Let’s get the big news out of the way: my work with P2PU is wrapping up. I have spent the past three and a half years with P2PU developing learning circle programs with hundreds of public librarians and educators around the world. What a journey it has been! It has truly been one of the…
From September 18 to 20th, we welcomed 55 educators, librarians, and learning circle advocates to Boston for a P2PU Gathering. This came on the heels of a similar event in Kansas City last year, and we are grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Siegel Family Endowment for providing us with the…
If you’re like me, you probably grew up thinking that serious learning only happened in school, college and university. The consequence of this belief is that it devalues, denies, and discriminates against how most of the world actually learns, which is outside of formal education. If we’re serious about achieving education for all, then we…
Peer 2 Peer University is a global community of people who believe that everyone should have access to free, community-driven and social learning experiences. To reach this goal, learning circles combine free online courses with peer learning practices in public spaces. Learn more by hearing from what others have to say, checking out useful resources, seeing where learning circles…
What do you think? Should libraries replace universities as centers of education and learning? Universities are increasingly expensive and commodified, offer a top-down curriculum, and reinforce the status quo. No thanks! Wouldn’t it better to have a ‘university’ that was free and that had a mission to serve everyone? A university for the people and…
The P2PU learning circle project began with the belief that there are tons of good online courses out there, and that we just need to better curate and frame these resources if we want more people to gain meaningful access. Three years into the project, we feel that this belief is only partially true and that, in…
Originally posted on Medium by Marsha Malcolm on June 15, 2018 It was 5:00am at the San Jose airport and a TSA agent was vigorously shaking my tupperware full of last night’s spaghetti. She was trying to convince me that it could be a liquid. While you likely don’t know me I am sure it…
P2PU Gathering started by introductions held, not surprisingly, in a very large circle. On May 17th, 43 educators and librarians descended on Kansas City for two days. There was a lot of active learning, a lot of strategizing and a lot of BBQ. But what really happened? Here’s an overview of the whole event: Intention Two…
Learning circles are different than what you might remember from school. Instead of sitting back and listening to a teacher talk, learners are responsible for running and directing the learning circle, discussing issues as a team, and offering peer support. But don’t take our word for it! In 2018, the Technology and Social Change Group…
Last month we spoke with eleven public libraries who started running learning circles in 2017. For most of them, this was a brand new library pilot initiative and we wanted to know what was working, what needed to be tweaked and if libraries were, in fact, planning to run learning circles in the future….