Education Innovation

The Anthropologist- Observing Your Professional Learning Communities

As educators, we are always learning and always observing. When it comes to improving your school’s Professional Learning Communities, one approach that will give you fresh insight into how your PLCs behave and provide you with information about how to drive improvement or fix problems is to play the role of the anthropologist.

The Anthropologist is one of the three learning personas from the Tom Kelley's The Ten Faces Of Innovation. In order to gain knowledge and information about how your PLCs behave it is important to gather information and data from which to work from. To accomplish these goals the anthropologist generally displays or implements the following 6 characteristics in PLC meetings.

1. Anthropologists practice the Zen principle of “beginner’s mind.”
The anthropologist is, “unusually willing to set aside what they ‘know,’ looking past tradition and even their own preconceived notions. They have the wisdom to observe with a truly open mind.”

You know what you expect to see in a PLC. But what if you can set aside these assumptions and simply view what is happening as if you were a beginner. What kinds of questions would you ask yourself?
What are they meeting for?
Why now? Why here?
What are they talking about? What type of language are they using?
Why is no one asking questions?
Who is doing all the talking? Who isn’t talking?
Who is sitting next to whom?
Who arrive late? Who arrive early?

If you imagined that you did not know what you know about PLCs, what might you ask yourself? How might that drive improvement? It takes an open mind. I have found that you need to practice the art of un-listening, that is listening to what is being said without getting your mind involved in the issues they are discussing. You might be surprised with the knowledge and data you discover.

2. Anthropologists embrace human behavior with all its surprises
“They don’t judge, they observe. They empathize. Lifelong students of human behavior develop a genuine love of watching and talking to people…”

When playing the anthropologist in your PLCs it is important to empathize. Get a feel for how the teachers see things from their perspective. What issues are they struggling with? What sorts of emotions are coming to the fore? It not about solving it so they can move on, it’s about understanding the issues, emotions, problems, etc., that teachers are dealing with in the PLC from their perspective. Once you understand it from their vantage point, then you will be in a better place to help them solve the issues and problems they face. By playing the role of the anthropologist, the solutions maybe different than if you had just tried to solve them without the knowledge and data you gathered during your observations.

3. Anthropologists draw inferences by listening to their intuition.
“Anthropologists are not afraid to draw on their own instincts when developing hypotheses about the emotional underpinnings of observed human behavior.”

You know all the theories. You know what people in the PLCs are telling you. But your intuition is a valuable tool in analyzing your observations. If you have watched your PLC with a “beginners mind” and without judgment, your intuition might be telling you something about what you saw and heard. Don’t be afraid to act on it.

4. Anthropologists seek out epiphanies through a sense of “Vuja De.”
“Everyone knows the feeling of déjà vu, a strong sense that you have seen or experiences something before, even if you never really have. Vuja De is the opposite—a sense of seeing something for the first time, even if you have actually witnessed it many times before.” “Anthropologists have the ability to ‘see’ what’s always been there but has gone unnoticed—what others have failed to see or comprehend because they stopped looking too soon.”

You have been in PLC meetings before, but seeing things with fresh eyes, with a sense of “Vuja De” is a powerful way to gather knowledge and data about what is happening in the PLCs.

I have watched for things such as:
Facial expressions.
Who speaks first?
Who asks questions? How many questions are asked?
Do they challenge each other? Do they defend each other?
What types of material do they bring to PLCs?
How do they arrive at decisions?
Who takes notes? Do they rotate roles?
Do they always meet in the same place?
Do they always sit in the same seats?
How do they begin meetings? How do they end meetings?

You might be surprised what type of insights can be gained from seeing what has always been there, but seeing it with fresh eyes.

5. Anthropologists keep “bug lists” or “idea wallets.”
"Anthropologists work like novelists or stand-up comics. They consider their everyday experiences to be good potential material, and write down bits and pieces that surprise them, especially things that seem broken. A bug list focuses on the negative—the things that bug you—while idea wallets contain both innovative concepts worth emulating and problems that need solving.”

There are all sorts of ways to track what you are seeing when you are in PLCs. I usually have my email open and type notes as drafts that I can latter use to create formal emails back to teams. I also use NoteTaker and Evernote to help me collect my ideas and thoughts about what is bugging me and ideas or questions that come to mind.

