4, 3, 2, 1…some of our favorite posts from 2013
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As we reflected on 2013 while making plans for 2014, we talked about the ideas we shared via the online communities of practice we created or manage for our partners and clients. Each of our policy staff members has chosen a blog post or discussion entry that they wrote to highlight here. We hope these will pique interest or provide insight on a variety of topics from 2013. Continue reading “4, 3, 2, 1…some of our favorite posts from 2013”
A few months ago, I wrote a blog titled 
Have you ever noticed that when you are deeply interested in something, you find ideas about that interest where you aren’t expecting to find them and when you aren’t intentionally seeking that information? If you are open to learning something new, then ideas come to you from sources and settings that may be surprising. I often find myself making connections among concepts from experiences and sources that have little to do with my work. My professional interests in exploring ways to help educators learn new knowledge and skills has launched an ongoing inquiry about collaborative processes for learning that yields discoveries outside the usual places I go to acquire information. 
In education reform, technology increasingly allows us to work across classrooms, schools, districts, states, and often even international borders. Online dialogues via email are a way of life for most of us and we routinely connect through webinars, Google Plus, Discussion Forums, Twitter, Facebook, and many other platforms. Online communities of practice and collaboration sites allow ongoing working relationships that span time zones and geographical borders to promote continuous knowledge sharing. Many of you may have been part of a community of practice in the past or are currently a member of one or more of these types of communities – whether completely online, in-person, or a mixture of both. If you are not familiar with online communities of practice, visit the