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Summary: Educators from Australia uncovered that the most useful collaboration taken from a course was student-led and student generation conversations. The users were able to exponentially grow professionally with the help of their peers through social media. The collaboration in this case was not mandated by the professor, but merely a suggestion. It was the desire to learn from others that sparked the community created digitally. It was through the social media that the learners were able to share ideas, questions in a way that was organized and beneficial to all.

Very interesting article. I always sign up for MOOCs and find I always take away something but have never had that social connection experience in the course as they did in this article; maybe it was the instructor(s) and their encouragement to connect outside of the MOOC. I am going to pay more attention in the future to see if I see connectivism, PLN, and communities of practice.

Great article. I wanted to dive deeper into the MOOC's but just did not have the time. I am so glad you found and posted this article. I would really like to find a MOOC with the social interaction described in this article. I think that would be a very valuable learning opportunity.

On page 7, there is a useful table comparing behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism. Connectivism is seem by some to apply only outside formal learning environments and so serves as a great vehicle for life-long learning. On page 13, the author discusses that connectivism is dependent on electricity and runs the risk of tying learners to their computers to the detriment of their physical and psychological health. This is something I have thought about and was glad to find this author acknowledging it.

This is a very detailed, somewhat technical, article about how Web 2.0 tools can reach a variety of different learners in different situations. For example, learners with different cognitive abilities and learning styles can be reached within the same network. I found the table that compares and contrasts constructivism and connectivism particularly helpful in this article (p. 107-108).

Hi, I looked at the table and also found it helpful. It was very detailed, more so than some tables I saw in other articles as I was researching. One thing I haven't seen yet in discussions of connectivist learning is accessibility. So maybe this information moves in that direction.

I really appreciated the visual tables. It was nice to have a clear picture of the differences between constructivism and connectivism.

Summary: Connectivism often features student choice, personalization, and varied paces. Social connections and collaboration are highlighted in this theory. A librarian at Wichita State University implemented connectivist ideals in a research class to make the course more meaningful and useful in the future. She asked students to comment digitally on student created research guides that could be used in the future with other students. This professors success came with strong plans and deliberate use of collaboration among students.

Connectivism is presented as the latest theory in library education. It combines elements of cognitivism and constructivism. As librarians engage in traditional 50 minute instruction periods they often miss the individualized instruction that produces the best results. In this article a librarian at Wichita State was looking for ways to take her intruction to the next level. Fortunately she got that opportunity while working with an upper-level English course. Students made connections between sources and among each other by completing a course research guide. At the end of the article the author offered several tips for improving library instruction. Librarians must have a detailed lesson plan in place, strong faculty collaboration, and include fun active learning exercises.

This graduate dissertation was particularly interesting to me since it focuses on K-12 Spanish teachers. The author discusses how communities of practice can be used as professional development and ongoing language training, particularly for non-native speakers. The research includes the use of technology in that the community of practice studied was conducted online.

I can see the use of CoP being very beneficial for non-native speakers. The technologies are the tools that would help to bridge the learning gaps and support learners. Non-native speakers often feel very isolated in learning environments, as having more than one learning group would be helpful. What a great dissertation topic.

The author creates a great case in favor of digital PLNs. She explains why they are so important and relevant today. The emphasis of the article is on the need to work together, not on best practices, but rather on emerging practices. The author takes the stance that best practices require training with known knowledge for known outcomes. While we should be collaborating and innovating together to tackle the emerging practices.

In this article, the author explains why you should build a PLN, why PLNs are important, how to build a PLN, characteristics of a PLN, and skills needed to build a PLN. We need to stay relevant and connected with our personal development and can do that through PLNs. In the 21st Century, it is essential and key to success to stay informed, updated, and connected. PLNs make it easy to learn at the pace of change.

This article discusses why building personal learning networks is important when information changes constantly. The key to survival is learning how to learn continuously through building Personal Learning Networks. Creating networks where people can collaborate and learn from each other in order to remain on the cutting edge. PLNs allow for continuous learning, exchange of thoughts and ideas, and validate and challenge one's thoughts among a diverse group of individuals. PLNs have to be a sharing process of ideas.

In this article two university librarians advocate using social media platforms to teach information literacy concepts. They believe that social media platforms, which students already engage in, provide a perfect focal point for showing students how they can access all kinds of information sources outside the realm of the traditional sources like books and scholarly articles. Because of the need to critically evaluate information found on the web, the use of social media for research provides an excellent demonstration model for this essential skill. Librarians, the authors say, should embrace a connectivist approach when using social media to show students the process for making connections between different sources of information.

This article seems so relevant, especially to my teaching experience. I think that teaching students how to use social media and evaluate information on the internet is not just something librarians should teach; it should be something all teachers cover as it is extremely valuable. As the world around us changes, so to must our teaching practices and the content we cover.

In this article Mark McBride, a librarian at Buffalo State College, discusses the recent changes that he made to his information literacy course. He talks about how he incorporated constructivist principles and problem-based learning activities into his course structure. In the process of making these changes, however, he discovered that he is really incorporating connectivism into his classroom. He makes the case that librarians should begin to adopt connectivist principles when teaching information literacy concepts. Additionally, he acknowledges that if librarians are going to move in the direction of the connectivist theory, the Association of College and Research Libraries must take a look at its information literacy standards and update them to acknowledge the ways in which learners can share and create information through the use of social media.

