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We are adopting a 1-1 initiative next year and my math team and I are looking for an online data base to help us differentiate. This is the best option that we have found and I like how individualized the learning can be!

This is my class website! Here you will be able to find a calendar of the assignments as well as resources and other materials that are helpful for my students. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!

This article states that a personal learning network is a major component within digital learning. After that, the writer explains that simply "surfing the web" is not an example of a PLN, but monitoring a specific set of resources is. It then goes on to discuss how personal learning networks can help teachers use class time more effectively while giving students access to materials through the use of the internet. The article explains this with the use of a blog for a class.

The Center for Teaching History with Technology, a resource created to help K-12 history and social studies teachers incorporate technology effectively into their courses. Find resources for history and social studies lesson plans, activities, projects, games, and quizzes that use technology. Explore inquiry-based lessons, activities, and projects. Learn about web technologies such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, social networks, Google Docs, eBooks, online maps, virtual field trips, screencasts, online posters, and more. Explore innovative ways of integrating these tools into the curriculum, watch instructional video tutorials, and learn how others are using technology in the classroom!

This is a good article, if you are interested in deep diving into the theory of situating learning in the context of communities of practice. I have never thought of Alcoholics Anonymous as a community of practice before. The article looks at the structuring relation between the scope of participation in communities and the production of that scope in relations of commodification and the characteristics of divided forms of labor. The article also lists a set of conceptual independencies among person, activity, knowledge, and a world that recommend a conception of learning as legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice.

This book chapter is very informative, and takes a look at some of the situations regarding identity in a community of practice. There are many different roles one can take in a CoP. I enjoyed this chapter, because it took a look at Yucatec Mayan midwives. Which, as it sounds is an important role played in this community. There is a sort of apprentice mindset when learning something, and I find the same structure in teaching.

SlideDog is a powerful presentation tool that seamlessly switches between multimedia presentation files and makes it easy to present like a professional.

Teachers are developing PLNs to connect with other educators and professionals all over the world to stay up to date on their teaching methods and resources. This article gives an overview of why many teachers belong to a PLN and why it is beneficial to their professional goals. I appreciated that the author named and discussed three popular PLNs that I plan on looking into further. They were Classroom 2.0, Edmodo, and The Educator's PLN. I agree with the author completely when he states that "teachers are lifelong learners." This article is a great read for those new to PLNs.

I loved all of the information on the various tools that can used in managing a PLN, There were several tools I wasn't familiar with and look forward to being able to use in the future.

I found this post to be extremely informative regarding how teachers can use PLNs for learning, moreover for modeling learning for their students. The social network portion of this article was authentic to the purpose of this course and aided in making connections regarding the usage of social networks for educational learning tasks. The review of the three PLNs was also helpful as we navigate this course and begin to implement strategies and plans for the incorporation of social networking into our own classrooms.

Upon doing my research for CoP I stumbled across this site that stresses the right way to effectively use technology for online communities of practice. It emphasizes that many CoP's can lose their purpose by metamorphosing into something entirely different than what was originally intended.

I really connect to theory through hearing about practice. In this article by Tom Whitby for Edutopia, he shares 6 different stories from 6 different educators who have begun to engage with online professional learning networks. I connected to this article because I had the same path as many of these educators. Whether it was the teacher who heard someone at a conference or the 29 year veteran who found herself in a 1:1 MacBook class, they all began peripherally and then developed into active participants in their online PLNs. This article is a pretty good setup for our upcoming adventures.

It was interesting to see most of their stories had to do with Twitter. I have resisted Twitter for so long because I do not understand it at all! Guess it's time to learn.

Reading personal stories from teachers really helps me see how educators are using Twitter, and other technologies, in the classroom. I appreciated reading the variety of ways these teachers use Twitter to communicate with students and connect with other educators professionally. I'm beginning to see the value of Twitter as a professional network builder!

I was most interested in this website in section 5.4.9, where the author details the strengths and weaknesses of MOOCs, specifically the weaknesses. MOOCs have high registration numbers, but only a small number actually finish the course. They are expensive to produce and they are used mostly by those with higher education levels. Higher levels of learning are difficult to assess and so "credit" becomes difficult or impossible to grant. Copyright issues can also be a problem.

I found myself spending most of my time reading the strengths and weakness of MOOCs located at the end of the article. I found several articles that listed only the strengths, or only the weaknesses. I appreciated this article because it examined both.

Suggests that understanding how members of a learning community converse is an important component of understanding connectivism. The tone of the interactions in a forum rely on the design and management of the space. Furthermore, learning depends on sharing in conversations and interactions which themselves can be meaningful activities. During communication among learners, there is a balance of what is good for each individual and the ability to move towards a common purpose.

