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You
are here: The Learning Space: A Unique Online Community of Teachers
The Learning Space is in the process of developing a variety of exciting new programs and services for its growing national and international membership of educators. The Learning Space is a nonprofit professional organization of educators dedicated to transforming K-12 instructional methods through the innovative use of technology.
Background
The Learning Space, which was started as a US WEST Foundation grant program in 1995, is a grassroots organization designed "for teachers by teachers" to empower teachers to take charge of their own professional development. This teacher-centric approach is what continues to set The Learning Space apart from other technology training products and services available to teachers today, and allows teachers at various skill levels to take control of their own professional development with greater confidence. With technology serving as the primary driver of change, Learning Space has a mission and a vision that incorporates, but goes beyond using technology. A more broad vision for The Learning Space is a membership-based action organization that actualizes the ideas of the leading visionaries, thinkers and practitioners (TLS teacher members) to transform education.
The Learning Space has successfully trained over 8,500 teachers, created a vibrant on-line community, reached approximately 500 classrooms and 35,000 students with its collaborative classroom projects, and engaged and inspired more than 20,000 teachers, educators, parents, students, community and business leaders at its events, primarily in the state of Washington.
The Learning Space Core Programs
Learning Space teachers have developed the following core professional development modules to teach teachers how to use technology and the Internet to transform their classroom instruction:
• WebBytes - Teachers learn to plan a single learning activity that focuses on one curriculum concept along with a selected technology skill. Use of on-line forms will let the results be instantly posted on the Internet for student access.
• Launchers - Teachers learn how to create classroom web sites that creatively directs students onto the web and keeps important information accessible. Focus is on why you would create a classroom web site and what you would put on it to make it useful as an instructional tool.
• Research Investigations - Teachers learn how to reinvent the traditional research project using the Internet. Projects emphasize problem-solving and critical thinking.
• Connections Projects - Teaches teachers how to design, facilitate and participate in multi-classroom projects using the Internet and/or video conferencing to connect teachers and students in various locations around a particular subject/topic
• eFolios - Teachers learn how and why to create and organize electronic collection of educational artifacts that details evidence of student learning over time, - including student reflections on their work. Educational artifacts can include samples of writing, reading (via audio), activities on video, etc.
• Integrations - the teaching of standards-based curriculum using technology
• Training opportunities delivered by practicing teachers are offered in a number of different ways
- Regional workshops
- Customized professional development for school district and school buildings
- Summer Experience 3-day residential workshop
- Online Modules (members only)
- Intel® Teach to the Future• On-line community, as a part of TLS membership benefits, provides a peer-to-peer follow up support model; it is also where teachers collaborate and share lesson plans, technology tips, and classroom practices. TLS members also receive an on-line newsletter and have access to web server space an on-line lesson plan tools such as Web Bytes forms and Research Investigations. The Learning Space receives 20,000+ unique hits to the web site each week. Thousands of educators participate in the on-line community.
• Classroom "Connections™" projects use the Internet and sometimes video conferencing to connect multiple classrooms and students around a particular project or subject area. These types of projects align learning with important communication and technical skills essential to learning and working in the 21st Century and they provide a collaborative setting with a diverse population of learners.
• Digital Blackboard grants are given to classroom teachers serving at-risk communities. The grants and awards are given to teachers showing innovative uses of technology in the classroom.
• Special events
- Tomorrow's Classroom™ brings together a critical mass of teachers to showcase and share their work with other teachers and educators. The Tomorrow's Classroom event shows educators, parents and members of the community what is possible in classrooms of today and tomorrow.• Special projects have included
- United States Mint - H.I.P. Pocket Change® to develop the H.I.P. Pocket Change web site for kids and teachers at www.usmint.gov/kids. This project has been funded through a contract with the U.S. Mint.New Initiatives: Teacher Space
Teacher Space is a major new online service that is currently under development and expected to be available to Learning Space members in 2003. Teacher Space will integrate existing Learning Space programs into a seamlessly connected and strategically networked online community of educators. The current Learning Space programs have some connections to one another, however, in large part they are isolated silos. Teacher Space will allow for a more cohesive connection between various Learning Space services.
All new and existing members would complete a user profile that is intuitively linked to Learning Space programs including online tools, training opportunities, distance learning courses, and other teacher-oriented information. Members will update their user profiles at various stages throughout the year. The system will identify these changes and suggest professional development opportunities based on their current profile.
In addition, Teacher Space will create the most powerful way for teachers to find other teachers "virtually" to collaborate and develop joint projects.
The goals of Teacher Space are to:
· Provide personally-guided professional development curriculum that is designed to meet specific needs of teachers in embedding technology into personal productivity and improving standards-based student learning. Curriculum will be tied to helping teachers achieve additional state and national professional certifications.
· Create opportunities for teachers to collaborate and network with each other and with leading educators
More about Learning Space:
For more information about The Learning Space programs and membership opportunities, please contact Executive Director Diana Eggers at deggers@learningspace.org or call her at 425-313-8918.
Learning Space Membership Benefits
In 2001, The Learning Space established a paid membership program at $35 per year per teacher (with group discounts available). Member benefits include:
· Unlimited access to professional development modules and templates online
· Personal web space
· Preferred status and notification re: Connections projects and other special opportunities
· Online newsletter 6 times a year
· Discounts on Learning Space training and eventsThere are currently over 1,000 paid Learning Space members.
Tomorrow's Classroom 2003: will be held on August 12 and 13, 2003 in Tacoma, Washington. The event will bring together teachers, educators, business and community leaders, elected officials, parents, students and other interested citizens to experience compelling examples of K-12 teaching and learning. The focus of the event is on the exchange of ideas and the sharing of innovative classroom practices that will drive the classrooms of tomorrow and help students meet high academic standards.
The Tomorrow's Classroom event will be held amongst 4 unique venues: The Washington State History Museum, the Glass Museum, the new Tacoma Art Museum and the University of Washington - Tacoma campus. Individuals and teams may begin registering for the event at www.learningspace.org in January 2003.
Bretta Beveridge is a New Horizons for Learning board member and is currently a partner in Bevcom where she specializes in helping K-12 and other non-profit organizations with event planning, marketing, communications and fundraising. She currently works with The Learning Space to assist them in marketing and business development activities and has overseen the planning and fundraising for three successful Tomorrow's Classroom events.
Bretta previously served as the Director of Communications for the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction where she initiated such award winning activities as the annual State of Education Address and the Washington State K-12 Safety Summit.
Bretta has also worked as the Assistant Director of Marketing for the Peter Drucker School of Executive Management, Manager of End User Computing for the County of Los Angeles, End User Computing Support Manager during the introduction of personal computers at The White House, Policy analyst in the Three Mile Island Program Office (Nuclear Regulatory Commission).
Bretta holds a BA in European History from Scripps College (Claremont, CA), an MA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Management Information Systems and Marketing from George Washington University. Anyone who knows Bretta knows her passion is traveling the country with her husband Blaine and her golden retriever children Circe and Captain Queeg.
© December 2002 New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.orgFor permission to redistribute, please go to:
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