We can’t deny that the social network Facebook is a great place to exchange ideas. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could apply that same model towards something more important than about how many pigs one has in their farm? Well, the California Department of Education has created such a site called Brokers of Expertise. The site exclusively for teachers allows its educators to create online groups and communities for collaboration to positively influence instructing strategies.
In a nutshell as described on their website:
What is Brokers of Expertise?
Brokers of Expertise (BoE) is an interactive online environment that offers both easily searchable teaching resources and an online community of teaching professionals.
- It allows educators to create groups/communities for collaboration and participation in positive peer-cultures.
- It enables the sharing of best practice and self-publication of individual teaching resources that could potentially guide others in classroom lessons.
- It provides access to a high-quality online collection of standards-matched materials on school reform issues that they have identified as the most salient.
- It will showcase exemplary teaching practices allowing others to gain from them.
- The most anticipated feature of the Brokers of Expertise online environment is the ability to easily access resources from the database that are matched to California State Content Standards.
It combines a state-of-the art online system with a community of educators willing to share their knowledge to improve the preparation of California’s next generation of citizens.
No, its not a dating site for teachers — although I’m sure there will be a few “bad apples” that will consciously and unconsciously fall to prey to human romantic nature. Hey, we’re human. Setting that .01% aside, the site seems like a great idea. Say Sally Sandlot developed a system to get her toddlers to learn their ABCs better, she can share this information with individuals or groups that seek strategies in that area of teaching.
This is actually really interesting. It makes sense to create a platform out of a popular social networking model. Especially if its for the greater good. The children! Oh, yes the children! I wonder if this is a sign of things to come. Perhaps in the near future government and private sector alike will all be running their own social networks specific to their application. As long as its not controlled by one single entity, its not a bad idea.
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