“An Online Community of Practice for Business and Foreign Language Faculty”

CIBER Business Language Conference 2010Mary Risner

University of Florida

NOBLE Welcome Page

What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?

• …group “of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002, p.4)

Value of A CoP in the Context of Professional Development

• Knowledge sharing in informal social networks has proven to be an enabling force to help teachers change their practice (Schlager & Fusco, 2003).

Professional Development (cont.)

• This type of PD meets the immediate needs of teachers for knowledge in their area of interest, not by mandate of administrators.

Professional Development (cont.)

• “Just-in-time” rather than a “just-in-case” enrichment approaches can help teachers acquire the knowledge and skills they need in an autonomous fashion (Granger et al….., 2002)

Professional Development (cont.)

• According to Hiebert, Gallimore & Stigler (2002), professional development has the most impact on learning when its design is long term, tied to the curriculum of the teachers involved, and collaborative.

Professional Development (cont.)

• The design component of experiential learning for teachers in professional development serves as a model for them to implement in their own classrooms after they have felt how it has enhanced their own personal learning experience (Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry & Hewson, 2003).

Why Have a CoP?

Collaborative approach to

facing challenges in a

field,

access to expertise,

an outlet to build

professional identity and a professional

network,

Why Have a CoP? (cont.)

an option to keep abreast of current trends in

the field,

an approach to share and create new resources

and knowledge,

a way to enjoy working with

colleagues in a voluntary and

egalitarian environment.

Why an Online CoP?

Online activities allow flexibility in scheduling, time, collaboration across borders, time for

reflection and dialogue, and the development of an “owned” learning space (Sprague, 2006).

Why an Online CoP? (cont.)

Participants become more comfortable with social networking tools for their own

learning so that they can eventually begin to integrate into their own classrooms.

Why an Online CoP? (cont.)

The virtual format also allows individuals to experience emerging technologies as tools to

assist in the sharing of ideas and resources (Dube, L., Bourhis, A., & Jacob, R., 2006).

Need for a CoP in Business Language

Peer support for small discipline with minimal

resources

Connect instructors across large geographical

spread

Need to improve U.S global

competence

Need for professional

development in this field

Increase cross-disciplinary

connections

Need (cont.)

Long-term project targeted to achieve

real outcomes

Not just checking the box for one-

time events

Going beyond lectures

Empowering individuals

Encouraging self-directed learning

Goals for the NOBLE CoP

•Establish and mobilize a group of committed high school and post-secondary instructors who share similar interests in integrating business language and culture into the curriculum and collaborating with other colleagues.

Goals (cont.)

•Create a virtual space for resources and information pertinent to the field and a platform to collaborate and exchange ideas with colleagues at a distance.

Questions

1. Can an online forum and web portal be used to create a dynamic online

community of practice that unites K-16 faculty and promotes the preparation of

culturally competent global leaders?

Questions

2. How does one engage members of a CoP and ensure productive outcomes in terms of professional development for faculty?

Benefits of a CoP

Empower teachers at all levels

Improve articulation among K-16 educators

Ensure resources reach more institutions

Provide professional development at a lower cost and economizing on time

Connect isolated instructors interested in field

The NOBLE Project Idea

NOBLE-Network of Business Language Educators

Online Spaces

• www.nble.org

• www.globalworkplaceskills.ning.com

Establishing NOBLE

F2F initial meeting

Discussion of goals/mission

Site design with group input

Forum

Dissemination of information on NOBLE for recruitment

Member Demographics

• From 8 states• Representing 7 languages (Arabic, Chinese,

English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German)• Interest in business and medical language• Faculty from foreign language, business,

educational technology• Members from secondary, post-secondary,

private language institute

Online Interaction to Date on Ning

• 19 members registered• Minimal posting• Creation of 5 sub-groups: Business English,

Business Portuguese, Online Teaching, Technology Tools, 21st Century Skills

NOBLE Web Portal Activity January -February

• 65 unique visits with the majority coming from referred sites

• Majority of hits came from the United States• Others from Spain, Pakistan, Japan, Ethiopia,

Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and Congo (Ten countries)

NOBLE Web Portal Activity February-March

• 186 unique visits with the majority coming from referred sites

• Majority of hits came from the United States• Others from 25 countries

Possible Reasons for Slow Start…

Hew & Hara (2007) found that lack of knowledge, lack of time, and

concerns for misinterpretations of online comments due to absence of visual clues were three of the five primary obstacles to knowledge

sharing.

Slow Start (cont.)

Survey on use of social networking and content-sharing tools by K-12

educators found that actual educator use of social networking tools lags

behind interest. edWeb.net, MCHDiscoverB21 & MMS Education, 2009

Slow Start (cont.)

Lack of time teachers have,

intimidation by the use of technology,

Slow Start (cont.)

hassles of logging in to access a network,

the fear of privacy issues tied to participation in online communities.

Maybe Small is Good…

• According to Allan and Lewis (2005), virtual learning communities have a better chance of being effective if their membership is fairly small varying from 5-18 members.

NOBLE Accomplishments to Date

• Site and forum launched• Sponsored one K-12 attendee at FIU Business

Language conference• F2F Meeting at UF in late February• Skype meeting• Twitter and Facebook accounts created

Accomplishments (cont.)

• Strategic Plan drafted• Starter lessons drafted• Article in process on Florida K-12 model• Established committee for Business Language

on Florida Foreign Language Association board• Increasing interest in field!

Challenges for NOBLE

Apprehension about term “business”

Lack of time

Lack of understanding of what “business

language” means

Challenges (cont.)

Finding and connecting with the faculty that

“get” it

Traditional academic views on teaching language

for literature

Hesitance to collaborate across

disciplines

How to Overcome These Obstacles?

• Keep working with those involved• Keep recruiting• Keep disseminating information• Keep projects on the horizon

How to Overcome These Obstacles?

• Keep shipping!

• http://the99percent.com/tips/6249/seth-godin-the-truth-about-shipping

• http://the99percent.com/videos/5822/seth-godin-quieting-the-lizard-brain

Upcoming Projects

• Summer workshop on learning centers/careers

• Video clips with skits on value of global skills• Podcasts with testimonials/cultural

experiences• FFLA 2011

Career Wordle

• www.wordle.net

Sample Video Clip

• http://community.actfl.org/ACTFL/ACTFL/Resources/ViewDocument/Default.aspx?DocumentKey=1397ada6-e9bc-4c56-ab09-0c86afb8fb80