English Companion Ning
Teachers are concerned with developing 21st century literacy methods that help students
achieve their Adequate Yearly Progress in light of No Child Left Behind.
Some school districts are providing the type of professional development that will afford teachers first-hand opportunities for inquiry and collaboration for integrating theory with classroom pedagogy.
Research has shown that collaborative learning groups are the most efficient way to provide social constructivist professional development that leads to school reform (Caret, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001). With readily accessible technological advances in communication, it is reasonable for teachers seeking to improve their practice to collaborate in a public forum that meets their needs.
We credit contributors to listservs like NCTE-talk and Media-L with being the best cooperating teachers we've had in our combined 20 years of teaching. We've had literacy mentorsNancy Patterson, Tracy Gardner, Gloria Pipkin, and otherssharing, discussing any topic we found worthy.
Listservs and other online communities are the most democratic communities of practice because credibility and respect is not based on one's education or job title, but in the intelligence of one's responses and commitment to the community.
In December of 2008, Jim Burke, author of The English Companion, took the listserv-type community of practice to a 21st century level by creating a Ning (an online social network) of teachers sharing, discussing, and arguing topics central to their teachingan online community of practice. Technological tools, such as the English Companion Ning, easily enable teachers to implement this practice with teachers within their local districts as well as teachers across state, regional, and national borders (Laferriere, Lamon, & Chan, 2006).
Laferriere et al. (2006) reported, "Internet-based technologies support teacher learners, distributing cognition across persons, tools, and resources to expand the system's expertisemembers create and improve knowledge of the community collectively" (p. 78). Listservs have been fulfilling this role since the advent of e-mail.
Online discussions position teachers in their classrooms but connected to the world. The development of professional learning communities re?flects an emphasis on learning as a social practice.
Social networking sites such as Facebook have been recently growing in popularity among adults as they have discovered the advantages of maintaining connections with "friends" in other places. Ellison, Lampe, and Steinfield (2009) discuss how the two levels of personal networking sitesinterpersonal and communitywork.
On the Ning, members have a personal page where they can post personal data such as photos, books they are reading, videos, and blog entries. This personal information allows participants to find connections with people they might not have reached otherwise. At the community level, participants can join focused groups where they can unite to share insights, discuss ideas, debate issues, or take action on a specific topic. The English Companion Ning has a similar format.
Being able to connect with people at both the personal and community level has "the potential to have positive effects on society at large because they encourage disparate individuals to connect, communicate, and take action" (Ellison et al., 2009, p. 6). Once teachers enter the site, they are on the main page that lists upcoming events, recent blogs, groups, and discussion forums. From there they may enter their personal page, discussions and forums that they are following, or groups to which they belong. The navigation tabs at the top of the pages allow for easy movement within the site.
English Companion Ning
By: endeavor
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