Group items tagged

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!

This session from the 2013 ISTE Conference shows how "social media like Skype, Twitter and having students write their own blogs can be used to get in contact with students and teachers from other parts of the world."

Great article. It probably is a little too much on the practical side for the first assignment but the examples are great and really useful.

I think that having students blog can be a great tool in allowing them to express what they've learned and to connect them to others around the world. Thanks for contributing the paper. I would agree with Richard Krause that it does seem more about application than theory.

This is a collection of four short essays by Etienne Wenger from April 2009. Here he explores the role of an initiative of the European Social Fund. While many projects and solutions came out of this initiative, he states that it is the invisible scenes behind the projects that may be the biggest accomplishment. Wenger reiterates that more and more people are understanding the power of the learning shift from formal to informal, but more examples need to be studied as well. Interesting read.

This article begins by addressing the changing technological innovations over time but the lack of widespread adoption of particular technologies. For example the acceptance of learning management system but apprehension towards virtual peer-to-peer interactions. Informal rather than formal learning is again highlighted as being a positive move of acceptance. The authors would like to see social media included in learning and life-long learning with a shift from virtual learning systems to personal learning environments

In this article, Torrey Trust gives an overview of personal learning networks (PLN) and discusses their relevance in education. She identifies two different types of PLNs, information aggregation and social media, as well as their benefits. Many of the tools available for PLNs as well as examples for how teachers can use these tools are also examined. Additionally, three popular online PLNs, including Classroom 2.0, The Educator's PLN, and Edmodo are reviewed.

This is a great article that summarizes key features of PLNs in education. I particularly appreciated the section that discussed motivation regarding teacher participation in PLNs. The collective knowledge and the safe space in which teachers can share ideas and resources with one another seemed to be a powerful motivator for educators when it comes to participation.

This article clearly has a clear connection to teacher practice. The focus on teacher lifelong learning, essential to enhancing learning in schools, is critical. PLNs give teachers a place to break out of the isolation of classrooms so they can reach out to other educators with new knowledge and support so they can meet any challenges that may arise.

I love how this blog give specific examples of how to integrate spreadsheets into the classroom. Links are included for lesson plan outlines as well.

This short PowToon video gives a small example of how we can utilize collaboration to reach out in finding more information on the topic of our choice.

Hi Logan, great find on this little video! It's a clever way to illustrate these concepts. It's nice to see something creative being used instead of just an article in a journal or a blog post!

This sources is a brief introduction to education 3.0. It outlines the meaning of education 3.0, compares it to 1.0 and 2.0, and gives additional resources for more information.

Web 2.0 is when you interact with the internet, like I am doing right now. Diigo is an example of web 2.0 tools. Web 3.0 is when the internet interacts with you. For example, Google has all this data on you that when you search for something you get different search results than others who do the same search.

I have to balance reading with other learning sources and so this video on Communities of Practice in action is simple and effective. It focuses on uk govt as as example but covers the main idea, if not the academic theory. Person, working with others, driven to connect, collaborate and learn. Simple but effective

This video was helpful in showing how a Community of Practice is useful to individuals. I also found it helpful to be reminded that there may also be a face to face element in a Community of Practice, and it does not all have to be digital.

In this blog post, Amanda Hovious, librarian and instructional designer, discusses librarians as facilitators of communities of practice. What strikes me about this post is that Hovious identifies various types of communities of practice, including (for example) students in an English Comp class. If a classroom of students can be considered a community of practice, then every educator serves in a role that facilitates these communities.

This post was great! As a teacher of secondary English, I'm always trying to find ways to engage my learners both in and out of the classroom in regards to reading. I need to tap more into our library and our librarian! Awesome ideas I will have to share with her!

I love getting the librarian perspective in this post. I think it was interesting to see how she facilitates the communities of practice. I also liked getting ideas of different groups that constitute a community of practice.

Great example of the Networking Project for Edtech 541

A great example!

Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there. Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images. Get Evernote. It's free.

I recently just started integrating Evernote with writing my lesson plans and lecture notes. In my classes I have a mixed bag of students. Some of my students have varying degrees of IEPs. For along time students who needed audiobook publisher support, to have the chapter notes read to them were bound by 1. The book we were using in class and if it had that type of support and 2. What the publisher thought was important to include in the audio, which often does not provide alternate examples for the concepts the student are trying to learn. With the record Evernote feature I have a simple and easy way to integrate audio and send my recorded lecture notes, examples and recorded exam questions to the students that need this type of alternative learning experience . I'm aware there are other resources where this was possible. Evernote just happens to be in my opinion the best one stop app to write a lecture ,integrate pictures,graphics and audio to effectively reach my entire class. So if you were on the fence about Evernote or have never heard about it before be sure to check it out from the link I provided

This wonderful research network is dedicated to highlighting research about "learning that is socially connected, interest-driven, and oriented towards educational opportunity. " There are many videos and research papers that highlight examples of personal learning networks and communities of practice. Fascinating information here and lots of it!

Defines CoPs, explains theoretical reasoning behind CoPs, describes the evolution of the idea of CoPs, provides best practices, and gives examples of CoPs

A good overview of the concept and theory behind Communities of Practice by Etienne Wenger one of the authors of the term. It gave me a good overview and is written clearly and concisely. It helped me to understand the what and the where, as well as learning about the 3 main characteristics.

Very straight forward introduction by Etienne Wenger. She clearly explains the meaning and importance of the terms "domain", "community" and "practice" and shows some examples of where COPs they are being applied.

A great wikispace about PLN's. I enjoyed the overview and the examples provided. It shows examples of both students and educators PLN's. Good read.

This is a youtube video that summarizes what a PLN is using an easy to follow example of a student. I like it because it is an example of what we are all doing right now.

What a great video for students. I love the fact that is started with a student should spend time developing their learning network! What a great comment. Thank you for sharing.

A collection of web based resources and an example of a LiveBinder in use.