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As librarians and community organizers, we bring neighborhoods together to learn with one another. As educators, we train facilitators to organize their own networks and we develop/curate open educational resources and open source software tools that support flourishing learning communities.
Together, P2PU builds and sustains learning circle communities with incredible partners around the world.
Here is a glimpse of our vision in action:
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P2PU Gathering in Kansas City
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We’re committed to our values of social and peer-based learning. That’s why we invited our community of P2PU champions, librarians, and educators to come together, meet one another, and reflect on the process, impact, and future of learning circles.
In May, 45 librarians and educators from 20 cities from across North America met together at the Kansas City Public Library for a P2PU Gathering. It was a giant success! But don’t take our word for it:
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“This was the best conference I have ever attended!"
- Marni Tam, Toronto Public Library
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“It was not a conference or a summit, but in itself, it was a sort of large-scale Learning Circle for Learning Circles”
- Marsha Malcolm, San Jose Public Library (Read her blog)
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The P2PU Gathering made “all participants feel valued”
- Katherine Lato, Partners Bridging the Digital Divide (Read their report)
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The Gathering ended with new facilitator resources, local action plans, and most importantly, strong ties between our emerging community. There have even been requests to host another Gathering next year - let us know if you'd like to get involved.
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Peer learning in Kenya and Uganda
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The Kenya National Library Service started running learning circles as a pilot in 2016, and has now expanded the program to 15 branches and included P2PU in their five-year strategic plan. Why? They’re seeing results! KNLS in helping patrons increase digital skills and tackle local issues like health promotion and crime prevention
So how might KNLS decide to strengthen their ‘Peer 2 Peer’ support? By traveling to neighboring countries and offering to help. With support from Electronic Information for Libraries and Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, KNLS librarians traveled to Uganda with P2PU staff to train 26 librarians in learning circles. And coming up in September, KNLS will train and support a group of librarians in Zambia!
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Judith Adoo from PEFO community library meets with a group of seniors starting their first learning circle. As a group, they decided that they had a goal of increasing their knowledge of advocacy and leadership and chose an online course to help them from the P2PU course website. |
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There is an enormous demand from people who are outside of the formal education system to learn skills and gain knowledge in order to better their communities. We believe supporting people as peer learners to access online courses is a start to an effective learning experience, but it is certainly not the end.
In places like Uganda, internet connectivity is extremely inconsistent. Non-academic courses, like the one Judith seeks, are mostly written in English and from a western perspective, are also increasingly hidden behind paywalls. Our goal is to make sure all online content is paired with a social learning experience, and all online content is open, relevant, accessible and localized.
If you're interested in achieving this goal too, read through our latest post and let us know how you can contribute.
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Online courses for offline use
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Scroll through our most-popular online courses
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We’re making it easier for people to find free and on-demand online courses and making the steps to create a learning circle as smooth as possible for first-timers. Take a look at 200+ online courses added by our community and try our new, easy-use, learning circle creation feature. Each online course was uploaded by a learning circle facilitator for use within an in-person setting. |
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University of Washington Report: “Findings highlight the importance of social and emotional support, group discussion, and facilitator interpersonal skills.”
Librarian Interviews “The most successful approach to onboarding and encouraging new librarians was, not surprisingly, through peer learning itself.”
World Education Pilot: “All of the pilot programs found Learning Circles valuable enough to continue to offer them indefinitely after the project concluded.”
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AACE Review:
“The shift to MOOC and Learning Circles” and how P2PU has changed over the past 7 years.
Open-Source Business Development: “How does P2PU create sustained value, and capture it, in a way that supports the growth of peer learning while remaining accessible and participatory?"
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That's right. We're lookin' good! Thanks to our brand new P2PU online shop, you too can look at cute, suave and debonair as our P2PU fans pictured below (adorable baby not-included). Our shop gives you a ton of options from sweaters and t-shirts to coffee mugs, tote bags, and yes, even onesies, that all sport the P2PU logo and flare in any size that you desire and a range of colors. You can even customize each item by adding extra text as you wish.
Let your friends and colleagues know that you're a fan or share it as a gift! With every purchase, P2PU receives a donation.
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That about wraps it up! Make sure to check out the many ways you can get involved and stay connected below.
All our best,
Grif, Dirk, Nico, Sharon, and the P2PU Family
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