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This K-2 project is designed to see if young students can succeed at using global collaboration to learn about others' lifestyles and cultures.

Here, Ravenscroft conducts a theoretical look at connectivism. He asks what the role of networked technolgies is in the digital age and suggests that tool selection, desired dialogue, and genre should all be considerations for networked learning. He says that "embracing connectivism means that we need to consider new design metaphors for future learning that place the person, their social behaviour, and their community at the centre of the design process and the resulting network technologies" (155).

I found this to be a particularly interesting article. The authors propose the development of a new theoretical model that integrates the foundations of social constructivist thinking, with an emphasis on dialogue, with the connectivist approach to networking. This combination in turn is meant to illicit, support, and increase in collaborative inquiry. The dialogue game provides the students just enough structure necessary to facilitate a organic discussion and critical inquiry.

Implementing an Open Approach #GoOpen District Launch Packet Across the country, districts are choosing to #GoOpen and transitioning to the use of openly licensed educational resources to improve student learning in their schools. This resource is designed for districts that have decided to implement a systematic approach to incorporating openly licensed educational resources into their curriculum by becoming a #GoOpen District.

Implementing an Open Approach #GoOpen District Launch Packet Across the country, districts are choosing to #GoOpen and transitioning to the use of openly licensed educational resources to improve student learning in their schools. This resource is designed for districts that have decided to implement a systematic approach to incorporating openly licensed educational resources into their curriculum by becoming a #GoOpen District. http://tech.ed.gov/

This is my second unusual reference but well worth it. Chapter 3 provides the reader with a research article that considers the value of the PLEF Personal Learning Environment Format when implementing personalized mashups to increase collaborative learning. This peer reviewed article provides a Connectivist theoretically based argument for engaging dynamic virtual and network learning in lifelong, informal and personalized learning environments.

Requires your Boise log-in. Great article comparing common learning theories and how they apply to instructional design.

This blog by Tom Spiglanin discusses what a Personal Learning Network is and how his was constructed. He discusses specific characteristics that he believes makes his PLN valuable and describes it as a hardware store, rather than a tool in his toolbox.

When I designed my creative expression on PLNs, I thought of keywords that were consistent in my research such as share, network, connections, etc. In this article, I found it interesting that the author described his experience as "on-fire learning." I found other keywords and phrases in this article that I can add to my list, such as global sounding board, camaraderie and support. When reflecting on this topic, it makes me realize what strength PLNs provide individuals and groups.

This discusses the importance of connected learning and all the ways one uses a PLN. It also talks about how the definition of a PLN has changed over time and how many of the original ideas are now obsolete but that the idea behind it all is still that it is about being connected and learning from others, and also helping others learn.

This blog post is self-explanatory with the title, but what caught my eye was the graphic representation of "Design Your PLN." The author also wrote another article to benefit all educators regardless of subject: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/12/21/the-best-guides-for-helping-teachers-develop-personal-learning-networks/

That is a cool graphic. I like the 4 categories and the designation of high or low profile, commitment level, and communication stream. I only recognized about half of the logos/icons in the boxes so I need to find out more!

I found the image used in this article and put it on my blog post. In thinking about my uses of PLNs, I haven't really considered the impact they could have on the ESL community. This is a great resource for a friend of mine that works with the parents of ELL students.

This is an excellent resource for technology integration at a variety of grade levels. There are 100's of videos of classroom lessons and ideas for you to explore and it is up-to-date, launched in February 2011. This tool was designed to help principals and teachers evaluate the levels of technology integration into the classroom.

This article applies communities of practice as learning networks specifically for the purpose of life-long learning. The need for life-long learning continues to rise, and the authors reviewed research and applied findings to design a framework for an improved model that looks at life-long learning within these newer visions based on developing theories. The authors point out that lifelong learners are not only consumers of learning, but benefit as active contributors that also creates an enduring membership of the community. Included are learning network model diagrams to show the relationships in the learning community network. In the conclusion, the authors admit the work is still in an exploratory phase and much work is still needed to refine the framework and improve the evaluation of effectiveness in practice.

