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In this article by middle school teacher Stephanie Pinkin discusses the way the Internet and Web 2.0 tools have changed education during the course of her career.

A web-based screen reader for the web that does not require any software install to run.

This article examines how students' use of web 2.0 technology and social media can provide new and effective classroom learning opportunities. The article also looks at a study performed by Childnet International on the benefits of learning with social networking/media. The author also points out some challenges with web 2.0 tools such as critical thinking and digital literacy.

This website is a great tool for any teacher who is specifically looking to spice up their math classroom. It has 100 sites and/or apps to use that are centered on game based learning. These sites all incorporate learning math concepts and is a great engagement tool in any classroom.

This article helped to explain why PLNs and Connectivist theory go hand in hand. It explained that theory and knowledge are linked in a PLN because they are accessible in the context they are applied. The nature of the learning in a PLN is all about applying knowledge and coming up with new ideas about its relevance to concepts. PLNs are all about creating as well as sharing as well as autonomy for its users. Connectivism is about working cooperatively, meaning independently but in a shared environment. This article really helped me to bridge a connection between the Connectivist theory and PLNs.

This article discusses the foundational theory of how PLNs and PLEs influence learning. It discusses the new definition of what the PLE is for each student and how it is evolving with the web tools available to the student.

I like the fact that the authors discuss that educators need to embrace emerging technologies. In addition, they point out that social networking turns the consumer into the producer-what an interesting concept; I think I will use this as I argue for a bit more technological freedom in my classroom.

This website discusses using Twitter in the language classroom. The students could actually tweet or Facebook message others from Hispanic countries (or whatever country they are studying). It would be a great way to get the students communicating outside of the classroom in the language. 

Edshelf is a collection of digital tools for educators. It is updated frequently and people post reviews about the digital tools.

This is a blog that incorporates technology into language and gifted programs. It has a lot of great ideas for tools for gifted students who want to work ahead.

This is a website that has a large variety of tools that can be used in the classroom.

A drawing tool that allows you to develop pictures, charts, diagrams, etc. I am really excited to find this and be able to have students create Double Bubble maps, Venn Diagrams, etc, online.

Stevens, V. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The rise and slide of the year's most viral microblogging platform. TESL-EJ: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 12(1). This article did not focus just on Connectivism or just on communities of practice but provided a clear example of both after my previous readings. If you think about the basic fundamental of twitter it would be easy to discount at first whether or not it would be successful. I'm sure along the way some may have even felt that it was a fad destined to fail or fade. Who would want to be limited to only one hundred and fifty characters to get out a complete thought and why would anyone be interested. Well right now according to this article twitter is the most popular microblogging tool that has existed. I found it interesting if you have read my previous articles especially about linguistics in communities of practice that twitter type has made its way into our everyday vernacular, such as saying hash tag in actual dictation. Interesting that a change in our speech and actions are indicators of belonging to a certain community of practice, much like how some groups say 'lol' instead of actually laughing out loud. This article draws these dots that are easily linked together to show Connectivism. The author spends time explaining when he "got" twitter, or when it dawned on him this is an excellent tool. From there he uses some great analogies to describe the connected world twitter produces for millions of users a day. My favorite quote from his article "To 'get' twitter, you have to have your finger on the pulse of what is pumping lifeblood through the Internet, and that is the people on it and how they come together (Connectivism), connect, and relate to one another (communities of practice) in virtual learning networks". (Stevens,2008)

I didn't realize Twitter had been around as long as it has - I also didn't know it's origins. Lost most of the social media sites it's changed a lot since the beginning!

Great post and I was cracking up at "The Twitter Curve" image. It gave a good explanation to me about what makes Twitter so powerful and its benefits but am also glad it touched on things to be leery of.

Blog author Steve Wheeler summarizes several writings on connectivism in this blog post. He highlights the connectivist idea that learning occurs outside the individual via social networks and PLNs. He also points to the shift in knowledge acquisition from one of "knowing information (aka memorization)" to "knowing how to locate information." He suggests it's vital that students learn to develop their own networks and personalized learning tools.

I enjoyed the quote from Siemens where he says that students need to find a method to develop their own learning tools, environment, and communities to store their knowledge. As educators, it is more important for us to guide students to find the information they require. Then coach them as to how they can store and display the knowledge they have acquired.

I found his "nutshell" comment about how connectivism argues it's more important to know where to find knowledge than it is to internalise it to be very helpful.

5th grade students share horse safety advice suing Audiboo.fm as a social media tool to capture audio but also share it out to the larger community for comments and sharing. There's so much potential with this one!

I love discovering new sites and apps that combine cool functionality and great design, and Story Map is one of my favorites (along with Flipboard!). Also check out http://timeline.knightlab.com/ for a great timeline tool. I am planning on using one or the other to create a map of all the places I have lived and then share it with my family. Only downside is the lack of documentation or tutorials at this juncture, but it's pretty intuitive. The JS name (Java Script) implies that you might have to do some coding, but it's not the case. Check it out!

This is a good set of tools and instructions for creating and maintaining a PLN.

I found these piece both extremely interesting and valuable. So true the way the author discusses the outcomes of a one-shot workshop vs. a "job-embedded, ongoing" (love the terms!) framework such as PLCs. The main benefits of the PLCs are 1) their are embedded into each school day and are facilitated by teacher support staff and 2) they are not collaboration for collaboration's sake! Instead, they engage teachers into an ongoing dialogue that is of their concern or interest right here, right now! Thus, meaningful collaboration results in meaningful outcomes. Great read!

There's two tools I'm seeing less and less that were included in this blog post. I'm seeing less people using wikis and also Ning seems to have been replaced maybe by Google+? I see this blog as good discussion of using your time wisely and wonder how it might be updated say in 2 or 3 years with new technologies.

This is a link to a paper about building online communities of practice with social networking tools. It details the CoP model introduced by Wenger, McDermott & Snyder: that is comprised of members and continually changes, that it is mutual engagement that binds members together, and that there is a shared set of resources that develops over time. The domain of CoP is is common ground that created a community. Practice comes from the resources that are created. The authors lead of of this into their proposed phases of the learning process in a CoP: Context, Discourse, Action, Reflection, and Reorganization.

This paper shows how members of communities of practice can increase their learning through social networking tools. They discuss how social networking is the forum for the domain (common ground) where people can discuss their ideas. This helps create personal meaning. This happens with a community which is a group of people who want to learn and interact together. The practice is the knowledge that the group develops. Within the article, he discusses how different social networks enhances communities of practice.

Nearpod is a tool that enables teachers to use their devices to manage content on students' devices. It combines presentations, collaboration, and real-time assessment tools, allowing teachers to embed polls, quizzes and drawings, as well as video and other content, into slides in Nearpod.

This is a great tool for students to create their own "multimedia scrapbooks" online by using the creation tools and templates on this website. Students can then share their work with others.