Group items tagged

Learning Forward notes that learning communities are those in which "Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment."

Greetings Molly, Thank you for sharing this article. I especially liked the video. In a perfect world all grades and subjects would be aligned. I think most schools attempt continual improvement by evaluating student data. I hope. I like the idea of owning students in such a way as to be responsible for all student learning. Good article.

Bookmarked from Molly on EdTech SN

This paper considers the case of one mid-sized international company and how it built a community of practice. It looks at different strategies and their effects on communities of practice and on global distribution of knowledge and then suggest areas to look at for further study. One such area for further research is to look into seeing how to link multiple communities of practice so that sharing can be more global.

From the intro "There are some very popular tools and apps out there. We showcase a boatload of them here on Edudemic. But there's been a growing trend of figuring out how to actually integrate all these together and how to effectively use the best web tools to enhance learning in the classroom."

Suggestions on ways to maximize efficiency, reminders that telling/sharing may not be the same as facilitating, and examples of ways to turn routine activities into collaborative or connective activities.

I actually found myself getting excited about the thought of communicating with staff in a more effective and efficient way. So many times we attend staff meetings and have to take that time to read articles instead of using it to benefit our students' learning. I would love to see this changed SOON! #EdTechSN

This paper argues that using Personal Learning Environments (PLE-these are functionally equivalent to PLNs) self regulation is important. Because the use of PLEs are based on individual goals and actions the use of behavior which proves effective at reaching goals is important. They then suggest a framework for self regulated learning when using PLEs.

This blog post was written as part of a masters program, and seems to be comprehensive and well done. Lubensky begins by debating some of the merits of what at the time was still an emerging technology. He looks at things that may hold back the effectiveness of PLEs, the potential for the future, and what have been some of the reasons that PLEs are moving to the forefront of discussions in educational theory.

I found this visual to be an interesting model of what happens below the surface in a collaborative setting. Networking and building up a PLN certainly seem to be core activities, but as Berg mentions, it's often not recognized or valued.

I like how this source provided a unique way to look at collaboration. Collaboration is a skill that I am always trying to instill in my students. I also enjoyed that they included the graphic to help the reader understand the concept as well.

Renee, I appreciate you including this blog post with our Diigo collection of resources. This idea of the iceberg makes so much sense. It remembers me a lot of research surrounding language learning as well. There is so much below the surface that is hard to articulate or appreciate. This visual will be very helpful as I work with my teachers and admin next year. It is important that professionals understand that within PLNs there is a lot that happens that cannot be seen, yet it is these powerful connections and interactions that will most effective a teacher's practice

This article discusses adding CoPs to different organizations. It mentions the Internet Generation and describes various tools that will benefit a CoP. Finally, it describes that a CoP should have a purpose that has goals aligned with a specific purpose or vision in order to be effective.

I really appreciated this article and in particular the sense of purpose as a topic. So often I feel that CoPs can feel very purposeful and vibrant when they are created but lose their vigor or meaning as the primary task has been resolved. It seems that strategically placing emphasis on keeping the systems open and renewing purpose in order to develop leaders and new members creates a different energy for everyone involved.

Howard Rheingold gives 8 excellent tips about growing a personal learning network. Explore, search, follow, tune, feed, engage, enquire and respond.

Howard Rheingold (hope some of you know who he is and follow him on Twitter) writes this useful post on how to get the most out of your PLN. The key is to be active and share.

This is a great resource. I think the information is important to remember and the tips seem simple and effective. I also started following him on Twitter because of your recommendation.

This post explains very clearly what the purpose of connectivism is and why it is critical to student learning. It explains 6 things educators should do with their students and how to encourage them to explore and connect with ideas. At the end it provides a few examples of tools readily available to use in connecting people and technology.

This article states the knowledge exists "through the variety of connections established amongst students, instructors, and technologies." It gives 6 skills that connectivist educators need and examples of networks and tools.

Great article! I have been very intrigued about connectivism since I heard about it in my learning theories class. This article gives good reasoning behind connectivism as well as a few ideas for how to incorporate it.

This article gives a brief overview of PLNs but then gives tips on developing your own.

The author provides tips for educators to network and grow their PLNs. He likes to ask educators to consider the following questions:Who is in your learning network? Who do you learn from on a regular basis? Who do you turn to for your own professional development? He provides some great ideas to expand your learning base.

As I begin to develop a PLN, reflecting on these three questions will be helpful. Including suggestions to expanding the network are equally helpful.

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

Edutopia writer Vicki Davis discusses how PLNs have empowered her students to guide their own learning experiences. She discusses the weaknesses of PLNs and how they work.

While this blog posting from Edutopia does point to some "how tos" and practical application, it does offer key theoretical practices for setting the stage for applying the PLN model for student use. Vicki Davis, the teacher and author of the blog post, states that her students are familiar with breaking news due the development of their own PLN that acts as a "virtual locker." She goes on to discuss how their research builds the content of their PLN and the content changes based upon the assignment. The big idea is that the PLN model allows students to act as the orchestrator of their own learning and allows them to analyze information via an avenue that is personalized to student's learning needs. It also teaches students to embrace connectivism where they make connections between domains in order to form a more complete understanding.

The article goes into the role of a PLN for students. Students can create their own networks to possess information at their fingertips on any topic they could ever desire. By establishing a networking system, the students don't necessarily have to go out and scour the internet for sources when their network could bring relevant information to them.

A simple and effective introductory video to what a PLN is and how it can help teachers.

What a great resource! I have not been introduced to PLN's until this module and this is an additional resource to help clarify some key points and tools to work on PLN's. The quick quotes help simplify the concepts and makes me realize how useful it would be (and easy "15 minutes into your day") to develop a PLN to support my own PD. (and the catchy tune makes me want to swing dance!)

This would be a great resource for introducing PLNs at a faculty meeting or training. It is catchy and does a great job of laying out the basics of a PLN. Definitely worth keeping handy.

Thanks to the implementation of the Common Core, technology has a guaranteed space in the classroom. Because of the abundant use of technology in the world technology is an essential tool for educators if they want to make a lasting impact on their students.

(I accessed this one through the BSU library; it required a login) This article was geared toward technology leaders and information literacy specialists in schools and discussed the need for them to have access to the most current information. This could apply to any educator, though. They provide five reasons why librarians need PLNs: access to the thinking of colleagues, access to timely information, ability to post questions and get responses, ability to collaborate with colleagues, and to be able to communicate about events. Each of these is discussed in detail, and management tips for effective participation in a PLN are provided as well. This is a clear resource that makes a convincing argument of why educators need social-media based PLNs.

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge, also known as TPACK, is a framework that identifies the knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology.It's a framework we can use for technology integration in the classroom.

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge - This site has resources for learning more about TPACK. This could be a great resource when developing PD.

This paper reviews and relates the connections between learning theories commonly associated with constructivist education. These theories include active learning pedagogies, experiential learning, anchored instruction, situated cognition, activity theory, authentic learning, and connectivism. With the advance of active and connected learning pedagogies, the author recognizes the need for a system to effectively apply the theories through education technology design and teaching practices. I found the article a great review of the research and work done to define these different theories and instructional methods. As I am noticing with each article, this author attests to the need for further work and research required to organize these theories into a useful framework for educational technology projects and activities

Connectivism is controversial as a learning theory. Many people don't see it as one of the majors like behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism but those 3 are falling short in terms of describing what is happening in the digital age. Connectivism can be described as distributed learning or using information outside of your primary knowledge. The author thinks that connectivism should be the new constructivism.