A lesson in failing fast.
It seems like a long time since I had the 2am brainwave that resulted in the #ConnectED teacher learning community. I was stunned by the hugely positive response and that energy accelerated the marketplace for teacher learning and made it a thing.
We then took a step back to check we were going to be able to achieve what we wanted to in the time it was needed. We need a way of finding and accessing fabulous teacher learning, and we need it now. The approach we were taking would just take too long so we have had a rethink to get the community working faster and better. This was painful. but in a good way. Realising the enormous potential for this gave us some comfort as we unpicked what was working and what we could do differently. It was tough to accept that we didn’t git it right first time but failing fast and failing well is a thing, right?
All the talking and thinking has made the concept even clearer so now we think we’ve got something that is going to work, and work fast. This means that half of what I said in my first blogs is no longer true!
We’re still gathering a teacher learning community, but rather than collecting training first before opening the marketplace, we’re now examining what works before the community invites new, validated training offers. This brings peer review in at an earlier stage so all the training in the community is validated by design! We’ll keep the offers already up, as they’re ace, and work them into our stories of what works, before recommending them to folks looking for training.
The rethought version of the ConnectED community should be much easier to access; you just need to register to become part of the community. Once you are we need to find the inspirational people and stories out there and the community will grow itself.
Finding those stories is a big job so your feedback is vital; who has inspired you to be who you are as a teacher, a leader and a person? Tweet or email your stories to @braveteaching (add #ConnectED) or lucy@braveteachersclub.co.uk.
The site will start to change over the next couple of weeks with a new name; ConnectEDU. My thinking is that this is all about the people in the community, so ConnectEDU adds a personal element. What do you think?
Finally, I’d like to know your thoughts on funding. We’ll need a critical mass of research. We’ve got the academic and tech elements of this sorted, but we’ll need our community to grow itself and time is valuable. As someone who is in or around the ConnectED community, would it feel weird if we crowdfunded to pay for your time and expertise?
If you’re not already signed up, pay us a visit at https://connected1.sharetribe.com. it only takes a minute and there is now an ‘interestED’ option for folks who want to get ConnectED less formally.
Thanks in advance!
Lucy
Brave Teacher's Club 