These informal networks help teachers
to deal with the increasing complexity of their work
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Networked professional learning: relating the formal and the informal | Vaessen | Front... - 3 views
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In spite of the proven importance of informal networks, professional development of teachers is almost invariably approached in a largely formal manner
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What are the formal and informal mechanisms underlying networked professional learning, related to professional development, autonomy and management? · How can networked learning be positioned in the most optimal way?
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When personal responsibility takes the form of accountability toward control from superiors or school inspection, spontaneous learning processes can be impeded
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Learning mechanisms: what we have seen in the literature indicates that networked learning is a natural activity through which professionals develop their expertise, in addition to participating in formal learning procedures. This form of professional development is a continuous process. Networked learning is often directly related to work practices and promoting it has proven to be effective to enhance the learning process.
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Issues of trust, freedom of choice, and willingness to share and connect are intrinsically motivated
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This study delves into the formal and informal aspects of networks. It highlights the need for informal in a teachers' complex job, but the struggles with qualifying/managing the occurrence. It also speaks to administrations delicate roll as a "gate-keeper" or "barrier". Interesting read.
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Nice find Cassie. While the study is lengthy to read it is full of excellent information. I believe the ladder half of the text (discussion and key points sections) is where the most valuable information lies. I always appreciative objectivity and honesty, and the authors of this study were clear that networks aren't for everyone. Everyone is a unique and distinct learner so to blanket the idea of a network as something that is a "must" for effective professional development wouldn't be fair. Yet, it does acknowledge that from a team initiative perspective, networks are a blank canvas and platform for maintaining open communication so all parties involved grow.
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shared by brianbetteridge on 11 Sep 12
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'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge - 14 views
www.huffingtonpost.com/...ism-and-connecti_b_804653.html
Edtech543 technology resources teaching elearning connectivism
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George Siemens and Stephen Downs were offering a free course to the first 2200 people to discover connectivism and study its principals. They chose a free online course format to illustrate connectivism.
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The main idea of this article is to explain how and why he and George Seimens offer MOOCs to the world. Downes believes that all learning is about connections made among the learners, just we are the neurological connections that our brains make every second. He does not believe knowledge is acquired or transmitted, but rather experienced. One of his most telling statements is his belief that the process of taking the course is more important than what people may happen to learn from it--which is at the heart of what he believes connectivism is.
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I was very excited to find this article! In it, Stephen Downes, Canadian Education Technology Research Specialist, describes his and George Siemens,' Associate Director, Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute, free course, 'Connectivism and Connective Knowledge' -- or CCK11. It is a twelve week course of readings and online seminars, where learners are invited to read selected materials and study the content with a connectivist's approach. Downes says, "What is important about a connectivist course, after all, is not the course content. Oh, sure, there is some content -- you can't have a conversation without it -- but the content isn't the important thing. It serves merely as a catalyst, a mechanism for getting our projects, discussions and interactions off the ground. It may be useful to some people, but it isn't the end product, and goodness knows we don't want people memorizing it." I want to register for the next one!
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This is a blog post from Steven Downes about the courses on connectivism he offered with George Siemens. It offers a good argument for taking the connectivist approach to learning and explains what connectivism is. It offers an explanation for connectivist teaching and learning falling into the 4 major activities of aggregation, remixing, repurposing, and feeding forward. He stresses that connectivism is a pedagogy based on the realization that knowledge is not something you can solidify into a single perfect product to pass along because different people/communities will always interpret/learn from it differently.
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George Siemens and Stephen Downes provide online courses call 'Connectivism and Connective Knowledge' to over 2,000 educators on the philosophy of teaching and learning they instill in their learners. http://cck11.mooc.ca is a twelve week course that is free for those who register. They disclose attributes to connectivist teaching and learning. Aggregation provides a starting point. Remixing draws connections to others. Repurposing is practicing the concepts learned, not just repeating them with route memorization techniques. Feeding forward consists of sharing with others and being able to collaborate on others' projects to use them as your own.
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What I find really cool about this is that the content of the course is not what is important, but rather the fact that they are connecting and networking. The networking is more powerful than the content is what seems to be the focus.