This article examines the nature of learning communities constructed among a diverse group of adult learners in an online graduate-level 16 week instructional design course. Researchers analyzed course artifacts, survey responses, online profiles and project evaluations to explore communities formed in an online setting that involves 21 international participants. Data was collected through observing recorded audio webcasts and chat discussions, and analysis of student profiles, artifacts, survey responses, and course evaluations. The authors found evidence of community building without significant differences associated with race, culture, or gender. Instead, evidence for community building was more dependent on active participation, forming of shared identify, and the establishment of social network. The course design allowed individuals to work and communicate collaboratively. The authors admit that the study is narrow in scope with a small number of participants, making it unreliable for wider contexts.

Since my life as an educator has always been about technology through digital imaging and design I wanted to find a CoP site that focused on technology. This resource supports technology as it is applied to communities of practice. I feel that it is a useful resource for educators within the technology sector.

Thanks Katelyn, Yes, I had to find a technology CoP for technology's sake and in the area that I teach. I don't think I could be more enthusiastic about the field of technology. It's very empowering.

This is interesting website that looks at different technologies and justify their use within CoP.

Concrete tips to help us prepare, design, and deliver professional and aesthetically pleasing presentations

The SMILE acronym stands for Social Media in Learning and Education. I really like that the project was designed as a learning laboratory that looked at 6 communities of practice. They included: Social Media - What is it, Social media- school policies, Social media- PD, Social media, internet safety and responsible use and Social media- challenges to adoption.

A teacher brought in two experts via Google Hangout to meet with some students working in a computer gaming program. The students were able to takeaway tips from the experts for their programming and connect with "real" designers.

This document from the University of Washington helps users make computer labs welcoming, accessible, and usable.

This research paper looks into success factors for communities of practice. Although the "success factors" portion of the article may fit better with future "how-to" assignments, I found the breakdown of CoPs helpful. Retna covers the basic idea that adults learn from day to day experiences, not just activities specifically designed for learning. Knowledge transfer is explained with emphasis on what it looks like in organizations. The paper goes on the account for CoPs in a multi-national company based out of Singapore. The findings are explained in the three components domain, community, and practice. The key success factors are identified as leadership, culture, and individual motivation to learn. 

First thing that caught my attention was, "An employee picks up the most relevant know-how in an organisation from day-to-day activities and by watching and talking with other employees." This absolutely defines what a community of practice is. Professional development is a great way to learn, but many of us learn best by seeing a theory, action, or idea in practice. Communities of practice connect people who have similar interests, providing them with a wide range of resources to draw upon. Motivation is also a major part to making a CoP a success. Once a member, one must stay active. Having a responsible leader helps to maintain motivation and organization of the community. I especially appreciated the emphasis on informal CoP. Members are there because they want to better themselves and periodically the leader may provide a reward however I believe knowledge is reward enough. Great paper!

I like how this article talks about knowledge is best understood as a "habitus". This habitus is everything that a person does that helps them acquire knowledge. This includes their activities and life experiences.

This article focuses on the role of personal learning environments in higher education. I particularly appreciated the description of the PLE in the article. Pointing out what it offers that Learning Management Systems do not, the PLE is explained as the future of education where the student takes control and responsibility from the reigns of the institution. It also suggests that PLEs have staying power in education due to the fact that they are not wrapped up with a specific technology, rather they have the ability to adapt and change as technology around us continues to do so. The author discusses how students should be given challenging situations rather than ridged assignments. The article finishes with an example where this idea was implemented in an online learning environment. Väljataga, T. (2010). Learner control and personal learning environment: a challenge for instructional design. Interactive Learning Environments, 18(3), 277-291.

This article takes the provocative position that a PLN is *not* the best learning situation for all learners. The authors qualify this, however, explaining "when the technology used to support learning is designed to support a specific learning model, this can often lead to a compulsory learning process that users must follow to reach the course objectives." I am not entirely sure this is a bad thing, however; in formal learning situations, I think it makes sense to have clear objectives, assessments, and learning activities. In informal settings--such as personalized professional development for practicing educators, for example--this point might hold true. The authors explain that individuals' epistemological beliefs affect their willingness to learn in an informal (PLN-based) learning situation. Further, the authors believe that beliefs about the role of technology for learning will impact the learning that can occur in a PLN. I really agree with these ideas!