What Makes an Effective Online PLC Design? ~ PME 810 My e-Journal - Entry #8

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What Makes an Effective Online PLC Design?

In this post I will connect the characteristics of my PLC, Higher Ed Learning Collective to the emerging best practices for the design setup of online PLC’s noted in the article by Blitz, C., 2013.

  1. Clear purpose
  2. Strong leadership and facilitator/moderator
  3. Diverse group membership
  4. Opportunities to socialize and build community

Connections to my PLC:

  1. The purpose of this global community of educators is “to build a more connected future. Knowing that many faculty were not prepared for an abrupt transition to teaching online, [they] created a space to work together, to empower and to educate each other for free”
  2. There is a evidence of a moderator/supervisor and there are very clearly laid out rules of engagement.
  3. There is diverse group membership. Over 36 000 members with faculty of all ranks, graduate students and higher education staff to develop their online pedagogy and practice.

“While online PLCs can facilitate individual learning and reflection (because teachers can learn at their own pace and are free to reflect on what they learn without being distracted by comments from their peers), it is not clear whether online PLCs facilitate collaboration among teachers unless moderators and facilitators are included” (Whitehouse et al., 2010 as cited by Blitz, C., 2013 ). 

There does not appear to be an ongoing and active facilitator in this community, as it is so large and would be difficult to coordinate and moderate such a large community of learners. Moderation is in effect as I was told by a participant that I needed to receive moderator approval to collect any type of data in this space. I look forward to experiencing the efficacy of this collective on a go-forward basis.

Resources:

Blitz, C. L. (2013). Can Online Learning Communities Achieve the Goals of Traditional Professional Learning Communities? What the Literature Says. REL 2013-003. Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic.

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