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I found this quote interesting, "So what a connectivist course becomes is a community of educators attempting to learn how it is that they learn, with the objective of allowing them to be able to help other people learn." I like that there is no distinction between the "teacher" and the "student". Instead, everyone is seen as both learner and educator. However, I have some concerns about how this works with middle school or high school students. Are they mature enough to really take on that role and stay on task? How do you ensure the respect and authority in the class when you are putting yourself on nearly an equal foot with the students? Kids are so used to a traditional direct instruction class they they often get confused or rebel against anything different.
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This is one of the resources listed in the video I posted earlier. It is an introduction to the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course. It explains how the core aspects of connectivism are built into the course and gives a description of each aspect.
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This article introduces the term connectivism as a "network-based pedagogy" Through the article the author makes references to a course that he will be providing. Overall though there is some really good information about connectivism from both the teacher and learner perspectives.
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Along with George Siemens, Stephen Downs is one of the intellectual leaders of connectivism, which he describes in this article. One of the things I really like about this article is the fact that it is written for a wide audience via an outlet like The Huffington Post, rather than an exclusively academic audience.
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I enjoyed this article because it identified 4 connectivist "activities." They are aggregation, remixing, repurposing, and feeding forward. It explains these concepts clearly while also giving a succinct overview of connectivism, and their relationship to connectivism.
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This article provided me with a clearer understanding of the Connectivist approach and the four activities that surround it--aggregation, remixing, re-purposing, and feeding forward. It was interesting to read under the Aggregation portion that Siemens and Downes have to tell participants to pick and choose what they read for the course. We are still very pre-conditioned to want to read and study everything that is handed to us and regurgitate it back. There is something about Connectivism that bothers me. It seems a little "loosey goosey" at times. I like the idea of people being able to gather and share ideas and make meaning from them, but I wonder if one can become a true expert in something by just solely using this approach.
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I love the explanation of connectivism at the beginning. The explicitness with which they say it's not about the content but the process is refreshing and true to my experience in the classroom as well. There are many days when I know the student will never remember the content I taught but they will remember how they found it and the way that they discussed, dissected, and applied it to their selves.
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I think out of all the articles I read about connectivism, this one was the easiest for me to understand and truly grasp the meaning of connectivism. The author gave clear examples of how learning happens through connectivism and that the course he was providing truly used this theory in helping the learners. This article helped me solidify how important I think schooling is for school aged children and the connections they make with their peers academically and socially. They are using this theory without even thinking about it, and in connecting with others ideas they are learning on their own without a teacher telling them facts, dates or formulas.
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shared by Gretel Patch on 03 Sep 12
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Philosophy of Education (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - 0 views
plato.stanford.edu/...education-philosophy
epistemology EdTech504 philosophy theories education EdTech543
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While not all societies channel sufficient resources into support for educational activities and institutions, all at the very least acknowledge their centrality—and for good reasons
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While not all societies channel sufficient resources into support for educational activities and institutions, all at the very least acknowledge their centrality—and for good reasons
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While not all societies channel sufficient resources into support for educational activities and institutions, all at the very least acknowledge their centrality—and for good reasons
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While not all societies channel sufficient resources into support for educational activities and institutions, all at the very least acknowledge their centrality—and for good reasons
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within a few years they can read, write, calculate, and act (at least often) in culturally-appropriate ways
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education also serves as a social-sorting mechanism and undoubtedly has enormous impact on the economic fate of the individual.
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education equips individuals with the skills and substantive knowledge that allows them to define and to pursue their own goals, and also allows them to participate in the life of their community as full-fledged, autonomous citizens
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groups depend for their continuing survival on educational processes, as do the larger societies and nation-states of which they are part
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The great social importance of education is underscored, too, by the fact that when a society is shaken by a crisis, this often is taken as a sign of educational breakdown; education, and educators, become scapegoats.
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education as transmission of knowledge versus education as the fostering of inquiry and reasoning skills that are conducive to the development of autonomy
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how learning is possible, and what is it to have learned something—two sets of issues that relate to the question of the capacities and potentialities that are present at birth, and also to the process (and stages) of human development and to what degree this process is flexible and hence can be influenced or manipulated
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education and maintenance of the class structure of society, and the issue of whether different classes or cultural groups can—justly—be given educational programs that differ in content or in aims
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relation between education and social reform, centering upon whether education is essentially conservative, or whether it can be an (or, the) agent of social change
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These features make the phenomena and problems of education of great interest to a wide range of socially-concerned intellectuals, who bring with them their own favored conceptual frameworks—concepts, theories and ideologies, methods of analysis and argumentation, metaphysical and other assumptions, criteria for selecting evidence that has relevance for the problems that they consider central, and the like.
