Professional learning communities, which are an ongoing process that allows faculty to collaborate to achieve better results for the students we serve. The essential role in any professional learning community (PLC) is to provide a collaborative environment in which online instructors can reflect on practice and student outcomes
Due to the nature of online teaching, participation in a professional learning community may be a challenge. This study provides insight into online instructor perceptions of a web 2.0 professional learning community.
How effectively does a professional learning community provide valuable information to online faculty?
How effectively does a professional learning community reduce online faculty isolation?
How does a professional learning community fuel online faculty continuous improvement?
How does a professional learning community encourage online faculty professionalism and life-long learning?
How does a professional learning community strengthen online faculty classroom reflection?
This project is still in progress. The PLC has been designed and implemented through the use of web 2.0 tools Flipgrid and Remind. Sixteen online faculty members and one faculty chair will collaborate in the PLC. The next step is to provide the survey to faculty to assess whether the implementation of a PLC answered the research questions. The goals of the PLC are to provide valuable department and university information, reduce instructor isolation, fuel continuous improvement, encourage professionalism, and strengthen classroom reflection. Within Flipgrid, PLC activities will be developed through the following topics; monthly team meetings, best practices, reflection, technology review, and instructor spotlights.
Presenters will utlize Buncee or another multipmedia creator to display a single slide outlining the project. A one-page document will also be provided as a take-away which will summarize the presentation. Attendees will explore PLC’s by posting Flipgrid responses to specific topics during the session and connect with other educators using Flipgrid to promote PLC's through the hashtag #FlipgridFever and #OLC19PLC