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.

On this episode of TTT we discuss the video series, "A Year at Mission Hill" http://ayearatmissionhill.com.

Ten videos. One year. A public school trying to help children learn and grow. The national conversation we need to be having.

Monika Hardy and Chris Sloan host David Loitz who welcomes director, Amy Valens along with the series narrator and education activist, Sam Chaltain . Mission Hill teacher, Jenerrad Williams and Mission Hill parent, Bob Goodman join the conversation as well. And that's not all. We are also joined by IDEA organizers and educators, Jabreel Chisley and Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price.

Our friends at the Institue for Democratic Education in America http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/features/missionhill/ write:

At IDEA, we're proud to be one of the partners behind "A Year at Mission Hill." The project began when filmmakers Tom and Amy Valens spent a year filming at the school community of Mission Hill, with plans for a full documentary release in fall 2013. The web series came together when Tom and Amy reached out to educator and news commentator Sam Chaltain. Sam brought together http://Ashokaashoka.org, IDEA http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/index/, and the NoVo Foundation http://novofoundation.org around the idea of making a series of short episodes to highlight a year in the life of Mission Hill. Under IDEA's leadership, the concept grew into a larger opportunity to share the story across an eclectic coalition of education organizations, schools, and nonprofits. Currently, more than 40 community partners http://ayearatmissionhill.com/index.php/partners will be sharing the film series and offering their own resources to deepen viewers' learning around each chapter.

Maybe you are like Chris Sloan who says, "I'm hooked on the videos A Year at Mission Hill, looking forward to Part 4!"

Or maybe you're just learning of this effort to reimagine public education.

Either way, we invite you to join this important conversation by listening to this episode of TTT.

Joel Malley @joelmalley and Stephen Ritz join us on this episode of TTT, the second of a series of episodes this Spring where we are 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.)

We're in the middle of the third session, and this webcast looks back to the first session where many of us were introduced to a wonderful example of a connected teacher, Stephen Ritz.

Here's the plan for the next couple of months:

• 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 (TTT #336), we hope you are inspired to join our special guest, Stephen Ritz on this episode of TTT.

Check him out here, listen to or watch our webcast -- further below, and leave your coments.

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!