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for although education can occur in schools, so can mis-education (as Dewey pointed out), and many other things can take place there that are educationally orthogonal (such as the provision of free or subsidized lunches, or the development of social networks); and it also must be recognized that education can occur in the home, in libraries and museums, in churches and clubs, in solitary interaction with the public media, and the like
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shared by Russell Nash on 10 Sep 13
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Social Media as the Missing Link: Connecting Communities of Practice to Business Strategy - 1 views
www.tandfonline.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu/...10919392.2013.748608
edtech543 community of practice knowledge management
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Crafting an institutional personal learning environment - 0 views
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As PLEs are often positioned as the antithesis (or antidote) to closed institutional based learning management systems, this article title struck me as an oxymoron. The article sets forth several plans for making the existing VLEs (think LMS) systems more like a PLE. This includes a widget store, significant options for customizing appearance and perhaps most interesting, a mechanism for making system data available back to users (where confidentiality is not an issue). Did not see whether or not, post-graduation access to institutional PLE resources will be provided or not, as this is a key issue in my mind.
Pillars of Digital Leadership - Article - 1 views
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Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking s... - 23 views
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In this entry by First Monday, the article explores personal learning networks as it relates to our professional careers. They explore a model of personal professional networking for creating a personal learning network, based on an investigation through a literature study, semi-structured interviews and a survey.
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This discusses the three primary tasks involved in developing a successful personal learning network. It is not a "how-to" for developing a personal learning network, but rather investigates the key elements that must be in place.
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I read this article awhile back and found it informative. The authors provide insight into how and why we build learning networks. The illustrations throughout the article are helpful as they summarize the narrative sections that describe the PLN model.
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This article talks about the similarities and differences of professional networks and personal learning networks. It mentions that both networks have learning as the main goal in mind, and that sometimes professional networks have formed into personal learning networks because it is more detailed and defined that that individual and what they are interested in learning.
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Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them. Authors Kamakshi Rajagopal, Desirée Joosten-ten Brinke, Dr. Jan Van Bruggen and Dr. Peter B. Sloep research how networking is a skill in supporting growth and learning. The result is a model of personal professional networking. Included in the article is the introduction, methodology, the learner as orchestrator of her personal learning network, the personal learning network model and discussion and conclusion - supporting personal networking and future research. The article begins with a definition of professional networking, "the act of making connections with other professionals, with or without the intention of making long-term ties with them." Throughout the article, the authors reference weak versus strong connections, but the definition of weak is not, not strong, rather, weak ties are sources for new information, knowledge and ideas. The personal learning network model is attitude - intention, activity and skill - building, maintaining, activating. The authors conclude with a suggestion that "further development of technology to support professionals better in identifying relevant others and in developing relations online as and when necessary."
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This source seeks to identified the finite features that make a successful PLN. It highlights factors that influence the individual's ability to build, maintain, and activate the personalized networks. The nine factors include: organization of the contact, network of a contact, reputation, benevolence, like-mindedness, real potential for collaboration, real potential for learning, and trends in work environment. Several diagrams are offered to illustrate how the success of a personal learning network for the individual is governed by the attitude of the individual towards the network and the skills displayed or put into practice on a daily basis. The text also stresses the potential of PLNs as they encounter existing and news social networking technologies that make the connection process easier and allow for greater fluidity in build professional development through the network.
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This article discusses personal learning networks (PLN). How they are structured, what content you need to add and what type of skills you need in order for them to be beneficial to you. The main questions answered is how beneficial they really are? Can you benefit from a PLN? EDTECH543 Personal Learning Network
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A detailed article on PLN's, including the PLN model with descriptions of the three stages of Buiding, Maintaining, and Activating, with factors affecting decisions during each stage.
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This article discusses the benefits of personal learning networks to help professionals learn and grow. The authors used a literature study, interviews, and survey to help determine the effectiveness of personal learning networks.
