The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age
By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Lani Ritter Hall

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In The Connected Educator, authors Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall integrate professional development that is currently working in schools with a new model connected learning communities. Connected learning communities are a three-pronged approach to effective professional development using the local (professional learning community), contextual (personal learning network), and global (community of practice) environments. Connected learners take responsibility for their own professional development. They figure out what they need to learn and then collaborate with others to construct the knowledge they need. Instead of waiting for professional learning to be organized and delivered to them, connected learners contribute, interact, share ideas, and reflect.

The book draws heavily on the authors experience as members and leaders of connected learning communities. This model shifts the locus of control to each reader, the connected learner, rather than vesting it in outsiders, higher-ups, and professional development consultants. The intent is to help each educator, as well as the partners, parents, and policymakers who support him or her, improve learning and teaching in and beyond the classroom walls.

The authors emphasize the importance for educators to embrace the technological revolution permeating society. To remain relevant to students, educators need to use the networked landscape of learning to re-envision what happens inside schools and classrooms. The time has come to reject incremental change and to radically transform education to reflect the current global community. Teachers must learn to model connectedness and enable students to develop personal learning networks, made up of people and resources from both their physical and virtual worlds but first teachers must become connected collaborators themselves. The need for teachers to fully exploit the transformative potential of emerging learning technologies and to do it within a global framework is the focus of The Connected Educator.

Chapter 1 sets the stage for understanding what it is to be a connected learner. Chapter 2 makes a case for connected learning in communities. Chapter 3 explores the importance of being a learner first, educator second. Chapter 4 looks at developing a collaborative culture and a mindset that supports connected learning. Chapter 5 invites readers to explore free and affordable technologies and virtual environments that support collaborative learning. Chapter 6 guides readers through the steps of implementing a connected learning community. Chapter 7 examines how to sustain the momentum of professional learning using scale as a strategy for co-creating and improving a learning community. Chapter 8 focuses on leadership system, school, and teacher leadership in a distributive model. Chapter 9 looks at what the future holds for the connected learner and what being a connected learner means for each reader.