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This article debates about schools use of social media and how until now the intention was to block it from school but how that may be affecting to the digital divide.

This article cites the US Department of Education and explains what is true and what is myth when it comes to Internet filtering at schools.

Use this Chrome add-on to block the majority of pop-up ads during online use. This add-on even blocks youtube commercials and its great for classroom use in general.

The technological domain has undergone a tremendous transformation with revolutionary advancements like blockchain increasing in popularity each day. Blockchain is an open, distributed, and decentralized ledger where data is stored in the form of blocks.

Story math is an interactive way for an entire classroom to apply everyday situations and mathematics as well as have meaningful discussion to prove why the class should do what they are about to do next. "The Mystery on the Block" needs geometry to help you solve where all the missing kittens are!

This professor discusses how her class was better organized using a blog to generate comments, questions and collaboration. I enjoyed this particular article because it brought to life this idea of chunking a course by adding a blog element during the class. This is particularly meaningful to block teachers that may have students for 90 minutes. It is a great way to break things up.

This is a great article about social networking in schools.

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/06/16/03networking.h03.html M. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, Fla. Ms. Tolisano launched her "Around the World With 80 Schools" project with a goal to introduce her school's students to peers in countries around the globe. She built a social-networking site using Ning for teachers from all countries who wanted to participate. Tolisano sets up meetings between classes using Skype, students prepare a list of questions and chat with students in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and Spain, among a long list of others.

New Milford High School in New Jesrsey has embraced the use of social media. One example of use had students blogging daily during a field trip to Europe to visit Holocaust sites.

This is a more technical site that better describes CoPs.  It talks about what a CoP is and what the requirements are.  I particularly like that the it states that the learning is not necessarily the primary reason for the existence of a CoP.  It also gives some sources for further study.

This article is an outline of Communities of Practice with description of relevant terminology outlined and defined. Identifies the three components of CoPs - domain, community and practice. This article says that the central component of this learning theory is to draw participants deeper into the community through the attractiveness of developing skills relative to the domain.

This one I didn't summarize, only because I really had a hard time grasping the three elements of the CoP, and I thought this site encapsulated it nicely. Incidentally, my creative assignment for this week was inspired by the reference to Star Trek fans in this post. Here are the three elements make up CoP, and again, this information below is taken straight from the source (long quotes), because the definition is so good: 1. There needs to be a domain. A CoP has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest (e.g. radiologists, Star Trek fans, middle school history teachers, Seahawks football fans, etc.); it's not just a network of people or club of friends. Membership implies a commitment to the domain. 2. There needs to be a community. A necessary component is that members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities, help each other, and share information with each other. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. In this way, merely sharing the same job does not necessitate a CoP. A static website on hunting in itself is not a community of practice. There needs to be people who interact and learn together in order for a CoP to be formed. Note that members do not necessarily work together daily, however. Wenger points to the example of Impressionist painters who sometimes met in cafes to discuss their painting styles. He indicates that even though these men normally painted alone, these kinds of interactions were essential to making them a CoP. 3. There needs to be a practice: A CoP is not just people who have an interest in something (e.g. sports or agriculture practices). The third requirement for a CoP is that the members are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources which can include stories, helpful tools, experiences, stories, ways of handling typical problems, etc. This kind of interaction needs to be developed over time. A conversation with a random stranger who happens to be an exp

This is one of my favorite sites, www.edutopia.org, and I thought this was a nice intro article to social networking in education.

While short and simple, this gives a powerful punch! By using strong language like "scary" and "criminal" it says teachers (and parents, I might add) need to show kids how to tell their own story wisely. If we block social media tools out, students will not learn!

Jaime, I like the term coined here, academic networking. It fits very nicely with the Connectivism Learning Theory.

This a great website for educational movies. It is not blocked by security filters like You Tube is at most schools.

Mimi Ito discusses how children are using digital media and the learning that goes on as they hang around and geek out - informal learning. She explores the role education can play in this and the role of the adult and how to support their engagement. She discusses the difference between friendship driven activities online and interest driven activities and the opportunities for learning in those spaces (personal networks). It looks at ways that these could be linked to school-based activities.

I like the comments made near the start of the video that the digital media and communication in which children are engaging is no different from the personal networks that have been formed in generations past. It serves the same purpose in their development, socially and academically.

Some of my take aways from this video are: "social relations are important for learning." "The mediated environment isn't so different from when we were trying to get our daughter off the phone or our son to come in." "How can we be more active in connecting the informal learning with learning." Let "Sts reflect and not just consume." Ideas are along the same lines as others in this field. As an educator I want to have students participating in student centered learning, but come up against road blocks admin and district don't understand.

This article has excellent suggestions on how to integrate social media with young students and how to dispel some of the road blocks you may encounter.