Here I will introduce the collaborative project for building a virtual learning commons. It will happen at: http://schoollearningcommons.pbworks.com/

My PowerPoint presentation: NECC v-C.pptx

Near the top of the front page is the invitation to help construct the Virtual Learning Commons VLS. There you will find a link to the Markham Middle School VLC that is being constructed this summer. During NECC, I will show just a hint on what the teacher center is beginning to look like and challenge the audience to select a feasure of the VLC and brainstorm about ways to create the giant conversation rather than a static one-way communication that most library websites exhibit and are ignored by Googlers.

Here are a list of elements we have thought of so far. To add your comments, go to the tables listed on the first page and add ideas of how these elements might be developed:

Elements of the Virtual Learning Commons to Develop:

• Turning assignments from classroom teacher dictates into conversations that include the teacher, students, specialists in the school, parents
• Building a reading community through virtual book/movie/other media discussion clubs including wrting and utlizing social networking such as Facebook and Twitter, wikis, blogs, nings.
• Encouraging the production of learner-created content whether for assignments or for fun and storing that content in a virtual school yearbook and museum. The center of fun and creativity.
• The center for school improvement or experimental learningcenter where trials, experiments, action research, professional learning communities are centered.
• A center for metacognitive reflection by both individuals and groups
• The use of various types of tools to create a learning commons nested in the cloud. For example: signing up for Google APS as a school; Netbives, Pageflakes, etc.
• Design as a method of capturing attention and collaboration; for example, perhaps there are multiple "main" pages as direct entry points for learners, classroom teachers, teacher librarians, etc. rather than trying to direct traffic all through one central page.
• Invitations to collaborate at every appropriate place
• Creating Knowledge Building Centers (idea from Deb Wallac) that are major collaborative pathfinders for learning units that are repeated in the school over and over. These knowledge centers might have links created by everyone, tools, data sets, sample units and their success over time, projects across the class/school/world, places to collaborate with experts; links to special collections at various libraries/museums/govt. agencies; student created tutorials/projects/interviews/data sets.
  • Global awareness Centers
  • Financial literacy centers
  • Health and wellness/obesity collaborative centers
  • Any other school wide effort to integrate themes into regular curricular efforts.
• Demonstration of what clients can expect from teacherlibrarians, teachertechnologiests and other specialists (idea from Deb Wallace, Harvard business School)
• Lots of collaborative tools for kids and teachers along with tutorials for their use. CollabTools
• The integration of ICT literacy along with information literacy into learning activities designed to boot achievement.