6. Anthropologists are willing to search for clues in the trash bin.
“The anthropologist looks for insights where they are least expected…even in the garbage, if that’s where learning is to be found. They look beyond the obvious, and seek inspiration in unusual places.”

Often one of the best places to look at to find knowledge or data on your PLCs is not in the PLC but back in the classrooms, in the lounge, or the parking lot. Look for evidence that what is being planned or discussed in the PLC is actually taking place in the classroom. Ask teachers how things are going when you run into them in the lounge or in the parking lot. Look at the notes they take. And, as always, examine student achievement data. Be it hard data or anecdotal notes; keep your eyes peeled for knowledge and data on your PLC outside of the meeting.

Playing the persona of the Anthropologist is a powerful way to “see” and gather knowledge about the behaviors, effective or ineffective, that are occurring in your school’s Professional Learning Communities.

The Integrated Approach of the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

Most educators who have participated in grade level, subject matter teams, or Professional Learning Communities are comfortable with an internal approach. It’s what most of us know. The belief is that all that is necessary to increase student success is for the teams to focus inwards on their members, the issues, and their processes. We are comfortable working across the table with a small group of fellow educators. This internal focus has worked. But, the times are changing so rapidly.

Educators are going to have to align their work with the needs of the school and district. Technology and research are growing and being created at amazing rates. Educational issues are growing in complexity and number. Much knowledge, expertise, data, and information is available outside of the team boundaries. We must deal with social changes, legal changes, technological changes, demographic changes, etc.

What is now needed is both an internal focus and an external focus. This is the Integrated Approach. The integrated approach has two concurrent focuses, the internal and the external.

Concurrent Perspective: PLCs have typically been internally focused. They focus on developing strong norms, processes for communicating, problem solving, building consensus, etc. This is important, but PNLCs recognize that equally important is a clear understanding of how their work fits into the needs of those outside of the team. The clearly understand that their work must fit within the greater goals of the school and the district. They are externally focused and internally focused. They do not wait to create and establish internal norms or practices for every aspect of their work, but rather, get on with the work meeting the needs of students, the grade level, department, school, district, and the team together, while simultaneously developing internal processes. They also keep an eye out for trends in technology, new research, and new strategies, and new compliance issues developing outside of the group.

It is a little more difficult and messy, but that the reality is that the school day and school year are too short to spend valuable time solely focused on internal aspects and neglect the external needs as well.

Boundary Crossing: Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives understand that the answers to questions, necessary data, important information, or key knowledge my lay outside of the team members sitting at the table. PNLC understand that boundaries of grade level, school site, subject matter, job function, etc. that have previously isolated PLCs should not be allowed to prevent the necessary knowledge reaching PLC members. PNLC members, therefore understand, that anyone anywhere can be a source of valuable and or necessary resource to them.

Networked: The Professional Networked Collaborative understands the power of the network. Useful outsiders become part of the network that the PNLC taps into to increase student learning and achievement. The network of useful outsiders exists physically and virtually and changes over time.

Flexible and Scalable: PNLC are flexible in who is part of the group, how long that person will be part of the group, the way in which the group will work, who is leading the group, etc. The PNLC is scalable in size, growing to include new useful outsiders or including new networks. But the PNLC is also flexible as to whom, when, what, and how the group uses networks and outsiders.

It is the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative that is best designed to meets the needs of educators now and in the future through its integrated approach.

The "Health Care" Based Professional Learning Community

What do you get when you combine Professional Learning Communities, the health care system, and some imagination? It would be participatory, planned, predictive, preventive, progressive, and personalized.

I have spent a lot of time listening to the sorts of words that educators use when talking about student learning, student achievement, and teaching. What has surprised me is how much it sounds like the terms you would hear from health care professionals and those working in the health care system. I found this interesting. Working at a high poverty, high second language learner, and low achievement school these teachers talked about their work like they were trying to save lives and get kids “healthy.”

So I wondered, how would implementing a Professional Learning Communities system at a school look if it was modeled off of a health care system. Here is where my imagination lead me.

First and this is very important, all 4 phases rely on two ingredients. Great questions and hard data. Great results begin with great questions. And without data all we have are our own opinions.

