The Power of Teacher Collaboration through Crowdsourcing #AmpGlobalEdu

By: Matt Rhoads, Ed.D

Dr. Matt Rhoads is a Tech and Instructional Leader and Innovator with hands in Adult Ed, K-12, and Higher Education. He is the author of several books and is the host of Navigating Education – The Podcast.

Our colleagues in education are our best assets to learn and grow. Whether it’s a teacher down the hall, in your school, district, or within your greater professional learning network (PLN), teachers learning from teachers yields incredible results when trying a new strategy in their classroom. 

To further grow as educators and work together, we cannot work in silos in our classrooms, schools, and districts as the profession are changing the most it has in recent history. We need our colleagues to collaborate and support us to grow and navigate the present and future. 

What is very compelling and advantageous to teachers is that we can now use our PLNs to crowdsource innovative and creative practices that we can teach teachers down the hall as well as other colleagues across our PLN. We can do this with educators across the world, which is amazing as you can get many diverse perspectives and experiences. Additionally, you may get expertise and perspectives you’ve not encountered.

In Amplify Learning: A Global Collaborative – Amplifying Instructional Design, we crowdsourced educators who are doing innovative instructional strategies integrated with EdTech in their classrooms with the goal of amplifying student learning and their experience. Our motto is that when educators are working together, we are #bettertogether as an #AmpGlobalEdu community. Ultimately, we wanted to share with you how you can crowdsource your local and global PLN to help build you and/or your school build capacity. Here are eight steps to help you do this for your own project!

Step 1 – Determine the Vision for the Project

Step 2 – Create a Timeline

Step 3 – Build your PLN

Step 4 – Find Key Players that You Can Connect With

Step 5 – Vetting Individuals

Step 6 – Creating Buy-in for the Project

Step 7 – Putting the Project into Action

Step 8 – Share Work With Your Local and Global PLN

By following these steps, you or your team of colleagues can take a vision for a project and utilize your local and global PLN to help you make it a reality. You can not only share the finished project with your team, but you can also share it globally. It can take the form of resources and templates, books, courses, professional development, or a website. Share your crowdsourced projects using the #AmpGlobalEdu hashtag to connect with us as well as contributors to the Amplify Learning: A Global Collaborative book series. We will amplify your work by sharing it among our PLN and each other!

Learn more about the book and series: www.AmpGlobalEdu.com

Purchase the book: Amazon Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback

About the Authors and Editors of Amplify Learning: A Global Collaborative – Amplifying Instructional Design

Matt Rhoads, Ed.D

Matthew Rhoads, Ed.D. is a practicing EdTech Integrationist and Coach, University Lecturer and Teacher Candidate Supervisor, Podcaster, Author, and Consultant from San Diego, CA. He is an innovator who has expertise in integrating research-based instructional strategies with EdTech tools to amplify student learning. Additionally, he has expertise in data literacy, Special Education, and navigating classrooms without boundaries  For more information on Dr. Rhoads, check out his website at www.matthewrhoads.com. 

Twitter: @mattrhoads1990 

Becky Lim, M.Ed 

Becky Lim, M.Ed. is a Digital Learning Coach, Author, Blogger, and Podcaster from Chicago, Illinois. She is an innovator and expert at integrating EdTech with instructional strategies to amplify student learning through coaching teachers on how to use these integrations within their classrooms. She is also a member and leader of Global Google for Education, where she makes connections with educators across the globe with the goal to build capacity as a global community to improve student learning. For more information on Mrs. Lim, check out her website at www.techwithbecky.com.

Twitter: @techwithbecky

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