growth. I’m proud to ba a national advisory board member of the George Lucas Education Foundation, and a regular columnist for District Administration Magazine.

When I’m not on the road, you can find me in rural New Jersey with my wife Wendy and my children Tess and Tucker

Read Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere, then enjoy this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

Here's Amazon's Book Description of Why School? http://goo.gl/joIS9September 10, 2012

Traditional educators, classrooms, and brick-and-mortar schools are no longer necessary to access information. Instead, things like blogs and wikis, as well as remote collaborations and an emphasis on 'critical thinking' skills are the coins of the realm in this new kingdom. Yet the national dialogue on education reform focuses on using technology to update the traditional education model, failing to reassess the fundamental design on which it is built.

In 'Why School?,' educator, author, parent and blogger Will Richardson challenges traditional thinking about education — questioning whether it still holds value in its current form. How can schools adjust to this new age? Or students? Or parents? In this provocative read, Richardson provides an in-depth look at how connected educators are beginning to change their classroom practice. Ultimately, 'Why School?' serves as a starting point for the important conversations around real school reforms that must ensue, offering a bold plan for rethinking how we teach our kids, and the consequences if we don't.

Joel Malley @joelmalley and Jennifer Woollven @mswoollven join us on this episode of TTT, the first of a series of episodes this Spring where we'll be discussing Connected Learning and our OLE (Online Learning Experience) sponsored by the National Writing Project http://connect.nwp.org/online-learning-connected-learning. (Anybody can join the OLE. Just email Joel.)

Here's how Joel and Jennifer welcome us on the Connected Learning Inquiry Group site:

Welcome to the Connected Learning Study Group!

We are gathered here to explore the framework of connected learning. We will explore the connected learning framework, seek real world examples of the principles in action and ultimately explore how we might transform our own classrooms to make student learning increasingly connected in a way that best fits our own curriculum and student needs. 

And here's the plan:

Our Schedule

• Session 1 - Connected Learning Core Values, Feb 6-Feb 20
• Session 2 - Why School?, Feb 21-March 6
• Session 3 - Connected Learning is Interest-Powered, March 7-March 20
• Session 4 - Connected Learning is Peer Supported, March 21-April 3
• Session 5 - Connected Learning is Academically Oriented, April 3-April 17
• Session 6 - Connected Learning is Production Centered, April 18-May 1
• Session 7 - Connected Learning is Openly Networked, May 2-May 15
• Session 8 - Connected Learning has Shared Purpose, May 16-29

We invite you to join these conversations at the Connected Learning Inquiry Group and here on Teachers Teaching Teachers over the next several weeks.

On this episode of TTT, we are joined by:

After listening to this first episode in this series on Connected Learning, we hope you will be inspired to join our special guest, Stephen Ritz on TTT#338, this Wednesday, February 27th at 9PM ET/6PM PT/World Times: http://goo.gl/Xwhg0

Check him out here, and join our conversation with this connected teacher from the South Bronx on Wednesday!

And stay tuned! We are live every Wednesday at Teachers Teaching Teachers.

After we read and discuss Will Richardson's Book Why School? on the Connected Learning Inquiry Group site, Richardson will be joining us on TTT on March 27 at 9PM ET/6PM PT/World Times: http://goo.gl/TLFP7 at http://edtechtalk.com/ttt .

Enjoy this episode of TTT, and plan to connect with us all Spring!

Enjoy this special episode of TTT, recorded in Las Vagas. We live-streamed our session and this is a recording of that event. Here's the program description:

This panel will discuss innovative models of professional development that include peer collaboration, self-directed learning, active involvement, and learning communities. We will give models for using social media for professional activities and we'll share a wide variety of resources and brainstorm how to involve teachers in driving their own personal learning to improve student learning and the profession as a whole.

• Chair: Karen Fasimpaur K12 Open Ed, Portal, Arizona -
• Speaker: Paul Allison The Bronx Academy Senior High School, New York -
• Speaker: Harry Brake American School Foundation Librarian, Mexico City, Mexico -
• Speaker: Christina Cantrill National Writing Project, Berkeley, California -
• Speaker: Paul Oh National Writing Project, Berkeley, California -

Karen's reflections and notes, posted on her blog K12 Open Ed on November 26, 2012:

Last week, I had the privilege of facilitating a panel at NCTE called “Open Learning: Empowering Teachers Through Professional Development.”

Anyone who knows me knows that I have become a big believer in open models of professional learning through spaces like Twitter, P2PU, TTT, Digital Is, and others. This session was all about that. (Slides below. Also, we live streamed the session, thanks to Paul Allison, and the video is here.)

To me, these new models of professional learning are all about value, openness, self-direction, agency, and authenticity. It’s time to reject PD that doesn’t achieve these goals.

At the end of the session, we asked everyone to choose a few words that summarized what they thought the future of professional learning should be. Here they are.

 

Please add a comment with your own thoughts on this and join us in one of the many online spaces to explore this further.