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EMS Online Learning Community Agenda Week of May 4-8, 2009

I. Purpose - Establishment of an effective EMS online learning community that will "meet" to discuss improvement of technology implementation on the EMS campus. II. Objective - Determine the effectiveness of an online learning community. III. Grade Levels - 7th and 8th Grade IV. Facilitator's Name - Leslie Akins V. Community Members A. Current Members 1. Leslie 2. Kelley 3. Mickey 4. Eric B. Potential Members 1. Current Cadre Members 2. Equal representatives from 7th and 8th grade 3. Representation from all subjects VI. Activities A. Meet with Administration to work toward active support of technology implementation at EMS. B. Establish a "timeline" and a schedule of Professional Development for 2009-2010 for implementation of technology 1. August 2009 Staff Development 2. Early Release Days throughout year. C. Discuss with campus faculty what types of activities would help them implement technology in their classrooms. D. Discuss with campus faculty their strengths and weaknesses. E. Review 2008-2009 STaR Chart for EMS. F. List of MAC applications that are not utilized or under-utilized on our campus. G. Determine "guidelines" for communication sharing for this community. 1. How often will we "meet"? 2. Active participation by all members 3. Sharing information for easy back and forth communication 4. Explanations as needed for those not understanding VII. Additional questions/comments/concerns

This is our brainstorming area for our agenda creation. Here are some suggestions that we might want to look at as we plan the agenda:

Purpose (of this agenda) Objective Grade Levels Facilitator's Name Community Members - Suggested additional members that would be actively participating Activities - purpose of each activity, the description of each activity, the activity's steps, the estimated time for each activity. For example: We might work toward creating a shared vision of what we hope to achieve here. Remember, the purpose of this online community is to gather ideas and suggestions that will improve technology implementation on the EMS campus.

I think the purpose of the meeting should include that we are trying out the online activity to see how this type of meeting works for all of us. The objective could be something about to get all of us participating in this online meeting and coming away with something. Grade Levels - 7th and 8th Facilitator's Name - Me, unless one of you wants to volunteer. :-) Community Members - Who else can we invite that would be willing to participate and work toward our goal of improving technology implementation on our campus. Activities - Each one of us can share an activity that would be able to be shared with entire faculty/campus to use in the classroom. We could e-mail each other the lesson or activity in advance of the meeting (as mentioned on timeline by Eric) and then we can work toward implementing that activity (perhaps at PD at beginning of school year or during an early release). Sharing of STaR Chart 2008-2009 results. Okay-I am brainstormed! Your turns...

I think it would be a great idea to be able to work with the teachers on a weekly basis so that they could become more successful using their MACS. There are so many good applications that aren't being utilized. The best thing would be administration support, especially since we have been given these great MAC laptops. Our Cadre members would be a great resource in this blog. -Mickey

Learning communities also need easy access to communication. If the information isn't being passed back and forth in a smooth motion, then some people tend to be missed. Everyone needs to get involved in the community and if someone doesn't understand the technology or the information, then our community will struggle with lack of support. -Eric

I think it would be a good idea to make things more effective to invite the cadre. We should make sure to have equal representation amongst all subjects and grade levels. As for activities, I think everyone should bring an activity to the table OR ask around the campus as to what teachers think are strengths and weaknesses. - Kelle y