Professional learning communities

What is a learning community?

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A learning community is a group of organisations or individuals that operate as a collaborative network. Some are face to face but many are connected via the Internet.

A learning community provides opportunities for educators to connect with others, share ideas and resources, reflect critically on their practice, and create new knowledge about teaching and learning.

Why create or join a learning community?

Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime. Learning and work related activities are no longer separate. In many situations, they are the same.

George Siemens, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

Strong principles of an effective learning community include connection and collaboration. Participants can:

• get and provide advice, feedback and support
• access a wide range of resources and perspectives
• stay up–to–date on important changes in the field of education
• work towards a shared goal, or on a collaborative inquiry, such as:
  • building a vision for teaching and learning
  • raising achievement across a community of learning .

Participation also provides an opportunity for on–going, self–directed learning and ownership of professional development.

Schools are being talked about as “learning organisations”, and educators are encouraged to become “professional learning communities” or even “networked learning communities” within and across schools. School leaders have responsibility for supporting and sustaining a continuous culture of learning amongst staff, in a dynamic environment

Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching – a New Zealand perspective

Mary Ann Baxter and Kathy Paterson, teachers from Hamilton Girls' High School, describe how their staff developed as a professional learning community through incorporating the key competency – managing self, with e-learning and ICT.

Key resource

20 Tips for Creating a Professional Learning Network
An article outlining 10 tips for using professional learning networks.

 The Virtual Learning Network (VLN), He kōtuinga ako ā-ipurangi, is an interactive resource provided by the Ministry of Education for all New Zealand educators.

The purpose of the VLN

"VLN Groups is a social network for teachers, school leaders and facilitators to connect, share experiences, and learn together. The main intent is to foster the co-construction, co-development, and the sharing of, best practice in blended learning environments."

The VLN

What are the benefits of the VLN?

Benefits of connecting, sharing, and collaborating in the VLN include:

• information and advice relevant to the New Zealand Curriculum
• quick responses to your questions
• the ability to collaborate with other teachers anytime, anywhere.

Josie Woon, Assistant Principal at Takaro School, talks about how and why she uses the Virtual Learning Network. The community has helped her integrate technology into her class in a purposeful way by enabling her to connect with other "expert" teachers.

Who is in the VLN?

Inside the VLN are:

The Learning Exchange – a brokerage site enabling connections between teachers and learners. It joins clusters, schools, groups, and individuals who are learning through online and blended programmes.

VLN Groups – an online community for teachers, school leaders, and facilitators to connect, share experiences, and learn together. They include the Enabling e-Learning community groups.

The Enabling e-Learning community in the VLN

The Enabling e-Learning Community provides an online community for all school leaders and teachers to explore innovative ways of using digital technologies to support and enhance learning and teaching. The discussions are driven by the needs of the community. Join this parent group to:

• keep up-to-date with what is happening weekly across the groups via the blog
• use the calendar to find professional learning and development opportunities including free webinars
• access the e-learning subgroups:
  • e-Learning: Beyond the classroom
    This group supports schools to empower and educate families/whānau, with and about technologies.
  • e-Learning: Leadership
    This group is focused on supporting school leaders to lead change and to develop vision, policy, and strategy to integrate ICTs into learning.
  • e-Learning: Teaching
    This group is for exploring how and why we use ICTs as part of effective teaching and learning. Discuss how to effectively integrate ICTs into your classroom programme. This includes exploring the key competencies, learning areas, pedagogy, and assessment in an e-learning context.
  • e-Learning: Technology
    This group is for teachers to explore why and how technologies can be used to improve students’ learning.
  • e-Learning: Professional learning
    This group is for exploring professional learning focused on e-learning.
  • Using the e-Learning Planning Frameworks
    The place to ask questions about how to use the e-Learning Planning Frameworks, including the online tool.

Discussion starters

Use these discussion starters in conjunction with the e-Learning Planning Framework to identify and develop professional learning communities within your school or cluster that share e-learning understandings and practices focused on improved student learning outcomes.

For Principals

• Within and beyond your school community, what does an effective professional learning culture and community look like?
• What is the relationship between effective professional learning, effective teacher practice, and improved student outcomes?
• How are you actively involved in leading and mentoring others’ e-learning professional learning within your school?

Practical steps

e-Learning: Leadership community discussions

Join the discussions or create your own thread in the enabling e-Learning: leadership community

Do principals really have time for a PLN?

Participating in the VLN

To join the VLN, complete the registration form .

Visit the Getting started section for information on how to:

• build your profile
• build your professional network
• join or set up discussion groups
• set up your dashboard to suit your needs, so that friends, groups, and content are easy to find.

Teachers discuss using the Virtual Learning Network as part of a blended professional learning model and the benefits it has had for their cluster.

Josie Woon talks about the potential of Enabling e-Learning community groups to impact on teacher practice.

In this EDtalk, Outside the four walls of learning , Trevor Storr director of e-learning for a cluster of schools in South Canterbury and North Otago, describes the opportunity for collaboration and personalised learning provided by the Virtual Learning Network.

The Learning Communities Online (LCO) handbook

This handbook is for school leaders and anyone with an interest in, or responsibility for, the development of a learning community online. Based on the advice of experienced clusters, it provides a structured approach to establishing an online community.

You can access the handbook online or download it from the VLN.

• The online version of the handbook is a living document with space for members to contribute items into the resource areas.
• A printable copy of the handbook is available to download. This is intended as a reference for school leaders, BOTs, and other parties. It has been designed to be incorporated into a folder into which supplementary resources and notes can be added.

Key resource

What Is a Professional Learning Community?
This article outlines key ideas behind effective professional learning communities.

Teacher standards and e-learning: Professional relationships
Look at how technologies can help you maintain professional relationships.

SEDL
This website provides some useful research information on developing professional learning communities. It contains resources to support the successful integration of ICT in learning.

Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
This international association is made up of teachers, educators, and affiliated organisations of teacher educators. Their focus is on the use of information technology in teacher education and staff development.

ICT professional learning
This page, from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Australia, makes references to how schools can plan, implement and evaluate effective ICT professional learning that contributes to improved teacher ICT capabilities.

Learning communities
This link, from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Australia, makes reference to how schools use ICT to extend learning beyond the school to support and connect students, staff and families to local and global learning communities.