In this article, Andrew Ravenscroft explores a "dialogue rich view of connectivism" and how we can develop learners that can "think, reason and analyse." He takes inspiration from social constructivist theory to focus on dialogue as a vehicle for learning. Ravenscroft begins by detailing Siemens 8 principles of connectivism. He then asks 3 questions: how can we understand the dialogue processes of a networked world, what dialogue features make for quality connections and how do we design to promote quality connections. He starts to explore the questions with Socrates and the Socratic method. This method has applications for 21st century learning. He reviews Hegel's dialectic as well. Ravenscroft maps these positions to connectivism because dialectic helps refine knowledge from a diversity of opinions, supports the capacity to know more, consideration of alternative viewpoints, fosters a constant evolution of knowledge, and promotes critical and collaborative dialogue. Then he discusses dialogic processes and how they map to connectivism. Dialectic and dialogic can work, not in opposition, but together in different aspects. Dialectic focuses on the epistemic and cognitive dimensions of learning, while dialogic focuses more on emotional and interpersonal aspects. The author then details dialogue game interactions and how they can foster learning. To be successful they need to balance orchestration and openness. This article proposes that language and dialogue remain a "most powerful semiotic system."

What a fascinating article. Ravenscroft's discussion of a scaffolded system to build a learner's dialogic skills reminds me of research I did for my EdTech504 class on self-regulated learning. Roger Azevedo is developing and experimenting with a similar game, MetaTutor, which scaffolds student learning as well. I think self-regulation is complex and difficult to teach in the classroom, and am amazed that researchers are creating software to build self-efficacy!

This article explores Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) as a way to introduce both formal and informal learning within higher education. Specifically, research shows how using a variety of social media tools to customize a PLE can foster learner-controlled instruction. To achieve the learning experience they desire, though, students must possess the skills needed to engage in a self-regulated learning system with the help of both an instructor and peers.

This article really demonstrates the role of the teacher in modeling and encouraging effective use of social media. In my opinion, the framework created by the author would work best under a constructivist learning environment since so much of the class would be taken up by teaching how to use technology. That said, once students were proficient, they could explore class subject-related information online.

Even though I am not a K-12 teacher, I found this simple infographic list 10 reasons why you should have a Personal Learning Network. A Personal Learning Network can help inspire you to take on a new challenge, encourage new ideas, and keep you connected with other teachers passionate about teaching.

Love this graphic! It makes the PLN concept so simple and easy to follow. I must have reviewed the same article.

The infographic included in this post is great. It helps understand the need for PLN's in a simple way.

In this article Librarian Andrea Wilson Brooks discusses how the educational theory of connectivism can be used to enhance the delivery of information literacy instruction. She begins the article with a discussion of the connectivist theory and then moves on to the specific role that this theory can play in 21st century library instruction. The instruction that Brooks talks about in this article utilizes mobile technology, in particular, tablets. She concludes the article with a series of specific examples of lessons based on connectivism. Each activity involves the use of mobile devices, various apps, and social media platforms to engage the learner while developing his or her information literacy skills.

This was an interesting article I found on the ISTE site where two educators provide two different points of view about whether teachers should have a professional social media presence. One writer say that teachers should absolutely have a social media presence so they can be models for their students while also broadening their own professional learning network. The other writer recognizes the amazing benefits of having a professional social media presence but also says that teacher's should not be required but rather educated in the benefits of social media for themselves and their students. This is a great article for looking at both sides of the social media presence coin and will lead to some good thinking on this topic of connectivism and professional learning networks online.

Jake, great resource! I often find that items that are mandated see more pushback from teachers even if the mandate is helpful. I think offering opportunities for teachers to learn and engage in social media will help build the grassroots movement and it will inevitably catch on.

In this article Attwell begins to discuss the importance of continuing education within the professional field. Attwell highlights that as the learning environment is changing so too must the educational world in how people acquire knowledge. As we are all well aware that gaining an education online is very adaptable, so too must schools recognize the value in allowing educators to gain knowledge through PLN's. Attwell identifies that as PLN's continue to grow so to will the informal and formal acquisition of knowledge.

Great article Kristin! I really like how the article states that it's lifelong learning when it comes to PLEs and not just temporary if done correctly!

This paper explores the Personal Learning Environment and considers why PLEs might be useful to learning in the future. The author looks at the changing face of education and the ways the net generation is using technology for learning. The idea of a Personal Learning Environment understands that learning is ongoing and wants to provide tools to support that learning and help the learner organize his own learning. The article also looks at changing technology, and the development of social software, and it's impacts on education today.