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!

This episode of TTT is a conversation about the future of the teaching and schooling in general.The idea for this week's episode of TTT came about when +Andrew McGuire, a student of +Chris Sloan's who had graduated from high school last year, told Chris that he wants to be an English teacher. But he wants a different kind of education than a lot of what he has received. Chris writes:

He’s an education reformer at heart, and a lot of what he described as his ideal educational environment aligns with some of the people who’ve joined us on Teachers Teaching Teachers recently. He’s talking about connected learning in third spaces that involve a maker approach and is inquiry-based. So what would you tell an 18-year old who’s thinking about becoming an English teacher? Not only what Andrew and others like him should study, but how they should go about their teacher education?

Along with Andrew we are joined by these educators: Meenoo Rami, Bryan Loftis, Troy Hicks, Scott Shelhart, Chris Lehmann.

Enjoy!

Find out more about Gooru http://goorulearning.org on this episode of TTT. This is the first in a series of webcasts in which we'll focus on Gooru, asking: How do you teach with Gooru? We'll be talking with teachers who use Gooru in their classrooms, asking them to share best practices and exchange ideas. And we'll dialogue with the Gooru team around what might be done to improve Gooru for all of us?

If you're new to Gooru, here are three places to start your inquiries:

• You might take a look through the lens of Open Educational Resources (OER): Project Blue Sky: Big Boost to OER From . . . Pearson?

Gooru Learning itself has a pedigree that is worth considering. Gooru is developed by Ednovo, the nonprofit education startup founded by Prasad Ram. Ram has a rich history in Silicon Valley, including work at Xerox PARC, Yahoo! and Google. While Director of Engineering for Google Research, Ram developed the concept for using search technology to discover educational content. Ram decided to leave Google in January 2011 and pursue this concept. Ram has started an education focused non-profit startup called Ednovo, which is going to build upon Gooru, a free web based education solution that was begun as a ’20% effort’ at Google, and piloted in India with 25 classrooms and 1000 students. Gooru allows teachers to use openly licensed web resources, find lesson plans on all subjects and topics and then customize it to their specific needs, with rich multimedia content including videos, slides, and simulations.

• You could take a dive into Kevin Hodgson's Meandering Mind and read his review, Gooru: Another Research Project Resource.

So, this morning, I went to Gooru to poke around a bit and remember what it is about. When I had been there last, the site had recently launched and I wasn’t quite sure what they were up to. There didn’t seem to be a lot of content. Now I understand. The site is another way to help students streamline their research queries (sort of like Instagrok, which I use) and for teachers to build up “collections” of resources that can be shared. I like the overall feel of the site — it takes a few minutes to get a sense of what to do, but once you understand it, you will see there are powerful paths to follow.

• You might also go to Gooru themselves and find out that they want to help us "Spend More Time Learning--and Less Time Searching."

Every day teachers and students scour the web to find the best resources to help them learn or teach, pulling from different resources scattered all over the Internet--but what if you could find and organize all the best web resources in one place? With Gooru, you can. Watch NASA videos about solar flares, play interactive games on PBS.com that teach about friction, and take quizzes on equations from Khan Academy. We aggregate the best of the web, giving you high-quality and free multimedia resources within seconds, so you can spend more time studying, and less time searching. When you find resources you love, you can then organize them into a playlist called a collection.

You might also find out what you need to know to get started by listening to our inspiring guests for this episode of TTT:

Paul Allison, Monika Hardy, and Chris Sloanhost Xenia Shih, Timothy Burke, and Jody Donovan from Gooru along with two amazing California teachers, Leah Jensen and Gail Desler.

Enjoy!

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Click Read more to see the chat that was happening during this live webcast and some important links to resources.

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