Today, Maria talks with Mark Otter, the Chief Executive Officer of Participate. Before joining the Participate team in 2008, Mark gained experience and expertise as a global educator teaching secondary math and science in public schools in Nova Scotia, North Carolina, Virginia, and London, England. At Participate, they build global education programs that prepare students for success in an interconnected world. They support educators and school leaders to develop globally competent citizens through international education programs and resources. Students with cultural awareness, creative thinking and problem-solving skills will be lifelong learners equipped to thrive in an increasingly global marketplace. Mark and Maria discuss how communities of practice enable educators to learn, develop skills and guide their students’ learning as they collectively work on a shared purpose. Whether you are a student, an educator or a parent, you will love listening to the conversation with Mark, who believes that every student deserves an amazing teacher!
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Where to find Mark Otter and Participate:
Participate on LinkedIn
Twitter @participate
Mark on LinkedIn
Twitter @markjotter
Mentioned in this episode:
Participate Learning (formerly VIF International Education)
Moodle - Open-source learning platform
Transitioning Between the Inner and Outer Loop by Simon Terry
Empatico - Connect your Classroom to the World
Listen to this episode and explore:
Childhood: Watching his parents study alongside their children to advance their education (2:57)
Studying evolutionary biology in college and becoming a teacher (5:29)
Mark's international teaching career (7:30)
Being a teacher in different countries: Canada, USA, UK (8:29)
Leaving teaching to become a researcher for VIF International Education (11:34)
Climbing the ladder at VIF from researcher to Chief Operating Officer (12:39)
Participate is born: how VIF became Participate Learning (14:22)
Participate: what it’s for and who it’s for (18:36)
What are the communities of practice (21:12)
Participate’s role in building and growing communities (26:06)
How Participate helps engaging members: Community personas and proven tactics (28:00)
The leaders of communities of practice (31:15)
The benefits of communities of practice vs other communities (33:01)
The benefits of time-bound learning experiences (35:47)
The people that Participate serves (40:01)
How the community helps the learners: being clear on the WHY behind the community (41:55)
Customized learning tools on the Participate platform (44:29)
The potential use of the Participate model for learning and development for corporations (47:14)
The importance of building communities with people, not for people (49:57)
The difference between cooperative learning and collaborative learning (52:27)
The biggest challenge: finding the right people who want to join these communities of practice (55:18)
What Mark sees as the future of learning and work (56:31)
What Mark wants to leave his Mark on during his lifetime (58:09)
Where to find Mark and Participate (1:00:59)
Maria's takeaways related to communities of practice (1:02:05)