Download - eTwinning Ambassadors PDW
eTwinning PDWeTwinning Groups
From pilots to a big scale!
Riina VuorikariOctober 1 2009
Riina, who?
Riina Vuorikarifrom Finland, lives in Brussels since 1999
• Slides available:http://www.slideshare.net/vuorikari
• Since 2000 worked in European Schoolnet• MEd in Finland, DEA in Hypermedia, PhD
in November!!
What’s on your plate?
• Goal: What can Ambassadors do forGroups?
• Groups’ pilot:– examples of what Groups do– what have we learned
• Roll out the eTwinning Groups:– Ambassadors’ key role in Groups– Next steps - describing Groups
A buffet of Groups?
On Sunday, for each Groups, I would liketo see:
• A vision (what will this Group be about?)• A tagline (e.g “eTwinning, the community
for schools in Europe”)• Some engagement and leadership
taken (e.g. I will run this activity once amonth in Spanish)
Groups = Thematic onlinecommunities
Pilot Oct-Jan 09
Creativity
MST
School leaders
What are Groups about?
• “ a community of practice is not really a thing,but rather a process in which social learningoccurs because the people who participate inthis process have a common interest in ..”
• “The product of this process is the sharing ofideas, the finding of solutions to commonproblems and the building of a repository ofavailable and new knowledge and expertise.”
Kirschner & Lai (2007) Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 16, 2, pp.127-131
Differences
Learning Labs• Structured activities• Scheduled• Lead by a
“professional”moderator
• Determined time
Groups• Less structured
activities, up toparticipants
• Less schedule• Moderator on the
background• No clear end
Creative Classroom (1)
• Members were invited to join the Group to“foster creativity at schools and in eTwinningprojects”
• About 40 teachers + one moderator
• First: create your profile andintroduce your self
• Discussion activity:Does school kill creativity?
Creative Classroom (2)
the Groups was to define• Their way to describe “creativity in learning”• Define their goals• Discussion lead to links in “creative” mini-
projects using variety of tools• 35 bookmarks at:
http://delicious.com/tag/etwinningcreativity
Creative classroom (3)
• Scheduled events using Flashmeeting to “talkabout Your project and creativity”
• Schedulingevents isimportantas teachersare busy.
• This allowsbetter planningof their time!
Like usual... no time!
Creative classroom (4)
Different tools used:• Online community (Ning), e.g. creation of
sub-groups based on interest, profiles andwriting on walls, polls, forum, upload images
• External tools, e.g. creating bookmark lists(delicious), integrate videos from YouTube,FlashMeeting
Activities in the Groups (5)
What have we learned? (1)
• Leadership and teamwork skills areneeded
• There should be more than one “leader”in a group => Leadership team
What have we learned? (2)
• Online leadership and teamwork skills– “good leaders need good followers”
• Technical skills– use of ICTs in general and the platform in
particular• Skills in content and substance
– the stuff teachers know the best!• Different skills also needed for Ambassadors
Different roles (3)
• Leaders: can be one or distributed– take responsibility and set the goals– determine how the group will achieve these goals
• Core members:– e.g. subject matter experts, knowledge manager,
content coordinator• Support persons:
– e.g. mentors, tutors, event coordinators,technologist
• Community members
Motivation does not alwaysmean participation! (4)
Task orientation vs. process(5)
Ambassadors’ role?
Plan, build, support andmoderate Groups with other
eTwinners!
“Show leadership in buildingeTwinning Community”
Online leadership andteamwork skills
• Vision and action– Set and attain goals, take initiative, add
your energy to the group• Competences
– Assign roles and be clear when delegating• “Expedition behaviour”
– pitch in, be positive, serve group goals,respect others, work as a team
Ambassador’s roles in Groups
• Leaders: can be one or distributed– take responsibility and set the goals– determine how the group will achieve these
goals• Core members:
– e.g. subject matter experts, knowledgemanager, content coordinator
• Support persons:– e.g. mentors, tutors, event coordinators,
technologist• Community members:
– “expedition behaviour”
Timeline
1. 2. 3...
1. Pilot2. Ambassadors: Ideas and commitments for
Groups - work in Chania.3. Rolling out..
• Unified look and feel (“branding”)• More tools, e.g. wiki• No advertisements• No problems with school firewall• Log-in with the same eTwinning
username• LifeRay (open source - more control!)
Group activity: Working on theproposed themes
A buffet of Groups?
On Sunday, for each Groups, I would liketo see:
• A vision (what will this Group be about?)• A tagline (e.g “eTwinning, the community
for schools in Europe”)• Some engagement and leadership
taken (e.g. I will run this activity once amonth in Spanish)
Group activity: Working on theproposed themes
• Brainstorming in Groups for 1 h• Plan and build a foundation for your
thematic Group• Continuation in workshop “building
and sustaining online communities”• Sunday: 45 min to polish up and
present your ideas to all
Now
• Find your Group• Decide
– who holds the pen and drafts ideas on the flipchart• Use the planning tool (8 questions) to get
started• Try to answer to questions that make sense!• To be continued...
Building and sustaining onlinecommunities
Riina VuorikariCSS, European Schoolnet
Chania Oct 2, 2009
Curious life of an onlinecommunity
• Online communities form, grow, matureand terminate = lifecycle
• Each level has different issues and canbe supported
Lai et al. (2006) Literature Review and Synthesis:Online Communities of Practice
Lifecycle of an onlinecommunity
Phase 0: Planning.• Determine the scope and purpose of
the CoP• Define roles of the CoP and
assign/engage people• Make a skeleton of a plan for the CoP• Define how to evaluate whether the
Group has been successful
Lifecycle of an onlinecommunity
Phase 1: Formation of the CoP
• “CoPs should grow, not be implemented’• Build trust by mandating “good profiles”• Develop clear policies such as code of
conduct, community governance, netiquette,copyright
• Plan activities that allow active participation,but also ‘lurking’
Lifecycle of an onlinecommunity
Phase 2: Sustain and manage CoPs.• Attract a diverse membership• Mentor new members• Delegate leadership (leader of the day)• Turn lurkers into active participants• Think “Glocal”!• Evaluate purpose and direction
Lifecycle of an onlinecommunity
Phase 3: Transformation or disengaging.• Expansion or fading away?
• Evaluation of a CoP: on-going activity wherethe success is measured against its owngoals (Phase 0)
"Learning is not onlyexperience, but reflection onexperience (Dewey 1938)"
• In an online community, like that ofAmbassadors on Ning or any other,what has been/is the biggest barrier foryou to benefit from them?– write it on a post-it
• What would be your solution to fix that?– write it on a post-it
Participation inequality
J.Nilsen (2006) Participation inequality: Encouraging More Users to
contribute