Group items tagged

This study evaluated the CoPs in State Farm Insurance to study various variables and their impact on the effectivenss of CoPs. SOme of the varialbes include level of trust among members, connectedness, member committment, community leadership strength, perceived impact on job performance, and perceived community effetiveness.

Authors discuss advantages of personal learning environments in facilitating collaboration and fostering learner control. PLEs are facilitated by technology, networking, and self-regulation by learners. Open network learning environments from instructors allow PLEs to form. Focus of PLE is not information consumption, but information creation and participation. Authors relate PLE and ONLE to the theory of connectivism and discuss various applications and limitations.

Fantastic quote: "Educators perceive the instructional value of integrating Web 2.0 tools include autonomy, diversity, openness, and connectedness (van Harmelen, 2006); yet, they find multiple technologies daunting, which may affect their attitudes toward online learning. The integration of multiple Web 2.0 tools has created frustration among educators and students because they lack knowledge of the tools (Lee, Miller, & Newnham, 2008), difficulty learn- ing different tools (Weller, 2007), conducting multiple authentications (Suess & Morooney, 2009), visiting multiple sites for different tools, etc. This phenomenon results from a lack of understanding of the social networking learning paradigm and inappropriate integration." This article describes the role of Personalized Learning Environments (PLEs) and how Open Network Learning Environments (ONLEs) are instrumental for creating a PLE. The authors indicate that connectivism is a key underlying principle for developing such a PLE--seeking connections to learners and sources of information. They cite Siemens ("the pipe is more important than the content in the pipe"), which surprised me, as I read that comment from Siemens as hyperbolic. Practical advice for creating your own PLE are also incorporated, as well as examples of how to work and learn within a PLE. The authors suggest that PLEs (operating through ONLEs) disrupt LMSs in the same way that technology disrupts learning in general. Interesting analogy.

This is a collection of four short essays by Etienne Wenger from April 2009. Here he explores the role of an initiative of the European Social Fund. While many projects and solutions came out of this initiative, he states that it is the invisible scenes behind the projects that may be the biggest accomplishment. Wenger reiterates that more and more people are understanding the power of the learning shift from formal to informal, but more examples need to be studied as well. Interesting read.

YouTube has grown to become the largest and most highly visited online video-sharing service, and interest in the educational use of YouTube has become apparent. Paralleling the rise of academic interest in YouTube is the emergence of YouTube scholarship. This article presents the results of a review of 188 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers with "YouTube" in the title that were published between 2006 and 2009. Four questions were answered through the review of YouTube literature : (1) What is the overall distribution of publication activity for refereed journal articles and conference papers with "YouTube" in the title? (2) How are publications with "YouTube" in the title distributed across academic disciplines? (3) What have scholars writ ten about instructional methodologies involving YouTube in a sample of literature containing "YouTube" in the title ? (4) What have scholars reported about the results of studies involving YouTube in a sample of literature containing "YouTube" in the title ? An analysis of the publications revealed that the literature emerged from multiple academic disciplines. The sample of literature included 39 articles and papers describing methods for teaching with YouTube. A total of 99 articles and papers containing the results of research studies were identified and categorized. This literature review is particularly relevant to those online educators who are interested in learning what scholars from their own academic disciplines are writing about YouTube . An emphasis is placed on trends in teaching and research discussed in the sampled literature .

After reading a book or covering a topic in class, create a Facebook page for a character or a fan page for a cause that you read about. You can personalize the Facebook page, like other "peoples" pages and participate in "online discussions" that these people could have had if Facebook had been around at that time.

This blog post outlines an assignment in which students must create a Facebook page for a literary character.  This is a great idea.

This blog talks about Larry Liu, who has successfully implemented Facebook into his class as well as mobile technology.

Advancements in assistive technologies have spurred an emerging roster of new digital products designed to facilitate better communication between parents and teachers of children.

This article describes six creative, innovative art projects students can complete using Twitter. Students can explore how to combine content from various sources and turn words into visuals through these projects. #EdTechSN

This is one teacher's generated list of how he uses Twitter in the classroom. I love that he has updates and has student submit things through Twitter. Great ideas!

This link downloads an article by Antonio Calvani from the University of Florence. He gives his take on whether connectivism is a legitimate learning theory or just a re-branding of the traditional three. He comes to the conclusion that digital access requires that we must re-think learning theories based on tools that were un-imaginable when those said theories were created.

Calvani, A. (2009). Connectivism: new paradigm or fascinating pot-pourri?. Journal of E-learning and Knowledge Society, 4(1). This article is a little hard to swallow at times. In what seems to be a love affair for his own writing he denounces, disagrees, and argues against the text Knowing Knowledge, By Siemens. I am all for disagreeing and arguing but not at the expense of the writer's own opinion where he cannot incorporate any research that supports his position. The author argues that many are too quick to adopt "isms" as a new learning theory and web 2.0 buzzword. He seems to jump from Connectivism as an unfinished theory and being incomplete, again though with no research backing up his own opinion and claim. Just when I thought he was done speaking about anything that I could connect with, Mr. Calvani did illicit a head nod. "A wild transfer of Connectivism to school would lead to think that putting students on the net is enough to produce knowledge, thus consolidating that widespread harmful cliché according to which the more technologies we use, anyway we do it, the better it is for learning".(Calvani,) As an alternative viewpoint to Connectivism he does draw some interesting end points, albeit at the sake of providing actual research for his own defense.

In this article, the author does some 'digging' in order to unearth the origins of PLNs

I like the use of the word "digging". It reminds me of onion metaphors where you peal back the layers to "reveal" the story. That is what I liked on this site, the different uses and definitions reveal what PLN's have been.

Although this specific project is older, it is still a great project that could be duplicated. This project uses Skype to connect classrooms around the world.

The authors postulate that within connectivist communities, the roles that people take (lurker, leader, expert, etc.) have as much or more to do with personality traits than the desire for engagement or ability levels of the participant. They use massive open open courses (MOOCs) as a testing ground and Personality and Self-determination theory as the prisms through which to view learner interactions within these communities.

This article begins by defining constructivism as the principle that all learning starts with a connection, be it neural, conceptual, or social, and that learning is the ability to construct and traverse connections. The authors acknowledge that it is widely recognized idea but not yet accepted as a formal learning theory. The paper focuses on four key principles for learning that exist within connectivism: autonomy, connectedness, diversity, and openness. The authors also examine different theories regarding personality and self-determination and look at how these affect the individual's experience within connectivism.

Here, the author describes connectivism as the proposed learning theory for a digital age and is "based on the principle that all learning starts with a connection." Additionally, "learning in connectivism terms is a network phenomenon" and strongly emphasizes learners making connections. The concept of autonomy is also discussed in depth.

Talks about what a PLN is and why it's important to grow the connections that used to only exist between coworkers, friends, and family. Also has a table to show the variety of tools that one can use to expand their PLN.

"PLN's have immense value" was supported in-depth in this great resource. What a great find Jasmine! The chart discussing all the tools we can use to develop our own PLN's can be so crucial to educators who may be unsure about where to begin. The networking world can be overwhelming!

This blog entry streamlines the process for getting started with a PLN. It provides a directory of web 2.0 to help build a dynamic PLN. Links are provided. The video "The Networked Student" by Design Inspired by commoncraft is embedded; it highlights the benefits of being a networked student.

Much has been written recently about the impact of social networking tools in teaching and learning and how educators can build on the skills of their students in using these tools. But if educators only integrate the ability of students to connect and socialize, deeper points of learning will be missed.