Group items tagged

The Curation Project made students research and step outside of their comfort zone to experiences different types of social media. They were able to learned how to track and were able to see how they can share with other countries as well as "break the walls of the classroom".

The National Staff Development Council is now renamed to be Learning Forward. This company is dedicated to improving professional development for educators. They believe that by making teachers learners it will enhance the students' experience in the classroom. This article details the successes it has had in school districts.

This limited research study provides an interesting look into the viability of using Twitter to create a community of practice. Instead authors consider how different social media options have evolved over time to meet the growing diversity to technology users and uses in creating CoP and PLE.

This is an interesting read! It is interesting to read about the evolution of communication through computers.

This article summarizes the results from two research studies of how communities of practice can improve the classroom experience and instruction. Interactions among students and social opportunities were the emphasis of the studies. Some key questions in the studies were: How does relationship building affect student learning in communities of practice? How do different types of assignments and class activities affect learning?

The authors postulate that within connectivist communities, the roles that people take (lurker, leader, expert, etc.) have as much or more to do with personality traits than the desire for engagement or ability levels of the participant. They use massive open open courses (MOOCs) as a testing ground and Personality and Self-determination theory as the prisms through which to view learner interactions within these communities.

This article begins by defining constructivism as the principle that all learning starts with a connection, be it neural, conceptual, or social, and that learning is the ability to construct and traverse connections. The authors acknowledge that it is widely recognized idea but not yet accepted as a formal learning theory. The paper focuses on four key principles for learning that exist within connectivism: autonomy, connectedness, diversity, and openness. The authors also examine different theories regarding personality and self-determination and look at how these affect the individual's experience within connectivism.

Here, the author describes connectivism as the proposed learning theory for a digital age and is "based on the principle that all learning starts with a connection." Additionally, "learning in connectivism terms is a network phenomenon" and strongly emphasizes learners making connections. The concept of autonomy is also discussed in depth.

Summary: Although the paper identifies three challenges to Connectivist Learning (self-directed, presence and critical literacies) the findings, based on Kop's research, suggest that social networked learning does work. The paper includes students responses, both positive and negative, about their learning experiences. I found that aspect of the paper fascinating.

This paper highlights current theories of learning and gives a critical analysis of connectivism ""within the context of its predecessors" in a attempt to establish whether this theory is indeed anything new to offer for teaching and learning in the digital era.

This article looks at the challenges that could be faced by using PLEs and Connectivisim in social networking. The article breaks down the challenges to Connectivist learning and then explains the research methodology behind their findings.

This is a more atypical resource for our assignment but I felt that it was very appropriate for many of my K-12 peers. This text discusses the history of PLN and how educators must use PLN as a part of their learning tool kit today. Both authors are educators as well as business men who ofter a mix of experience in their attempt to convince you that PLNs are one of the major ways to captivate and engage students in the learning process.

This blog describes the basics of what a PLN is. It also provides a look back through recent decades at how the concept of a PLN has changed with newer developments in technology.

This is a fun article about teachers and there PLN. It goes through and talks about them from the pre internet 80's, the email 90's and the social 2000.

I loved reading thoughts about Professional Learning Networks from a very personal perspective. One woman discusses her personal experience with her PLN and mentions that some of her very best friends are teachers within her network. Teachers that we learn from, share with, and socialize with are excellent individuals to have within our PLNs. She also takes readers through a journey through time, discussing how PLNs have transformed from the pre-Internet 1980s, with very few resources, to now, where we have multiple resources and tools at our fingertips.

This very simple slideshow highlights the key points of PLE's that have been researched and presented in many articles and experiences. The author directs your attention to the effectiveness and many facets of PLE's in the future of education, such as sharing, collaboration, reflection and storing information.

I appreciated the different way to learn about a PLN. I like the slideshow idea to interpret what a PLN is. It really grabbed my attention and the images reflected the ideas perfectly. Thank you for sharing it.

I can't say enough how much I appreciate images, they just have a way of really captivating my attention and helping my understanding. This slideshow did a nice job of highlighting key points of personal learning environments and their purpose/results. I loved that first quote by Mark Van Harmalen, such a nice way of articulating PLN's. Thanks for sharing @klauritsen

This website is monitored by edublogs and geared towards teachers who are wanting to create professional learning networks. Step 1 provides a detailed examination of what a pln is, which includes videos, images, and other media to convey content. From this page teachers can move forward in creating their own pln.

Great share Courtney! I love the videos explaining what a PLN is (very simple and to the point). The video about connected educators is one I want to share with my district on my proposal to get social media active. It discusses why educators need a PLN and how beneficial it can be!

A PLN is personal because you choose who is in your group and if you want to lurk or comment. A PLN is what you want when you want it- reminds me of the Burger King slogan- "your way right away"

Discusses the importance of students learning through social networks and how teachers can leverage students' experience with social networks to develop the skills necessary to be an independent learner.

This is a great article because it addresses the needs for PLNs for students as well as for teachers. I couldn't agree more, especially since our students are growing up in a highly connected world - it only makes sense for them to learn via PLNs of their own.

This article explains why communities of practice are so important for the business realm. In one statement it explained that companies have now figured out that "knowledge = power, so share and it multiplies". This idea is synonymous with connectivism and the idea that in order to gain more knowledge more connections must be made through sharing, collaborating, creating, etc. This article also made the distinction between tacit knowledge that is rooted in people's life experiences with explicit knowledge that is deliberately shared outside of people. This distinction also helped me to really see the reason why connectivism, PLNs and CoPs work so well together. You have a group of people, connected by common interests and goals, that are expanding upon their knowledge by sharing their own collective experiences and goals in effort to connect with others that can share insight, collaborate with and add to their ideas, solutions and questions.

Allee uses the term organizational intelligence to describe how CoPs are becoming more prevalent in the modern workforce. He talks about how he has consulted with various multinational companies to help them create CoPs and to get employees at various levels to share their expertise.

This article highlighted the different roles in constructivist theory and also helped me to really understand the role that knowledge takes in constructivist theory. It is described as a combination of ever changing experiences and information that provide a foundation for new experiences and knowledge. It also introduces PLNs as an open space that allows for intercepting and spreading competencies and skills by publishing, combining and correlating resources.

Research primarily focused on exploring how online learners aggregate, relate, create, and share information. Noting that connections are made with people and/or resources. And that putting learners in charge of directing their own experience is dependent on confidence and competence with the tools at hand. When comfortable navigating the terrain of the internet, there is intrinsic motivation that results from steering your own learning.

Communities of Practice and Social Learning Theory related to First Year Experience type programs in Higher Ed.

This is a nice site with a compilation of helpful links for language arts, ranging from middle grades on up. It is a good resource for finding a helpful site quickly.

This article gives "real life" examples of connectivism using twitter as a medium.

I'm also taking Global and Cultural Perspectives in Educational Technology this term and this article really relates to the discussions on culture that we are having in that class. It made me realize that in some ways connectivism and the use of social media- i.e. back channeling and tweeting- are a whole new culture to learn and this is why I'm struggling a bit with it.

Great article. Like Nona, it home for me as well. I appreciate how the author uses her own personal experience in the classroom to demonstrate her understanding of social networking. Today, I encourage my students to use their phone to take pics of assignments, tweet info, and access information. Back channeling is a great term!