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Free mini course for teachers on using Web 2.0 Tools for teaching

While this presentation does contain some how-tos and examples of a course in connectivism, it gives an easy-to-manage view of connectivism as a theory and why social networking is so valuable. It also explores personal learning environments and has many good visuals that help explain it all.

A great slide show with images and short descriptions of how an individual uses online resources for his own personal learning as well as the definition of connectivism.

Fantastic find, there is a lot in this power-point to suggest a transformation via connectivism.

Introduction of Digital Connectivism and it's impact on learning. This article focuses on the impacts in English Language Teaching. It defines connectivism, states the principles, and relates it to English Language Teaching.

Connectivism breakdown from Massive Open On-line Course called Connectivism & Connected Knowledge 2011 by a learner and EFL teacher.

The authors offer a brief look at connectivism in relation to distance and blended learning in higher education. They point out the the landscape is changing from a knowledge transmission to a knowledge acquisition system and that connectivist theory is a guide to help in this transition. They also offer a counterpoint in that the way a good number of online courses are conducted is in a knowledge delivery system that dissociates the learner. They point out the instructor interaction is mandatory to counteract the dissociation that can occur.

This blog post talks about the MOOC as a Community of Practice but also discusses roles in a manner reminiscent of Vygotsky.

This links to an article written in Organizational Science in 1991. The authors, from the Institute for Research on Learning believe that working, learning, and innovating are three forms of human activity that are believe to conflict with one another. They seek to prove that the three are, in fact, intertwined and innovating results from the learning that takes place in a community of workers. If the three components are collective, they will thrive. If they are separate, they will fail. The authors refer to these as communities-of-communities.

This is a study guide website that includes flashcards, study guides, tutors, and videos. It seems to have a lot of options to help students study.

This article is about Computer Based Instruction and how to design an online course for students who will be attending classes online. This article talks about creating an online classroom where the teacher communicates via the web only. This article offers eight guidelines for creating such a classroom. A few of the guidelines/tips that are offered is to orient students with the internet, have students select "email pals," and use computer based testing.

In this article that focuses on social networking and learning, Ruth Reynard explores research conducted by The National School Boards Association (USA), in partnership with research firm Grunwald Associates and with the support of Microsoft, Newscorp, and Verizon, published a 2007. The research cited indicates that learning through social networks is mostly "unidirectional (posting messages, downloading media files, updating personal information) and students utilize it as "a self-reflective learning environment." However, the author points out that the researchers also found if instructional design is geared toward "the user controlling the tool rather than the tool dictating the user's activity," learning collaboratively can increase knowledge because the learner becomes actively engaged in the task, rather than passively approaching it.

I really like the message where it says that students become more actively engaged when they control the tool rather than the tool dictating the user's activity. The students then take control of their learning. They map the course they want to take.

this was very interesting - I found myself wondering how much of it was still relevant given its "age." Crazy that 2008 is "old" but social media has changed so much since then!

The article discusses connectivism and its association with online learning. Some people have different views on how people learn the most knowledge possible. This article puts different views in perspective of online learning and its ability to change the future of learning.

Jeff Jarvis, a professor at City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, gathered a conference that discussed the use of alternative media for reporting news. Blogs with comment sections seemed to be the main technology of course for the conference participants.

One of our readings discussed a 2008 graduate online course in educational technology (EC&I 831) that was one of the first to translate connectivist principles into practice. Shortly thereafter, the leaders of connectivism, Siemens and Downes, moderated a similar class (CCK08) as a MOOC with thousands of participants. This article documents both the successes and struggles associated with the CCK08 MOOC.

Go to the first option, it is the article written by Attwell. This article gives a summary of what a personal learning environment and it's benefits. This article gives good examples of what a PLE and how it works as well as some history and theoretical background.

Great read! Totally agree that while life long learning is nothing new, technology brings it to a different level (even though the focus of the article was on education rather than the technical aspect.) I also found interesting the discussion on new approach to assessment (the traditional one on the outcome vs. the new one on the competencies for such an outcome.) Some food for thought!

Great article! I liked how the article defined PLNs and gave ways to use them for deeper understanding and engagement. I used to teach an introductory tech course at our local high school and I will be speaking the the teacher and sharing this article with him. I feel that the benefits of students using PLNs is limitless.

The Encyclopedia of Informal Education entry on communities of practice referenced an innovative school in Utah experimenting with CoPs; this article details the researcher's experiences. The article suggests that the CoP approach represents neither the instructor directed or student directed approach to education that most people in Western culture are familiar with, and thus is often met with initial resistance.