A personal learning environment (PLE) describes the components that make up the educational platforms that a learner uses to achieve educational goals. While an LMS is considered course-centric, a PLE is, thus, learner-centric. An open network learning environment (ONLE) can help bridge the gap between a PLE and LMS. ONLEs encourage social networking collaboration. This article demonstrates that online courses that are built within various Web 2.0 resources drive students to create unique PLEs within ONLEs, and ultimately to become "global digital citizens."

This site provides news, information, and articles for college and university faculty members and administrators on topics such as diversity in the classroom and work place, online learning, and career building.

This article is part biography of George Siemens (one of the founders of the connectivist movement), part history of the connectivism movement and formation of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course). The article is relevant to our EdTech 543 discussion because it gives an in depth look into the beginning of the connectivism in the classroom, as well as why Siemens is a proponent of the movement.

I love this site. It allows some of my lower level readers access to the same text as their peers. You can adjust any of the settings to meet the needs of your students.

Summary: This research delves into the use of personal learning networks with teachers via survey. The two main sites used among the responders were Facebook and Twitter. A user of Twitter expands their network when they deem they have found someone interesting, whom they have learned something new from. It continues to discuss features that would be needed with both sites in order to further future professional growth opportunities

This article discuses the theories behind communities of practices. This resource includes charts and practices of designing effective communities of practice. It provides a clear definition of what these practices mean and provides several crucial characteristics of a community of practice.

The authors describe a successful teacher community of practice as one that is well designed and guided, usually developing one facet of instruction through joint work, supported by a proactive administrator and broad teacher leadership.

This video discusses the importance of personal learning networks. The creator shows why teachers are supported through the use of PLNs.

This study examines how adults learn from one another within a workplace environment. As the article highlights: "[Informal] learning at work constitutes a large part of the learning undertaken by adults . . ." The article determined that large worksites afforded a range and variety of communities of practice, informal learning opportunities, and types of learning within a worksite. However, very often, the people we learn from at work are not necessarily recognized as having a role that traditionally promotes learning.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and I found it logical that in the example of the Tiling Teachers, the article mentioned that they considered each other peers on the same level which would facilitate the learning that takes place within that group. I wonder how this learning would contrast from feedback or learning taking place from students in the class or even a superior like a Vice President of a program or a Senior Instructional Designer?

This was a great article and got me thinking a little deeper about communities of practice. So far this week, my studies have led to articles and examples of communities of practice in a learning or educational environment. I love how the focus was really on practices of communities of practice in the workplace. It was cool to realize that this process begins way before the class even begins. Thanks for sharing.

In this article faculty and graduate students at the University of Plymouth wrote about the growing use of blogging in higher education classrooms. The authors see connectivism as the theory that helps to legitimize the use of blogging in the teaching and learning environment. They acknowledge that Web 2.0 tools such as blogs give students the ability to easily make connections with their peers and others outside the classroom walls. One of the most interesting aspects of the article was that the authors advocated for the use of course blogs rather than individual blogs for the simple fact that it promotes a single platform for students to share and connect. The authors gathered much of the information for this article from a case study that they did with university students. They asked several students to complete a survey. Instead of a survey, the staff involved in the project were interviewed. Through this case study, the authors were able to produce both qualitative and quantitative data on the use of blogs. Overall, the results showed that blogs are an acceptable medium for using the connectivist model and that by and large, most students achieved the learning goals while completing the assignment.

Kelly, This is a very interesting article especially since I have had to use blogs for many courses and have considered having my own students use them as well. I definitely understand having a single platform, but I wonder if that takes away from the individuality students gain from getting to create their own.

Tiffany, I too am torn on the use of a single platform in the classroom. I love that it would be easier to manage one account rather than individual student accounts. I have over 100 Spanish 3 students (which doesn't include my Sociology and Spanish 2 classes). It could be a nightmare to monitor appropriate blog use of all of those students. At the same time, I agree that students lose the ability to create a personal site, and could be less engaged on the single platform.

This research effort developed by Barbara F. Hartigan, Ed.D. and Marialice B.F.X. Curran, Ph.D at University of Saint Joseph that looks at connectivism in the context of using social media as a mentorship program for pre-service teachers. It is based off the researchers witnessing teachers on Twitter who engage in the Twitter chat #kinderchat mentoring a first year kindergarten teacher through their weekly chats. This developed into a research project where they embedded social media into the program for 19 pre-service teachers. They used mostly Twitter, Skype, and blogging and found that all of the participants learn from and value learning and teaching ideas and methodology obtained from their social media interactions. They note that next steps would be to follow those educators into their classrooms to see their continued development using social media.

Written by George Siemens, focuses on learning theories for the digital age. He hits on several learning theories but comes to focus on networks and connectivism. He defines it and shares principles of connectivism.

Learning theories are frameworks describing how knowledge is absorbed, processed, and retained during learning but they never focus on the networks and connections. It is interesting that the three major learning theories Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism are still so dominate in education when the digital age is more than acquiring information; it is how that information is organized and share with others.

George Siemens seems to be the authority on Connectivism. While I do think his theory has merit, I cannot completely agree with him on all points. I did look at this article and I think it does a good job of explaining his theory particularly the examples.