Phase 1:Participatory
Health care talks all the time about getting people to participate in their own health management. So I used the term “participatory” to represent the philosophy behind phase one of the change. The staff would have to participate in PLCs. The focus would be “Systematic.” Teams would have to meet during set times and on set days. Teams would be responsible for documenting the outcomes of their meetings using an agreed upon record keeping sheet.

Phase 1 focuses on getting the staff used to meeting with each other, sticking to the schedule, and documenting what they were doing.

Phase 2: Planned, Predictive, and Preventive
Health care systems used these terms to talk about what needs to be done to handle health care needs. They plan for what will happen, think about and predict likely issues and prepare for them, and attempt to prevent common illness before they begin.

Teachers too can improve their effectiveness when they are planned. Planning included common pacing and using Standards Based Lesson Plan design. By predicting what it is students will need to know at various assessment intervals, teachers can ready students and not be racing to catch up or failing to teach a standard all together. Finally, teachers prevent common mistakes because they are planned and predictive about what students will need to know and what they will do for those who don’t master a standard or who have mastered the standard.

The focus here is standards, skills, and strategy. What is it that students need to know? Thinking about power standards, essential standards, and deconstructing them into excellent focused lessons. What skills must they demonstrate and how can we equip students for the needs of the next grade. And what are the most effective strategies to teach students and help those who need more assistance in learning.

Phase 3: Progressive
Health care systems are progressive in the terms of the treatment options it brings to its patients. The goal was to move teachers to being just as progressive in response to “academic casualties” and special needs. It is in Phase 3, after teachers had moved from meeting to talk about student learning, to planning for student learning, we would put into place our Response to Intervention (RtI) model. The focus is on student learning and being progressive about meeting the needs of each student by moving them progressively through the Tiers as needed of the RtI model.  Truly meeting the needs of each students learning needs.

The focus here is symptoms and solutions. What is that our students’ need and what is that we can give them?

Phase 4: Personalized
The best health care system meets your needs. It gives you exactly what you need. Here our PLCs would become a place where we meet the needs of each and every learner. Not content to merely talk about percents of student who know or don’t know a standard, or sub-groups of students, etc; but truly knowing what each and every student in the classroom knows and needs; Differentiation at the most personal of levels.

Our focus is on students. Not groups, not percentages, not achievement or proficiency bands but a student with a name. Our PLCs will work to meet the needs of that student.

Here is chart that graphically displays the four phases of implementation.

You never know where a little imagination might you take you.

Welcome To The Revolution: The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

Are you ready to lead a revolution at your school or in your district? Leadership Day 2009.

Intro: The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

Back in 2002 in his book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution Howard Rheingold predicted that, “The ‘killer apps’ of tomorrow’s mobile infocom industry won’t be hardware devices or software program but social practices. The most far reaching changes will come, as they often do, from the kinds of relationships, enterprises, communities, and markets that the infrastructure makes possible.”

The prediction, as we now know, was spot dead on. The technology has transformed our relationships, how we are able to collaborate, how we now define communities, what constitutes a network, and what kinds of work we are able to do.

According to Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman, authors of X-Teams, “…team effectiveness is not just a matter of managing well around the conference table. Success also depends on team’s reaching out across their borders to find needed information and expertise.”

It is this intersection of collaboration and technology that has now allowed us to create and leverage a new form of boundary crossing Professional Learning Community. It’s called a Professional Networked Learning Collaborative.

Definition: Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

“Educators working together in the ongoing purpose of increasing student learning and achievement while sharing physical space, virtual space, or both simultaneously."

No longer is the work of educational teams limited to face-to-face around the table collaboration. No longer is specialization or the knowledge base limited to who is physically sitting in the meeting. No longer is email viewed as the technology of choice for collaboration. No longer are teams limited by geography. No longer should great ideas remain trapped inside particular grade levels, departments, or schools. Technology has allowed us to change all that. Technology has created a new reality.

The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative seeks to leverage the new reality of education.

Individual educators used to operate under this model.

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Educators understood the value of collaboration, and so the Professional Learning Community arose.

But technology has changed that world. The 21st Century educator now operates under this model. 

