Virtual Collaboration: Finding Your Birds of a Feather

Friday, March 5th 2010 by JanecloseAuthor: Jane Name: Krauss
Email: jkrauss@mahonia.us
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When I meet with educators for professional development around the topic of project-based learning I often ask experts to join us through Skype. Bud Hunt, Terry Smith, Julie Lindsay, Chris Lehmann, Linda Hartley, Jeff Utecht and others have graced my groups with their presence. Teachers are always impressed with their knowledge and passion, and note the easy collegiality between the visitor and me. I’m often asked, “How did you two meet?” About a quarter of the time I have to answer, “Well actually, we haven’t met, in person anyway!” Not one of these relationships started with a face-to-face introduction.

Another thing I like to do is share powerful collaborative projects. One I’m keen on right now is called The Longfellow Ten, which has middle school kids meeting across a distance to share stop-motion animations that illustrate language arts concepts. When teachers examine a project like this they get excited about the possibility of partnering with other schools and often ask, “How did those teachers find each other?”

How did you meet? How did they find each other? The answer to both is “Birds of a feather flock together… …and roost in the same trees.” If you’re looking to expand your professional circle start hanging out in the virtual “trees” where like-minded folks gather. Here are a few places I roost, and an idea of what happens there.

Skype: Skype is always running in the background on my computer. Just as I was writing about The Longfellow Ten project a Skype chat window popped up and Telannia Norfar asked “Could you meet with teachers at my school in five minutes?” I ran to get a hairbrush and the video call commenced. Get a free Skype account and start connecting with other teachers. (I’m jkrauss1989.)You’ll be surprised how many just-in-time opportunities arise.

Ning Networks: Classroom 2.0 and the ISTE Community Ning are professional social networks that use the Ning platform. I learned about The Longfellow Ten from George Mayo when we met in a Classroom 2.0 group. Join other educators in these networks and your professional life will be richer. If you’re looking for a school partnership check out the Collaboration Opportunities area of the discussion forum in Classroom 2.0.

Twitter: I’m not much of a planner so my favorite twitter feeds are the ones that announce events I can join RIGHT NOW. Some tweets come from people (@stevehargadon), some from event channels (@edtechtalk), and some are aggregated or “hash tagged” tweets of conference proceedings (this week’s ISTE-Singapore conference is #iCTLT2010). If you think Twitter is for the birds, try using it as a professional development events tracker.

Flickr: I started using Flickr photosharing to collect my travel photos in one place. I joined a few themed groups then started my own called Reinventing PBL. I met Terry Smith through the group when he posted photos of projects I had to learn more about. Visit the Reinventing PBL group to view projects and meet the 130 contributing members behind them.

These are just a few of the busy places I spend my time. I’m interested to hear how social web environments shape your professional life. Which “trees” do you find yourself returning to again and again?

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Jane Krauss is a teacher, author, curriculum writer and professional development consultant who lives in Eugene, Oregon. Jane and colleague Suzie Boss are coauthors of the ISTE bestseller Reinventing Project-Based Learning. In February and March Jane and Suzie host a series of conversations about PBL implementation called PBL~Better with Practice.

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