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As a part of the course work we have researched theories of collaboration and evaluated several PLCs to assess the methods and used these ideas to create systems for supporting and sustaining student collaborative learning.

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Having experienced a variety of PLCs in professional settings, I found that aligning the members into “knowledge communities” with specific goals established prior to formation resulted in highly productive and effective collaborations.  Interestingly, when my (professional) groups were aligned closer to subject matter in knowledge communities, they ended up demonstrating the factors of communities of practice (not only shares knowledge; but also it creates, organizes, revises, and passes on knowledge )as listed in the class reading Seaman's 2008 article, "Birds of a Feather?: Communities of Practice and Knowledge Communities," from Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, volume 10, issue 1/2, pages 269–279.

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Harnessing all the good ideas to create a great product.

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1. We looked at adult collaboration models in depth by first reading about them in our course text and examining through the discussion board, the types of collaboration models that we have been a part of.

2. We examined our previous implementations of student collaboration in the classroom and analyzed why they may not have been successful by reflecting on our practices. We compared our unsuccessful attempts at implementing collaboration to successful collaborations and looked at the differences between the two.

3. We furthered our knowledge on adult collaboration models by creating a guide that outlines best practices for adult collaboration. This guide included a breakdown of the different models, challenges, and strategies for facilitating collaboration.

4. To incorporate research that supports adult and student collaborative learning, we looked at the characteristics of collaborative learning and what it takes to establish a solid team. We also looked the skills needed to facilitate and sustain group work through our Unit 6 Assignment.

5. To communicate effectively with educational stakeholders, we (1) collaborated together, despite being in different states, working in different schools, and having different responsibilities! This was a challenge, but a learning experience. In addition, we drafted letters to our leadership teams in the discussion board to share concerns and strategies for facilitating, maintaining, and sustaining collaborative work.

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1. Respecting staff. Respecting staff's time, knowledge and expertise.

2. Trust is critical! Trusting staff to complete their assignments.  Trusting that staff have students' best interest in mind. Trust that staff are professionals. Building trust, maintaining trust, sustaining trust.

3. Set clear goals.

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How can we help to bridge the digital literacy gap for adults, as well as students?

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I find that Communities of Practice are most valuable in my setting because they are genuine. In my experience and reading through the experiences of others through the discussion board, I have seen the common theme arise that many face the challenge of their colleagues distracted or busy with other things during PLC time. Communities of Practice include members who gather casually because they are interested in improving in their practice on their own.

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The course competencies and how you addressed them.

Evaluate Professional Learning Communities and adult collaboration models: To address evaluating professional learning communities and adult collaboration, we completed weekly readings based on different strategies and platforms as well as our own research to broaden our knowledge of PLC’s. We also applied our experiences within our own professions to reflect on effective collaboration models.

Evaluate models for student collaboration in the classroom: Evaluating models for student collaboration was interesting to learn about. There are several factors or layers that go into what collaboration can look like for students. Some of the most interesting learning for me was learning about how to foster collaboration at different age levels. For instance, a lot of my group members work with older students. Whereas I work with 1st graders. This was exciting for me to learn about because the students at an older age are more independent, which increases opportunities for collaboration.

Design systems for building, supporting, and sustaining collaborative learning for students and teachers: By completing the assignment for unit 6 we gathered our research to establish what it takes to have successful and sustainable professional collaboration. We have discussed with peers' strategies and suggestion to use in our own practices as well.

Analyze theory and research that support adult and student collaborative learning: The unit 6 assignment allowed our group to gather and combine our research to establish successful professional collaboration guideline. With these guidelines we applied our knowledge to make a plan for our unit 9 assignment. The unit 9 assignment allowed us to take the information we have researched and put it to action within a classroom setting, adapting and assessing the effectiveness of our application.

Communicate effectively with educational stakeholders in a variety of ways appropriate to purpose and context: In unit 9 discussion 2 we created an “email” to our principal to suggest strategies to address the challenges of the PLCs in our working environment. This provided an opportunity to present our knowledge and communication skills in a way that is constructive and appropriate to the context and purpose of the course.