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Technology Enabled Collaboration
How is that technology has changed collaboration so greatly? First, technology enables different types of relationships. Virtual relationships are now possible and have become commonplace outside of educational settings. Networks of all sorts (Facbebook, Ning, Twitter, etc.) webcams, Skype, etc. have changed the very definition of presence. Second, technology has changed who is part of the team. Team members can now be virtual. Members no longer tied to geographic limitation can provide input, ideas, and collaborate in real-time for any location on the globe. The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative enabled through technology expands the borders of membership to include specialist, consultants, district staff, etc as part of the team.

From Community to Network
The person is the portal to the network. The person is an autonomous communication and collaboration node. Each member can potentially leverage not only their network, but also the network of others who are in their network. This principle is known as Metcalfe’s Law. The number of potential connections between nodes grows more quickly than the number of nodes. The total value of the network where each node can reach every other node in the network grows with the square of the number of nodes. In other words, when PNLC members connect their networks, it creates more value than the sum of networks independently.

The essence of the PNLC is that the “who” of potential members and collaborators is increased exponentially because of individual members networking through collaborative technology platforms, the “what.”

As sociologist Barry Wellman said, “Each person operates his networks to obtain information, collaboration, orders, support, sociability, and a sense of belonging”

So, just at the individual educator has become networked, so too must the Professional Learning Community. And when a PLC becomes networked, it becomes something different. The PLC becomes the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative.

PNLC members will fluidly move between the physical and virtual networks to communicate, collaborate, and share ideas, data, strategies, and information. Each member being a portal or node to their individual network makes the PNLC exponentially stronger, knowledgeable, and wise.

PNLC are able to maximize individual members’ networks to the advantage of the whole.

Networks have now become so much a part of our lives that physical presence is no longer necessary for a member to “present.” Howard Rheingold calls this “presence of those who are absent.” PNLCs can call on a district specialist, consultants, teachers, and staff who are in different physical locations (even different time zones) and who will be able to collaborate, contribute, cooperate, and share just as if they were present physically.

As anthropologist Mizuko Ito puts it, “As long as people participate in the shared communications of the group, they seem to be considered by others to be present.”

Virtual participation = presence = collaboration = results

The Collaborative
The community model served the professional learning community well but the time and technology have changed. The collaborative is the new model. The collaborative includes members of the typical community who are physically present with each other, but also includes community partners, useful outsiders, specialists, consultants, professors, etc. who join the network as virtual team members for a time to help the work of the team.

As each PNLC member’s Personal Learning Network overlaps with other team members it becomes much different from the local context of a community. Overlapping Personal Learning Networks form the "collaborative" in the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative. We have moved from face-to-face community of physical space to the technology enabled virtual and physical space collaborative.

K.W.O.K
Technology allows teams to connect to islands of expertise located in any geographic location. Technology allows teams to archive their learning and share with others. The sum result is that technology allows the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative to “Know What Others Know” (K.W.O.K.).  Knowing what others know and sharing what you have learned is what I refer to as Wisdom Stewardship. Technology makes it easy for educators and schools to be good stewards of available wisdom and to know what others know.

Microsoft research sociologist Marc A. Smith put it this way. “Whenever a communication medium lowers the cost of solving collective action dilemmas, it becomes possible for more people to pool resources. And ‘more people pooling resources in new ways’ is the history of civilization in seven words.”

The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative allows educators to solve education problems, increase student achievement, share strategies, and analyze data, etc., with members who are physically present “at the table” and with educators who are virtually present from anywhere on the globe. The PNLC allows teams to leverage not only their knowledge, but also the knowledge of other educators, specialists, consultants, etc., from anywhere else virtually.

For example, if a team was discussing the needs of a student with special needs, they could network in specialists from the district office or the county office, or a specialist/consultant in another state.

Not Just The Same…But Different
The very enterprise of the typical grade level or subject matter team will be different as technology enables networks to allows for new levels of data analysis, planning, lesson design, etc. The reality is that what grade levels or subject matter teams will be able to do compared with what they do right will not just more or better… it will be different.

PNLCs will live by the values of ICE³: Imagination, Innovation, Inquiry, Collaboration, Creativity, Curiosity, Exploration, Experimentation, and Entrepreneurship.

PNLCs will leverage their A.W.A.R.E.N.E.S.S

Why The Need
There are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

1. Technological: convergence of video, voice and data over Internet Protocol (IP) and other collaborative technology platforms.

