When Jack O'Connell envisioned an online community called "Brokers of Expertise" to share education resources and best practices across California's diverse state, he knew he was placing a tall order. Yet he also knew that it would be an essential part of his plan to build capacity for our state's educators to raise student achievement and close the gap. We could not have accomplished this goal without the skilled management and leadership of Cross & Joftus. Cross & Joftus consultants were with us every step of the way to help keep the vision on track, pay attention to the smallest details and the big picture at the same time, build important partnerships and support, and ask the tough questions as we navigated multiple priorities and interests. What they have helped us produce has surpassed our expectations. We will always be grateful that they were part of the journey. 
Rick Miller
Deputy Superintendent for Policy and External Affairs, California Department of Education
Making it easy for teachers to connect, share ideas, and find resources.
Sharing educational knowledge, resources and tools is an essential component in any collaborative system geared toward improving student and teacher performance. State education departments and local education agencies (LEAs) are uniquely positioned to play a role in brokering and facilitating the exchange of education tools, research, knowledge, and resources among schools and districts.
Online technology is a very effective medium for reaching educators with different needs and for breaking down the barriers that often impede the schooling experience. It provides a venue to share ideas and address challenges. It also offers a forum to share best practices and success stories and develop a common knowledge base to improve instruction and strengthen the implementation of key district and state reforms.
Drawing on its decades of experience in the education arena, Cross & Joftus has developed The Online Learning Network to perform three essential tasks:
1) ALIGN and strengthen existing instructional improvement activities and strategies;
2) DEVELOP a technology solution for sharing diverse, high-quality resources to support instructional goals; and
3) DELIVER a tool for shared online professional communities and networks
A graphical representation of the continuous learning process that the Online Learning Network encourages is below.
Online Learning Network Development and Support Services
Drawing on the proven work of The Learning Network and Brokers of Expertise in California, the Online Learning Network uses a two-phase process to implement this creative information technology solution:
Phase 1: Alignment and Development
This first phase focuses on aligning goals and strategies, establishing partnerships and raising funds to support the solution.
ALIGNMENT OF GOALS AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
• partner with LEA to determine primary instructional goals;
• design new technology solutions or leverage other types of technology systems to align and deliver on goals;
• perform marketing, branding, and communications tasks;
• develop business and/or strategic plans for the project.
PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
• cultivate and engage strategic partners to the project;
• work with the state or LEA to create and administer the joint operating authority group needed to manage the partnership;
• help the state or party develop its requirements and integrate new content;
• work with the SEA to determine the stakeholder partnerships—for example, LEAs, the higher education community, the private sector, and the state legislature—needed to leverage and embed the best human capital and content resources for the site.
FUNDRAISING
• work with the SEA to find funding needed for the project;
• cultivate support and pursue funding opportunities; and
• write grants, as appropriate.
Phase 2: Deliver Solution
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Cross & Joftus has many years of experience in project management. Specifically, our firm can:
• partner with LEA to determine primary instructional goals;
• design new technology solutions or leverage other types of technology systems to align and deliver on goals;
• perform marketing, branding, and communications tasks;
• develop business and/or strategic plans for the project.
IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
• coordinate and/or run teacher and school pilot events for the SEA; and
• coordinate or execute an evaluation of the project for the SEA.
Cross & Joftus Services Partner
Cross & Joftus provides these services in partnership with Steve Midgley, owner and president of Mixrun, a consulting firm that focuses on technology and business model development and serves customers in government and the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Online communities, open source, data analytics, and technology acquisition are specific areas of concentration. Midgley serves as chief technology consultant on the Brokers of Expertise project. In the K–12 sector, other Mixrun clients include Performance Fact and the Salem Keizer School District in Oregon.
For more details on the Online Learning Network, please download this brochure.
To see how the Online Learning Network can work for your state, please review the Brokers of Expertise demo here.
For more information about the Online Learning Network, please contact:
Christopher Cross - Chris@edstrategies.net
Scott Joftus - Scott@edstrategies.net
Ginger Adams Simon - Ginger@edstrategies.net
Steve Midgley - Steve.Midgley@mixrun.com