Week+2

Part I (aim to complete by Friday, 2/5)

(1) Be sure that you have completed the assigned readings.

(2) This session's team facilitator should begin a new thread in the team's forum, titled, Session 2: Adult Learning and PD. If you prefer to use a non-ELC tool such as Google Docs, a Wikispace or another online tool, be sure to give your instructor access by posting the website address in your team forum.

(3) Individually, prepare a brief response (1-3 sentences) to each of the following questions, and share your thoughts with your teammates by Friday:


 * How do you believe adults learn? How do children learn? What are the differences? What is a key difference between how adults learn and how children learn?
 * How do the Maryland Professional Development standards support the idea of building communities and promoting collaboration among adult learners?
 * Why is community so important for adult learners that it plays a strong role in the professional development standards?
 * In what ways can a well-fostered learning community compel adult learners to invest more in an online professional development experience?

(4) Continue to engage in a discussion with your teammates, discussing any similarities and differences in your ideas.

Part II

(1) Read the scenario located in the callout box on the right and then discuss with your teammates how you would respond.

(2) By Monday, the team's reporter should post the team's final collective response to the scenario, in the team forum. Be sure to rename the subject line as FINAL so that your instructor can easily locate your team's summary response.

The scenario is as follows:

You are a professional developoment specialist for a school district, working with a high school principal to set up the PD plan for a school year. This particular high school is not meeting AYP goals, and the superintendent has charged you with ensuring that the PD program is high quality and focused. The principal is determined to implement a series of very targeted sessions through the year addressing data-driven decision making for instruction, in which the emphasis is on individual teacher instructional planning. You recognize that the potential impact of this PD focus could be enhanced significantly with the benefits of a professional learning community context, and you must make the case to take some precious PD time from the data-driven decision making content, to invest in the development and fostering of community and collaboration. How would you make this case to convince this principal?