2. Wisdom Stewardship: exploiting the best expertise, talent, and knowledge regardless of geography.

3. Cultural: the increasing desire for real-time feedback, the expectation of immediacy and the compression of time and space.

4. Accountability: Increasing transparency in complying with expanding federal, state, and local laws in addition to categorical program monitoring requirements, and labor contracts.

5: External Approach: The need for organizations and teams to look outside themselves to expand their network with new members who are sources of learning, creativity, and innovation.

6. Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption: Increasing rate of development in the number of choices, options, disruptive ideas & technologies, and new paradigms.

So today, and increasingly in the future, it is the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative that will allow schools to best handle these drivers of change. The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative embraces and seeks to leverage the technological changes because in so doing, they are better able to utilize the resources of time and talent because they have accepted the cultural shift toward immediacy of real-time interaction, and therefore is better able to handle the increasing compliance issues facing education. With both and internal focus and external approach members are better able to handle, and in fact embrace, the continuous change, new disruptions, and increases in choices and options.

The Technology Advantage
The advantage to the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative is the ability to leverage “Converged Networking”, the ability to carry data, voice, and video over a single network, which changes how, where, and with whom Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives can collaborate.

The convergence combined with broadband to school sites, district offices, and wireless devices will create an environment in which PNLCs communicate and collaborate regardless of geography.

Converged networking will allow Professional Networked Learning Collaborative to easily share data, communicate, and collaborate with people in different classrooms, at different schools, with experts at the district office, or with consultants from across the globe.

Location independent, or location non-dependent collaboration will not only be possible, but in many cases might allow PNLCs to have greater access to a wider range expertise more frequently. Imagine PNLCs meeting with teachers at other schools to share instructional strategies, or with district personnel to discuss data or potential special education issues, or even with consultants via various collaborative technology platforms.

PNLCs will be able to leverage talent, expertise, and knowledge independent of geographic restrictions.

The Technologies
The tools of the trade for the PNLC are many. Evan Rosen has complied an excellent list of tools complete with descriptions in his book The Culture of Collaboration. Find the list here.
Tools of The Trade: Technologies of the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

As communication and collaboration technologies become more pervasive, they will fade into the background and PNLCs will focus on the work. Just as we don’t  “see” or think about the electricity that is powering the lights in our classrooms and offices, powering our copy machines, etc. the computers that we run our communication and collaboration platforms on will disappear into the background and we will be free to focus on “what” and not the “how” of these technologies.

The widespread availability and acceptance of those tools Professional Learning Communities will move from “community” to “network” and “collaborative”, creating the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative. Schools, teachers, and students will be the better for it.

So the question is, are you ready to lead it?

Moving From the PLC to the PNLC: 6 Key Drivers of Change- Part 5

There are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

Lets examine “key driver” number six.

6. Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption: Increasing rate of development in the number of choices, options, disruptive ideas & technologies, and new paradigms,

Disruptive ideas: According to Peter Sheahan, author of Flip, “…innovations in product and process almost always have unintended consequences that challenge our ability to adapt, and reward those with flexibility to flip into new modes of acting and thinking.”

Think of Twitter, it has moved from a fun mini-blogging site, to instant messaging, to part of the Personal Learning Network of many people, to an international news broadcasting agency during the Iran crisis. I believe Twitter is the ultimate semi real-time idea sharing platform, but that is not what was originally intended for it. Cell phones have become personal computing devices capable of doing so much more than make phone calls. PNLC look for the opportunity to use ideas and technology in new and disruptive ways to better their collaboration.

This is the underlying principle of Disruptive Technology as described by Clayton Christensen in his book Disrupting Class. What you think is not useful or effective, suddenly becomes very effective and replaces the prior model, idea, strategy, curriculum, technology, etc. PNLC are aware of this possibility and practice a level of awareness that sees, what I call "Disruptive Ideas" on the horizon.

New Paradigms: As the authors of The Power of Impossible Thinking put it, "Sometimes we don't need to merely 'sharpen' the saw; we need to throw it out to pick up a power tool. If we are focused only on sharpening, then we might not see the opportunity to apply new technology that can radically change the way we approach the task."

Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives utilize the most powerful of all mindset of paradigms. I call it the “Utility Paradigm.” All mental models, all technologies, all paradigms have utility in certain situations. The ability for a PNLC to look at a problem through the lens of various mental models or paradigms will provide valuable perspective. PNLCs however are quick to adapt to new technologies and look for way they can be utilized to better collaborate to improve student learning.


Choice and Options: Teachers and administrators are faced with increasing choices in curriculum, teaching materials, educational software, and technology. Being able to sort through all these choices requires an enormous amount of time, energy, and use of resources. Teachers and administrators are being asked to be savvy enough to make informed and fiscally sound decisions in an environment where the amount of choices is growing daily.

The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative is able to draw upon a greater network of people who have the expertise, knowledge, data, and information to help in real-time with making effective and sound decisions that are in the best interests of the students. 

So today, and increasingly in the future, it is the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative that will be able to handle these drivers of change. The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative embraces and seeks to leverage the technological changes because in so doing, they are better able to utilize the resources of time and talent because they have accepted the cultural shift toward immediacy of real-time interaction, and therefore is better able to handle the increasing compliance issues facing education. With both and internal focus and external approach members are better able to handle, and in fact embrace, the continuous change, new disruptions, and increases in choices and options.

Moving From the PLC to the PNLC: 6 Key Drivers of Change- Part 4

There are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

Lets examine “key driver” number five.

5: External Approach: The need for organizations and teams to look outside themselves to expand their network with new members who are sources of learning, creativity, and innovation.

According to Time magazine, the world produced 161 exabytes. That equals 161 billion gigabytes. Imagine that. In other words, the world produced three million times the amount of information contained in all the books ever written in one year. It is simply not possible to keep up with all the new information, research, learning, data, etc on student learning that is out there. Time requires teams that can adjust to this situation by understanding that in addition to a necessary internal focus, they need to also have an external approach to their work.

Boundary Crossing: Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives understand that the answers to questions, necessary data, important information, or key knowledge my lay outside of the team members sitting at the table. PNLC understand that boundaries of grade level, school site, subject matter, job function, etc. that have preveiously isolated PLCs should not be allowed to prevent the necessary knowledge reaching PLC members. PNLC members, therefore understand, that anyone anywhere can be a source of valuable and or necessary resource to them.

Concurrent Perspective: PLCs have typically been internally focused. They focus on developing strong norms, processes for communicating, problem solving, building consensus, etc. This is important, but PNLCs understand that equally important is understanding how their work fits into the needs of those outside of the team. They are externally focused and internally focused. They do not wait to create and establish internal norms or practices for every aspect of their work, but rather, get on with the work meeting the needs of students, the grade level, department, school, district, and the team together. They also keep an eye out for trends in technology, new research, and new strategies, and new compliance issues developing outside of the group.

It is a little more difficult and messy, but that the reality is that the school day and school year are too short to spend valuable time solely focused on internal aspects and neglect the external needs as well.

Networked: The Professional Networked Collaborative understands the power of the network. Useful outsiders become part of the network that the PNLC taps into to increase student learning and achievement. The network of useful outsiders exists physically and virtually and changes over time.

Flexible and Scalable: PNLC are flexible in who is part of the group, how long that person will be part of the group, the way in which the group will work, who is leading the group, etc. The PNLC is scalable in size, growing to include new useful outsiders or including new networks. But the PNLC is also flexible as to who, when, what, and how the group uses networks and outsiders.

Moving From the PLC to the PNLC: 6 Key Drivers of Change- Part 3

There are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

Lets examine “key driver” number four.

4. Accountability: Increasing transparency in complying with expanding federal, state, and local laws in addition to categorical program monitoring requirements, and labor contracts. 

The degree to which schools are increasingly required to effectively to comply with compliance issues continues to grow. So too, the number of ways in which schools are held accountable through increasing transparency.

Your school’s or district’s test scores can be looked up and examined by people living anywhere in the world. From the parents on your P.T.A, to the teachers across town, to the principals across the country, to professors in the farthest reaches of the globe.

The California Department of Education has a site called DataQuest. This site allows anyone with web access to look up and examine school performance data, test scores, student demographic data, school staffing information, student misconduct and intervention data, etc. This is the very definition of transparency. And parents are using this data to make informed decisions about which schools they want their students to attend and even making home buying decisions based on that data. Yep, it’s not just parents who are digging into your school’s information; realtors are using that information to market homes. Who else will soon find a use for your school’s data? It’s out there, transparent for everyone to see.

