What is MaineLearning.net?
MaineLearning.net is an online community of practice for Maine educators. The idea for MaineLearning.net was established after Stephen Bowen, the Commissioner of Education, learned from touring the state in March 2011, of the desire for sharing resources and best practices amongst and between educators.
Thus was born MaineLearning.net: a project designed to leverage limited resources by creating an online collaboration platform that allows groups of educators to share best practices in their areas of specialty, and allows all educators to observe and/or participate.
Currently the Department of Education has rolled out the site with an initial set of practice groups. Arts education has a “Group” called Maine Arts Education Leaders. The intent of the group is to have discussions, share documents, and participate in online activities to collect and share best practices. This is a collaborative space that provides the opportunity for conversations on arts education topics to share ideas, ask questions, and provide feedback to the group members. Along with me (Argy Nestor) the community is made up of the following educators:
- Jeff Beaudry
- Bill Buzza
- Shannon Campbell
- Cami Carter
- Suzanne Goulet
- Charlie Johnson
- Lisa Marin
- Jen Nash
- Leah Olson
- Jame Perkins
- Catherine Ring
- Ben Speed
Each of the MaineLearning.net practice groups follow the “fishbowl” model: group members can collaborate within their group space, but all interested educators, parents, and community members will be able to view the conversations and resources. The topic we are presently discussing is “proficiency based high school graduation”. I suggest you take a minute and read what these arts educators are saying.
In another space in MaineLearning.net arts educators are submitting to the “Resources” section. During the summer Maine Arts Assessment Initiative Summer Institute for the initiative’s teacher leaders the first phase teacher leaders started populating this site with sample lessons and units. The teacher leaders are working on a method for “peer review” of the resources submitted which will provide the contributor with feedback. If you are interested in contributing click on “Recommend a Learning Object” at the top of the Resources page.
The teacher leaders who have contributed resources to date are:
- Shannon Campbell
- Jennie Driscoll
- Charlie Johnson
- Lisa Marin
- Jen Nash
- Jeff Orth
- MaryEllen Schaper
- Jake Sturtevant
- Alice Sullivan
- Shari Tarleton
The resource section of MaineLearning.net is open to all however you will notice at this time that most of the resources submitted are from arts educators.
me arts ed 