Why Participate in an Online
Learning Community

The online Learning Communities of WECB Online's projects offer participating teachers a unique and valuable experience in professional development. With a timeless structure that can fit any teacher's schedule and the leadership of a trained facilitator, the learning community (LC) becomes a classroom on demand able to meet the needs of every participant.

The yearlong program offers an alternative to typical professional development that ranges from after-school inservices to conferences spanning several days. These events are short, intense, and strictly scheduled, covering a great deal of information with little time for reflection. Implementation of anything learned is usually entirely dependent upon a teacher's personal drive to make changes.

The Learning Communities of MATHLINE and Scienceline, however, are active all day long, year-round. The asynchronous nature of the discussions means participants do not have to be online at the same time in order to communicate with each other. Messages are read and posted at times convenient for the teacher rather than the group. Yet a handy schedule is only a minor benefit when compared to the learning that can take place over time.

A group which meets frequently and regularly to discuss educational reform is able to cover the issues in much greater depth than a one-time event. There is time to reflect, experiment in a classroom, share successes and failures, and receive feedback from other teachers experiencing the same thing. A level of support exists that sustains efforts to change and grow. In a Learning Community, professional development becomes a long-term continual process with far greater results than can be achieved through a short workshop.

The "closed" LCs, with their limited number of participants, also truly become communities. Members get to know one another as individuals and build a trust level within the group creating that safe environment teachers strive for in their classrooms. The culture of this community is focused on reforming education through personal growth and leadership in teaching by implementing the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. Talk may range over the entire landscape of educational issues, but the core discussions are centered on the Standards and the key to their success lies with the Online Facilitators.

A trained facilitator leads each Learning Community. To be selected as a facilitator, a teacher must have worked to implement the Standards in their own classroom for several years. They must be experienced at providing professional development to other teachers at either the state or district level. They need to be continuous learners, willing to change their own teaching practices as they discover more effective methods of instruction. Finally, each must be recognized as a leader in Wisconsin education and be nominated by their peers.