Building and Extending the Learning Community Winter 2007 Engaged Institutions Cluster Meeting Wednesday, January 24

2 Building and Extending the Learning Community: Overview What are Learning Communities? Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Planning for the Year Ahead

3 What are Learning Communities? Example 1: The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Began 1996 Coordinated by The Urban Institute 29 data intermediaries Common mission to democratize data Biannual meetings Active listserve Cross-site research

4 What are Learning Communities? Example 2: Active Living Network Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Goals: raise awareness, translate information, stimulate coordinated action 60+ partners and RWJF program partners Listserves, Frequently updated public website

5 What are Learning Communities? Example 3: Comm-Org Founded 1995 University of Wisconsin Extension Center Goals: link academics and activists and theory and practice to improve community organizing Active listserve Website with syllabi, papers, resources

6 The palette of communications tools: – Site visits – Meetings/Conferences – Conference calls – Videoconferencing – Websites – E-newsletters – and Listservers – Discussion forums – Blogs What are Learning Communities?

7 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Many of you have been involved in learning communities of some form: 26 of 35 respondents, or 74% Some of you have been involved in a learning community for many years – Less than 1 year 9% – 1-2 years23% – 3-5 years32% – 6-9 years23% – 10 or more years14%

8 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Your frequency of participation varies – Once a month 48% – Once a week 24% – A few times a year 20%

9 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Learning and exchange was accomplished through: – Convenings/meetings (90%) – (86%) – Listserve (59%) – Site visits (50%) – Website (50%) – Also: conference calls, wiki, collaborative writing, presentations, funding

10 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests How you participate: – Read s (90%) – Respond to information requests (77%) – Send out information requests (55%) – Read newsletters (41%) – Look at material posted to a website (36%) – Also: attend meetings, conference calls, read articles, collaborative presentations/publications, share data

11 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Benefits of participation: – Share ideas/successes/challenges and problem solve – Network, incubate potential partnerships and collaborations, advise and train others to get involved – Think outside the box, interdisciplinary collaboration, alternative conceptualizations and approaches – Leverage financial resources – Stay atop the field – Link research, policy, and practice – Link regional and state levels to national and international – Impact decision making – Opportunity to contribute and keep on learning – Sheer enjoyment of meaningful, ongoing collegial relationships

12 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Challenges: – Time – Resources for maintaining systems, communications – Engaging people from different backgrounds, different areas of expertise, different learning styles – Building trust and relationships over distance – Reaching common ground in priorities and focus – Keeping information updated and relevant – Strong and sustained leadership – Turnover – Inefficient meetings

13 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Your interests for the EI Cluster learning community: – Ask for help with solving particular problems (79%) – Send out requests for information (75%) – Participate in online discussions about important topics related to university-community partnerships (61%) – Share internal project-related documents (54%) – Send queries about collaborating on grant proposals / research projects (50%) – Post a response to a news article for other community members to read and respond to (39%)

14 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Content you would like to see on a website dedicated to EI: – Articles on engaged institutions/university-community partnerships (90%) – Information about funding opportunities (86%) – Contact information for cluster project participants (79%) – Detailed descriptions of the Engaged Institutions cluster projects (72%) – Articles relating to relevant program and policy areas (69%) – Information and documents related to the cluster evaluation (52%) – Electronic copies of internal documents of the EI cluster projects (31%)

15 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests Articles relating to relevant program and policy areas: – Community organizing and capacity building (76%) – Youth mentoring (66%) – High school dropout prevention (55%) – Youth development policy (55%) – Early childhood school readiness (38%) – Educational curriculum alignment (e.g., P-12/P-20 initiatives) (35%) – School finance and policy reform (31%)

16 Survey Results: Your Experiences and Interests In your words: “They can matter in the world, and are worth the effort when there is thoughtful planning and intentionality supporting the learning network.” “Sustained interest emerges primarily when members can identify problems of common interest to work on collaboratively or comparatively.” “One challenge I see in this particular learning community involves our capacity to identify enough common ground to keep us meaningfully involved in working together in a sustained way… For sustained mutual benefits, an important transition might be toward the identification of more specific and concrete areas of common strategies, models, problems, or benchmarks that can support 'deep structure' collaborative problem solving and cross-program comparisons and linkages.”

17 Planning for the Year Ahead Project calendar through January 2008: – 2nd round of site visits Fall 2007 – 2nd convening Spring 2008 PolicyLink goals: – Facilitate active learning community – Continue our research – Disseminate findings - publications, speaking engagements Our task today: – Capture your ideas and input for the learning community

18 Roundtable Discussions Formulate a vision of the learning community for the next year… – What are 2 or 3 goals to achieve? – What sort of infrastructure? – What would the website contain? – Are you interested in a listserve? Should there be subtopic listserves and what should they be?

Contact Information: Sarah Treuhaft Program Associate (510) PolicyLink Headquarters 1438 Webster Street, Suite 303 Oakland, CA Telephone: (510) Fax: (510)