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Article discussing structure and content of PLNs and the networking skills needed to use them.
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The authors in this article first delve into the structure and purpose of networking for professionals, but then segues into how using those skills can be used in creating and utilizing a PLN. A visual to show how the PLN model looks also helps to explain the purpose and value in participating in a PLN. While the article is slightly outdated as it speaks to how technology can work best with a PLN, the basic structure and values of a PLN is well explained.
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This source is focused on PLNs. It defines them as relationships and connections that we make with other professionals. It talks about the advantages of creating networks with other professionals, and that those connections can be both intentionally or unintentionally built. It also discusses ways that professionals can create and maintain their own PLNs.
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This article looks deep into personal learning networks. It looks at learner as an orchestrator of PLN. It also looks into factors related to building, maintaining, and being active in personal learning networks.
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The author explains the benefits of PLNs to help educators get new skills and improve they ones that they already have. He also discusses how the structures of PLN are and how you can get benefits from PLNs. The illustrations of this article help to understand the stages of the networking process and an example of a personal professional networking model.
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This article presents in an interesting model for teachers to create personal learning networks. The portion about the "learner as orchestrator of a personal learning network" was particularly enlightening. While at times the article verges into "how-to" territory, the underlying theory discussed provides strong context and explanation of the mechanics involved.
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This article defines a personal professional network as "an egocentric, personally and intentionally created network of people set up by an individual specifically in the context of her professional activities," and discusses how a PLN supports an individual's growth and learning. The authors examine the strengths and benefits of PLNs and analyze how PLNs are built, created, and maintained. Studies were conducted that resulted in the finding that there are three stages of the networking process with nine factors that influence personal professional networking, concluding in the creation of a visual model of the PLN.
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I found out that both strong and weak connections make up a person's learning and that each are important for different reasons. Strong ties help you create knowledge and encourage active collaboration between you and someone else (or more than one someone.) Weak ties Give us access to new information that we wouldn't have without them. In this unit, I learned that knowledge in the future relies not as much on what we know ourselves as being able to connect with people who become receptacles of knowledge. We tap into them as needed, making it unnecessary for us to be an expert in everything. Weak ties allow us access to these sources when the need arises. I also liked this quote, because it explained a bit about how to build these PLNs. "Grabher and Ibert (2008) proposed a three-layered approach, consisting of a communality layer (strong ties), a sociality layer (weak ties) and a connectivity layer (very weak ties)."
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@Buffy Nallion I found value referencing the Personal Learning Model. http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewFile/3559/3131/43945
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This article explores research on professional networking resulting from a literature study, interviews, and a survey. It defines and shares the benefits of a PLN. It explores a model of personal learning networks where the learner is the builder of the network. Several factors for selecting connections are addressed including interests, influences, and attitudes of the learner. Three levels of connections are described including communality, sociality, and connectivity - moving from strong to weak connections. The article lists supporting technologies for PLNs.
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This article uses a networking model to examine how professionals manage connections and which factors push them to connect for the purpose of learning. Existing PLN technological solutions tend to focus on enhancing communication, but it is unclear if the technology affects the attitude of professionals and their intentions for network to learn.
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This article discusses professional learning networks, which is different than personal learning networks but similar in so many ways. Professional learning networks are targeted to support the individual's growth just like a personal learning network. This article presents a model of a professional network for creating a personal learning network.
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The article captured my attention by opening with " professionals need to perform flexible and independently in ever-changing environments." This makes me think of preparing students to be college and career ready! The earlier we can engage and immerse students and ourselves in PLN the more ready we will be for the ever changing future! Thanks for sharing!
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I was quite impressed with how intricate the model was with attitude converting to attention and then these governing activity and skill on the hierarchy. The part of this article that stood out to me the most was how the interviews supported that "this attitude emerges with people who a) experience the value of their network at first hand (Hamm, 2007) and/or people who b) reflect on their work and learning in a broader perspective than their day-to-day practice (Margaryan, et. al., 2009)." I appreciate how straightforward this article was in this model.
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In this article, the author explains what a PLN is and how it can be used in other work environments outside of education. The authors of the article were looking at how PLNs support different professions. The article also discusses the factors that individuals use to build and create a PLN.