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Getting Started with our K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum

This qualitative study explores the experiences of PK-12 teachers using PLNs for professional growth. The research questions focus on how P-12 teachers describe their PLNs, what teachers learn from PLNs and how they believe PLN activities affect their teaching, and how teachers perceive their participation in PLNs affect their students' learning.

A K-12 district, the Tri-Creek School Corp., has implemented a one-to-one laptop initiative for middle and high school students, allowing them to use social media for their school work. They are using Edmodo and Google Apps to submit assignments, leave notes for teachers, ask questions, and comment on each other's work.

Multiple links to STEM activities. Great for co-teaching.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

The International Association for K-12 Online Learning Who We Are The mission of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is to ensure all students have access to a world-class education and quality blended and online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success.

541, videos

Great resource for national and state-by-state data on K-12 online learning. I subscribe to their blog as well.

This article highlights how Blackboard is helping a number of school districts raise achievement, organization and engagement. It gives examples from several schools that participate.

Using Edmodo, students discuss with other global classrooms about various aspects of their lives. Teachers will guide chat topics, and students seek to understand and appreciate the opinions and cultures of others.

This is a more atypical resource for our assignment but I felt that it was very appropriate for many of my K-12 peers. This text discusses the history of PLN and how educators must use PLN as a part of their learning tool kit today. Both authors are educators as well as business men who ofter a mix of experience in their attempt to convince you that PLNs are one of the major ways to captivate and engage students in the learning process.

This article comes from PSU's Education magazine. It's about bringing gaming into the K-12 classroom.

This website provides free flexbooks on a variety of subjects. These are aligned with standards, and each resource is customizable. I was so excited to find this resource!

Web 2.0 Science Tools for grade 5-12, categorized by sub-topic. Most are interactive.

One of the highlights of the current Horizon report is the section on Personal Learning Environments. The report lists PLEs as being a personalized collection of tools and resources assembled to support your own learning. Horizon lists PLEs as being 2-3 years out from wide implementation in K-12 schools.