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American Association of School Librarians annual list of best websites for teaching and learning. Many Web 2.0 Tools on a list divided by types of tools and aligned to Standards for the 21st-Century Learner

This year, Microsoft has made Office available for the iPad, iPhone, a preview available for Android, and even dropped the price to free. Meanwhile, the incumbent, Google Drive and its associated apps, have been building out features. Today, we compare the two on mobile.

A PDF document created jointly by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) that outlines core ideas and learning objectives to develop literacy skills in using primary source documents as distinguished from secondary source documents.

A nonprofit association dedicated to integrating information technology into higher education. They have a blog as well as information about research and publications, conferences and events, professional development, and ideas for how to integrate technology into higher education.

Literacy blog with apps posted with links to the apps and an explanation of the app and how it can best be used within the classroom.

This resource explains copy right and fair use rules regarding images on the web. It discusses the problems associated with using copyrighted work and talks about the Creative Commons. This is a great reference for educators and students to use in an effort to avoid copyright infringement.

This is an overview of connectivism but what is most useful is the GREAT infographic on connected learning.

Yes, the graphic stood out to me as well. Good article introducing connectivism.

This blog post provides an excellent overview of the eight core principles of connectivism, and how it relates to global collaboration throughout education. Check out the infographic in the middle of the post. It shows a clear illustration of how connectivism is associated with individuals interacting and collaborating to obtain new information through technological systems. I like how it displays that all learning is now connected.

A chapter from Carter and Nugent at VSU which has a nice phrase, "Personal learning networks are based on the premise that learning occurs through interaction with multiple people and in multiple contexts through virtual communities." Somehow I like that. It goes into more detail and explores the, 'abstract concept that is learning.' A big read which take more time to go through but has some effective descriptions. Moves on to CoP as well. A chapter to return to.

The article begins by addressing what a PLN is where a learner joins an informal, web-based communities and they create a network so they can learn whenever, wherever they would like. This article describes a PLN in the context of adult education and the role of the adult educator. The article describes what a PLN looks like. Last, it gives ways to help adults to learn in this type of culture and implications for this. As many articles do, this pushes for a change in education and change their model of teaching to fit this digital age.

Here is a book chapter that details the theoretical implications of using PNL for Self-Directed Learners. This chapter talks about the different ways that learners learn within COP/PLN and how this learning takes place formally, informally and incidentally.

In this article, Wenger defines Communities of Practice (COP) as a "tribe learning to survive," (p. 1) although learning isn't always the goal of the group but can be an outcome. Members are committed to their community and create a shared practice of networking for a specific purpose. Originally associations and groups, the Internet is extending the reach of COPs and increasing the flow of information.

For those who have never heard of communities of practice, this resource explains it well. What are communities of practice, what do communities of practice look like, where does the concept come from and how it is being applied is all covered.

This is a brief but comprehensive introduction as to what communities of practice are by Etienne Wenger. One important aspect addressed is that learning is a product of a community of practice whether intentionally or not. It also gives multiple examples of what a common community of practice can look like such as problem solving, discussing developments, and visits. The concept came to be as a learning model by Wenger and Jean Lave. The concepts has many applications but a couple common places these communities are seen are organizations, government, education, and technology.

This study investigated the applications of social media, specifically Twitter, as a tool to enhance the higher education learning process. Participants (Business and Management undergrads) were asked to use Twitter for instructor and peer communication throughout a 12-week course. An evaluation survey determined Twitter was an effective way to engage students. Twitter usage was not, however, associated with interpersonal relations between a student and his/her instructor or peers. Nor was there was a correlation found between Twitter usage and class attendance.

This 2011, Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction, by Etienne Wenger distills earlier writings and discussions about communities of practice and outlines some characteristics and guidelines. Wegner's definition, "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly." There are 3 characteristics: the domain of shared interest, the community shares information, activities and relationships and the practice of practioners who share resources, experiences, stories, tools and problem solving. Communities of practice can be for problem solving, information requests, experience seeking, reusing assets, coordination and synergy, documentation projects, visits and mapping knowledge. They can be small or vast, online or face to face. The theory of communities of practice has spilled over into organizations, businesses, government, education, associations, social sectors, international development and the web.

By Etienne Wenger, this site offers her defintion and categorization of communities of practice.

This article provides a simple definition of the term - "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better." Businesses, organizational design, government, educational, professional associations, civic life and development projects use the concept of community of practice to focus on people and the social structures that enable people to learn from each other.

This article focuses on defining communities of practice and includes several examples. I like that they break up the words and meaning to simplify and better understand the meaning and benefits of communities of practice. For example, we might live in a community neighborhood, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we live in a "community of practice."

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.

Connectivist theorists argue that the way in which individuals acquire knowledge has changed. Academic institutions (which have historically been considered as the place in which individuals acquire knowledge and information) are being supported and/or replaced by groups of people within a learning network. The process of learning involves the creation of knowledge through these personalized networks and identifying the relationships between one's own knowledge and the knowledge of others within a network. These connections can occur in a variety of ways and with a variety of learners.

This article helped me to understand how to apply connectivism in the classroom. It also pointed out misconceptions that educators have about using social networking in the classroom.

Written by Kegan Remington, an Instructional Designer, the article discusses what connectivism is and how it can be applied in the classroom. He lays out the four simple ways of introducing connectivism in the classroom.