Group items tagged

"Studies have concluded that social engagement can benefit retention efforts, and schools and teachers are successfully pursuing this tactic with the help of social media applications." This is an article that points to studies indicating that just as social interaction can help with student retention, both in the field of study and at the school, so to can social media fill this need. 

This post is from a student perspective about how using social media while studying abroad help keep them connected with students at the home institution. The article does not touch on the possibility of these tools acting as an insulator, keeping the student from interacting with the culture they are visiting. The assumption has to be that while they are in country, they are actively seeking out these interactions. A little focus from the study abroad program could help achieve both objectives. 

This article shows how to engage students and improve learning and comprehension of subject material, without the traditional lecture.  I will need a little latitude with this article and the assignment of social media in the classroom. This article does not focus on the use of social media but explains how systems can be used to prime students prior to coming to class and at the same time inform the instructor what areas students are having difficulties with at the time.  This is great because instructors and students do not have to go over information that has already been learned. Social media can be the vehicles used for this type of communication. 

This article by Stephen Downes provides a great insight into what an effective PLN looks like and how it functions. I enjoyed reading about his second stage of PLNs, which is the "personal learning environment." This idea is presented as the evolution of PLNs due to technology and connectivism in the classroom.

This article by Stephen Downes gives a definition of a community of practice and then discusses PLE's moving into networks and the characteristics of a learning network: diversity, autonomy connectedness and openness.

As I was relatively unfamiliar with learning networks before this course, I wanted to find resources that showed me what they looked like and examples of how they can be used. This article introduces the importance of using digital tools effectively and empower ourselves to gain the knowledge the web offers. The author states that "Learning therefore evolves from being a transfer of content and knowledge to the production of content and knowledge". Working in a network, PLE or communities of practice allow learners to be creative about information and knowledge, instead of just consuming information and knowledge. The article highlights the key benefits of a PLN: diversity, autonomy, connectedness, and openness.

This article is a good definition of what a community of practice (CoP) is and how they are used. It is not specific to online/social networks but offers good background on how communities are formed and what they are used for. With this general knowledge can be applied to many specific domains such as a personal learning network, a google circle or an anime club.

The authors have endeavored to find the motivations involved with professionals in the creation of Personal Learning Networks (PLN). The concluded that there are four common factors that for why people choose to use a PLN. These factors are : enhancing professional communication, remaining in touch with people in the network, positioning an individual in a network, and finding new people and expertise within the network. They point out that these factors are not necessarily the determining influences that comprise an individual successfully becoming a member of a network. They point out that there is metacognitive level, that of the attitude of the practitioner that is a determining factor for the success or failure of an individuals PLN.

The authors point out that today's learners are different from learners previous generations and as such, have different needs. Connectivist theory helps to serve as a roadmap for these learners needs. The authors offer a framework to the reader in which to to help build student's personalized learning environments (PLE). They conclude that it is the role of the educator to select the tools and resources that best enable students to maximize their learning potential.

The authors offer a brief look at connectivism in relation to distance and blended learning in higher education. They point out the the landscape is changing from a knowledge transmission to a knowledge acquisition system and that connectivist theory is a guide to help in this transition. They also offer a counterpoint in that the way a good number of online courses are conducted is in a knowledge delivery system that dissociates the learner. They point out the instructor interaction is mandatory to counteract the dissociation that can occur.

The authors review the literature over the last 10 years of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) to come up with an idea or the roles that teachers play within these environments as well as the skills needed to be successful in these roles. They have put forth 5 broad areas that teachers must take on in order to be successful in facilitating student PLEs: Planning and Design, Instruction and Learning, Communication and Interaction, Management and Administration, Use of Technology.

This paper looks at the use of specific communities of practice (CoP) created at McMaster University designed to promote informal teacher professional development (TPD). They found that the CoP's that were specifically created to foster teacher interaction affective, were not only effective but that several additional CoPs were organically created by the faculty during the writing of the paper. They use this as evidence of the effectiveness of CoPs for TPD.

The authors of the paper postulate that traditional learning theories do not adequately cover the use of mobile technologies, particularly phones in a learning context. This paper looks at a class of native Arabic speaking students learning English as a second language through the use of mobile phones and facebook. They conclude that in this context, connectivism fully accounts for the interactions that their students naturally gravitated towards when interacting in english thus furthering their study of interest.

This links to an article written in Organizational Science in 1991. The authors, from the Institute for Research on Learning believe that working, learning, and innovating are three forms of human activity that are believe to conflict with one another. They seek to prove that the three are, in fact, intertwined and innovating results from the learning that takes place in a community of workers. If the three components are collective, they will thrive. If they are separate, they will fail. The authors refer to these as communities-of-communities.

This link is to a presentation on The Educator's PLN website. The video gives an overview on learning theory from ancient Greece to the present day, concluding with Siemens' theory of connectivism. This is very easy to understand and basic reasons are given for the advent of each theory with an explanation of each. When discussing connectivism, the speaker, Dallas McPheeters, talks about online self-organizing social systems (OSOSS), which are the communities that form via social networks. MCPheeters feels that technology allows history to repeat itself, providing the very best of every theory to any and every situation.

Since my school and district are very PLC (Professional Learning Community) savvy and it was addressed within this module and a form of PLNs I did some searching and came across this PLC site. It has PLC Blogs/Discussions, Evidence of Effectiveness information and Tool / Resources for educators.

A video that defines a PLN and discusses the importance of them in an educational environment.

Cool resource! I didn't look into using videos as resources but I can see how this would have great value. This one starts out a little dramatic (especially with the music!) but is VERY informative! I also like how it uses other scholarly resources to validate the points of how using PLNs can be effective. Also, I appreciate the clear definition of PLNs

Authors discuss connectivism as a framework for how students learn. They note that learning is making connections within a personal learning network and knowledge is recognition of these connections. They also note that knowledge is stored outside of the learner. They discuss connectivism and its origins as well as the role of connectivism in the work of librarians. They discuss how connectivism informs pedagogical practices in the library and defines the library as a node within student PLNs.

Exploration of the connectivist theory in relation to library media is the topic of this article. It expresses the idea that connectivism is defined by one's abilities to recognize connections, patterns, and similarities between concepts to construct learning. Dunaway argues that changes in technology, learning, and literacy make it necessary to apply connectivist ideas to library practices.

The author suggests that learning takes place when a learner connects ideas from his/her various personal learning networks. Further, those pieces of information is controlled by information technology. This idea becomes apparent when running the same search in Google, Bing or Yahoo. The author purports that in order for a teacher to be effective, he or she must understand this idea of connectivity and how it impacts a student's learning environment.

The author suggests that learning is a process of connecting information sources. What better place to connect information than online, where a world of information is at our fingertips. The author discusses Web 2.0 (blogs, wikis, social networking, and virtual gaming environments to name a few) and how they've impacted learning and helped to shape the idea of connectivism.

The author suggests that the foundation for connectivity is constructivism. The learner becomes the center of the of the learning process; rather than the dissemination of knowledge. The author further discusses the need for educators to adopt multiple methods of teaching in order to be effective in reaching the most students. Lastly, the author suggests that learning takes place in a collaborative and cooperative environment,