Classrooms as Community Hubs: Developing Open Digital Networks

The National Writing Project presented the Equity and Learning in the 21st Century Classroom: Explore, Connect, Transform, a part of the webinar series. Throughout the month, we chatted with innovative educators about how Connected Learning is helping increase equity & access for their students, offer pathways to openly networked learning, and inspire civic engagement.

The realtime chat took place on Livestream (http://bit.ly/cltvlive) and Twitter (#connectedlearning) on Tuesday, Apr. 8, from 10-11am PT (1-2pm ET). We explored how schools could take advantage of digital networking to connect students to each other & to the larger community outside their four walls.

From this Series:

• Part 1—Networked Classrooms: Providing Equitable Access to Connected Learning
• Part 3—Multiple Paths to Success: Promoting Peer-Supported Learning Grounded in Student Interests
• Part 4—Citizens in the Making: Inspiring Students to Engage in Transformative Civic Learning
• Part 5—Equity and Learning in the 21st Century Classroom: an ‘unHangout’

View the Conversation
During the broadcast, the conversation also took place on Twitter using the hashtag #connectedlearning.

Guests for this webinar included:

• Antero Garcia is an Assistant Professor in the English department at Colorado State University. From 2010-2011, he was a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow, providing teacher input and feedback on national education policy initiatives.
• Bud Hunt is an instructional technologist for the St. Vrain Valley School District in northern Colorado. In 2014, he was selected as a White House “Champion of Change”– an honor awarded to those “doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”
• Janelle Bence is a high school teacher in Dallas who has been teaching for thirteen years. She is an active member of the North Star of Texas Writing Project, the University of North Texas National Writing Project site, where she serves on its technology team and is active on both the local and national level.
• Justin Reich is an educational researcher broadly interested in the future of learning in a networked world. He is: a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society; the co-founder of EdTechTeacher, a professional learning consultancy; a Richard L. Menschel HarvardX Research Fellow; and blogs for Education Week at EdTechResearcher.

Resources for this webinar:

• Download the ‘Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom’ eBook
• Connected Learning Resources for Educators
• “Learner Reflection 1” from New Tech High at Coppell (NTH@C)
• “Learner Reflection 2” from New Tech High at Coppell (NTH@C)
• #wherewelearn – where do you engage in teaching in learning with youth?
• Digital IS: join and share work, reflections, and practices on digital literacy & connected learning
• CSNEIL: Dropping My Zines
• FemTechNet: a Distributed Open Collaborative Course
• KQED “Do Now” – students exploring current issues using social media
• DS106: a Case Study for Open Learning and Connected Learning
• “Openly Networked Learning In and Across Art Museums”

Photos/iEARN