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Our group did a fantastic job of "being flexible." From communicating in a group chat about assignment goals and requirements, to working at our own pace, this was definitely most beneficial in my opinion. The least beneficial aspect of course assignments, or biggest challenge personally, was teaching at such a lower grade than the rest of my group members. Not that I felt that this was anything in our control. This challenge did shift my perspective and lens of the opportunities for collaboration in the classroom.

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Productive asynchronous collaboration was used a lot within our group. This was a great way to foster our personal accountability, communication, and organizational skills.

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Using unfamiliar platforms

This was a challenge being used to using Microsoft Office, although it provided an opportunity to learn about other collaboration platforms.

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I find it more motivating when the research being done is being applied and put to action. This keeps members engaged and motivated.

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Having younger students makes collaboration a challenge at times. By fostering independence and building structured routines, the students will work together more effectively and productively.

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Through great serendipity, this class mirrored what I was working on in my professional life; therefore, one provided a great amount of support to the other. As the Director for training and delivery for a workforce development company, I focus on helping clients/organizations build high performing teams. Collaboration is a key component of that, and so I was able to use what I learned in this course for my work. Attached is a link to a powerpoint I created for a client as an introduction to High Performance Teams.

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We had a challenge occur near the beginning of the course as we were putting together our second assignment.  There was a difference of opinion between us on how to do part of the assignment.  We seemed to spend a lot of energy defending the way we each wanted it done.  In the end, we had to go with the majority and get a bit assertive with the dissenter in asking that this person adapt the work that had already been completed.  I did feel as if the result of this was a bit of a souring of our collaborative efforts. However, these are good life lessons to help us adapt and work in groups in the future.

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I'd agree with Meghan, that one of the most beneficial things about this course was putting into practice and really being able to experience what collaboration looks and feels like. Having experienced it as an adult learner allowed me to see group work through a different perspective. Though there were aspects that were challenging, looking back, I understand why these skills need to be explicitly taught to students. I also saw how technology helped to close the physical gap for collaboration despite being apart.

What I found as the least beneficial was how our group broke down assignment completion. We collaborated on our contributions by simply dividing up our essay points and assigning an editor to review our parts before final submission. Though we collaborated, I felt that we could have worked better as a team by collaborating in more creative ways, but for the sake of time, we opted for the simplest method of work distribution.

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My favorite model of adult collaboration

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My favorite model of adult collaboration

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Because I am not teaching at the moment, I am adapting what I'm learning to fit my role as a trainer of SEL skills such as creating collaborative climates.  I kind of touched on this when I discussed the skills that I developed or were enhanced as a result of collaboration in the course.  As I was learning or enhancing different skills, I was already formulating in my head how I could start using them immediately to create training content for my clients.  Creating training modules that can flex in either the virtual or the live direction helps streamline my content and ultimately makes less work for me as I deliberately create them using Universal Design for Learning principles (meaning, I make them adaptable from onset.

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COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION
and...

COMMUNICATION

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How to find more hours in the day to learn all the things we want to know and then teach it to everyone else!

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Little Learners:

How can we teach little learners to collaborate? What are some collaboration strategies used at the primary elementary age?

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Though most of our work was online, one of the challenges that I encountered was learning how to trust in my classmates. Because I typically get work completed early, I worried whether or not I could trust my classmates to complete their portion in time. I also worried about their quality of work. I learned to believe that everyone in our group wanted to succeed in this course and would be willing to work hard to do so.

Another challenge we encountered was finding a time to meet virtually. Despite FaceTime and Zoom, only two of us (Meghan and I pictured) were able to FaceTime together. It was a great experience to be able to connect a face and voice to her name. We chatted briefly about how we felt the course went, discussed the remaining courses we needed to take for our program at Capella, and learned a little bit about each other's families.

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This course covered best practices for collaboration; both from the teachers with teachers point of view and from students with students point of view.  It addressed all of the competencies listed in the course outline through virtual, group project based learning.

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The most beneficial part of this course was going through what I would call "best practices" for collaborative groups; the creation of rules, finding an objective, assigning roles, and detailing rules for accountability.  It put into words what so many teachers struggle to create in a concrete way and serves as a roadmap for students to use as well.

The least beneficial aspect was probably the lack of any synchronous time; therefore we did not get any live, experience with that.