Educators across the country are acutely aware of the forces of Accountability.

Top Down Accountability: Legislation such as NCLB is making schools more accountable for their results. The federal Department of Education, state departments of education, county offices of education, and districts all provide top down accountability. For good or bad, accountability is a factor that impacts education everyday.

Lateral Accountability: Principals, unfortunately, often compete for students by offering programs that will attract students and comparing one school to another. Public schools and private schools have a lateral accountability dynamic. Competition is a natural result of all the transparency layered into a space where there are limited resources.

Bottom-up-accountability: Being transparent to the public, the community can make choices about which schools they want to send their students to. If they don’t feel you are meeting their needs, there is a school that will. Parents and teachers are able to spread opinions and views of your school or district via the digital world. Your school or district is apt to be branded good or bad by the views and opinions of the grassroots in your community.

No team can afford to miss the opportunity to collaborate with and get the best from all available “people” resources. PNLCs enable teachers to more effectively meet the needs of students and satisfy the various compliance issues by increasing the effectiveness of the team through greater access to expertise, knowledge, information, strategies, research, and by doing so during the contractual hours of the teachers’ school day.

Moving From the PLC to the PNLC: 6 Key Drivers of Change- Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, there are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

Lets examine “key driver” number three.

3. Cultural: the increasing desire for real-time feedback, the expectation of immediacy and the compression of time and space

Peter Sheahan writes in his book Flip, “Human beings have always been impatient. Today we expect things to happen faster than ever before. And not just a little bit faster, but over the last few years a lot faster. The quicker something can be something can be done, the quicker we expect it to happen…”

Time is one of the most crucial resources any PNLC has. Teams of teachers using the resource of time meeting together to meet the needs of students must make as effective use of time as possible. The PNLC will allow educators to leverage the cultural changes in our society, one being the expectation of immediacy. We are comfortable with Instant Messaging, Twitter, web cams, etc. As the technologies continue to become part of our greater culture, the immediacy of which we expect responses from others will only increase.

If data can be pulled up in an instant with databases such as Edusoft or Data Director, why not people? The PNLC will see it as natural that people else where with knowledge, expertise, data, and information to share will participate in real-time collaboration through use of synchronous technologies such as video or phone-conferencing. Why wait for answers when you can have instant real-time feedback?

No teacher would argue that the increasing demands of high stakes testing and legislation such as NCLB is driving them to get more teaching squeezed into the same amount of days. Education is going to have to adapt to the compression of time as we asked to do more in the same space of time.

The compression of space from physical to physical and virtual will change the nature of what can be done collaboratively. As the world gets “smaller” we are going to have more opportunities to interact with people from all over the world, whether in person or through technology. This may create more opportunities for our teams to collaborate with and learn from those who have expertise, data, information, or direct knowledge to help increase students learning. Collaboration across the world via technology is the result of compressed space and distance.

Tom Peters summed it up best when he said, “Distance is dead.” The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative embraces it.

Moving From the PLC to the PNLC: 6 Key Drivers of Change- Part 1

There are six “key drivers” that I see pushing Professional Learning Communities to evolve into Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives. They are Technology, Wisdom Stewardship, Cultural, Accountability, External Approach, and Continuous Change, Choice, and Disruption. These six “key drivers” are having a major impact on education and make the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative uniquely suited to handle the impact effectively.

Lets examine “key driver” numbers one and two.

1. Technological: convergence of video, voice and data over Internet Protocol (IP) and other collaborative technology platforms.

According to Evan Rosen, author of The Culture of Collaboration, “The convergence combined with broadband to homes, remote offices and wireless devices creates an environment in which more people can collaborate and communicate more effectively regardless of geography”

The advantage to the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative Collaborative is the ability to leverage “Converged Networking”, the ability to carry data, voice, and video over a single network, which changes how, where, and with whom Professional Learning Communities can collaborate.

The convergence combined with broadband to school sites, district offices, and wireless devices will create an environment in which PLCs communicate and collaborate regardless of geography.

