Professional Learning Communities at Work and Virtual Collaboration

In Professional Learning Communities at Work and Virtual Collaboration, authors Richard DuFour and Casey Reason emphasise that educators are on the tipping point of transforming education. This critical time is a chance to revolutionise the way we teach and learn by using the power of technology to enhance the PLC process. They outline three strategic levels for launching effective virtual teams – organising virtual connections, strategizing for e-collaboration and enhancing learning with e-acceleration. By focusing on the right work of PLCs, collaborative teams can meet contemporary challenges and reach sustained levels of deeper learning for both students and teachers.

F–12 administrators and educators will

• discover the ten dimensions for engineering a strategic e-connection for collaborative teams
• learn how to organise and blend virtual and face-to-face teamwork
• examine a case scenario in which a high school successfully used technology to improve the PLC process
• study the principles of effective leadership in collaborative virtual teams
• explore both a glossary of PLC and virtual collaboration terms and a list of websites to help support virtual teamwork.