Converged networking will allow Professional Learning Communities to easily share data, communicate, and collaborate with people in different classrooms, at different schools, with experts at the district office, or with consultants from across the globe.Location independent, or location non-dependent collaboration will not only be possible, but in many cases will allow PNLCs to have greater access to a wider range expertise more frequently. Imagine PNLCs meeting with teachers at other schools to share instructional strategies, or with district personnel to discuss data or potential Special Education issues, or even with consultants via various collaborative technology platforms.

PNLCs will be able to leverage talent, expertise, and knowledge independent of geographic restrictions.

2. Wisdom Stewardship: exploiting the best expertise, talent, and knowledge regardless of geography.

The ability for PNLCs to have access to the best expertise, knowledge, and information through collaborative technology platforms is now possible. PNLCs can leverage others around the school, the district, the state, or the globe, saving money and time. This allows anyone, anywhere to become a valuable resource to the PNLC and is fiscally and economically advantageous. The technology can bring people together. This allows for better use of “people” resources, time, and fiscal resources.

So today, and increasingly in the future, it is the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative that will be able to handle these drivers of change. The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative embraces and seeks to leverage the technological changes because in so doing, they are better able to utilize the resources of time and talent because they have accepted the cultural shift toward immediacy of real-time interaction, and therefore is better able to handle the increasing compliance issues facing education. With both and internal focus and external approach members are better able to handle, and in fact embrace, the continuous change, new disruptions, and increases in choices and options.

A.W.A.R.E.N.E.S.S

For a Professional Networked Learning Collaborative to have maximum impact on meeting the needs of students and improve student learning they must leverage their “AWARENESS.”

A student focus

Having AWARENESS means PNLCs are focused on the needs of students and student learning. That is the mission and purpose of the PNLC. PNLCs need to be aware of their work and ensure that is focused on student needs, and not house keeping needs. This means having a student focus.

Wisdom

A PNLC leverages wisdom. The difference between the typical view of wisdom and the PNLC view of wisdom is a PNLC views wisdom as something that can be discovered and accelerated. Wisdom can be discovered and accelerated through exploring the creativity, knowledge, innovation, and imagination of each individual, the great minds of the past and present, the team or the group, their networks, including professional networks, and the crowd. Leveraging the power of each of these is what I call "Lateral Wisdom." PNLCs use Lateral Wisdom

Abilities

PNLCs are aware of the individual abilities of each of their members and seek to leverage these abilities to maximum effect to improve and increase student learning.

Response-ability

PNLC don’t just respond and hope. They use proven strategies, methods, and models to respond appropriately and effectively to meet the needs of students. PNLC have the ability to respond. This ability is honed through the other key characteristics of PNLCs, and that is learning. PNLC are constantly learning so they can better respond to the needs of their students.

Education

PNLCs members are learners. Members need to always be aware of learning from their work, from their peers, and from their extended networks. Seeking out education opportunities to increase the group’s knowledge and cognitive diversity is something all PNLC members are constantly aware of and actively seeking.

Network

PNLC have the advantage of the “network.” The vast array of networks that are combined and blended to make the PNLC networked. PNLC members will fluidly move between the physical and virtual networks to communicate, collaborate, and share ideas, data, strategies, and information. Each member being a portal or node to their individual network makes the PNLC exponentially stronger, knowledgeable, and wise.

Experiences

PNLC are aware of and seek to leverage the variety of individual experiences that each team member brings to the team. No two members will have the exact same experiences. PNLCs are aware that the variety and different experiences of each member can be leveraged to improve student learning.

Skills

PNLCs are also aware of the skills of their individual members. Just as no two members will have the same experiences, no two members will have the exact same skill set. Skill that are developed professionally within the teaching discipline are combined with skills developed outside the discipline to create unique skill sets. PNLCs are aware of these skills sets and seek to leverage them for the betterment of students.

Scalability

PNLCs understand that they are scalable. PNLCs can be expanded to include professionals who provide their needed expertise in both physical and virtual spaces. New members can be added as needed to address certain specific student needs and problems as they arise. The PNLC is aware that this can be accomplished in touch space with professionals at the table with the team or in virtual space with teams using collaborative technology platforms for synchronous communication and collaboration from professionals who cannot be physically present. PNLC are always aware that they scalable, and will add professionals to help the team meet the needs of all their students.