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A teacher had members of her PLN tweet out clues to her class, and they used various functions of Google Earth (GE) to track them down. Students used twitter (through the teacher's account) to send the results of their searches. The teacher said that this was a great way to introduce students to the tools involved in using GE effectively.

This article separates technology used in communities of practice based upon the technology's function. Some technology supports content (blogs, vlogs, microblogs, status updates, wikis, collaborative document authoring tools, social bookmarking, media libraries and albums. Project coordination is aided by use of event calendars, task management tools to track project deadlines, and decision support tools. Incentive and recognition technology allows members to be recognized by way of badges and endorsements. Other technology supports member interaction. Profiles and social networking like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Instagram, member commenting, discussion boards, and webinar services allow for member interaction on their own time frames.

The Activity Theory model breaks down PLE's into subject, object, tools, rules, community and division of labour.Context is not an external container but it is constituted through an activity.The most common context for PLE's takes place through Higher Education (31%) and Lifelong Learning (15%), followed by enterprise,organisations and workplace (9% each).

This paper included many diagrams documenting personal learning environments. The PLE is broken down into six distinctive parts. The subject is the person with the object leading the subject to the outcome. Tools connect the subject and object within a community where the subject acquires knowledge. Rules are present to minimize conflict and help to guide the subject toward the object and possibly most importantly, the PLE has a division of labor. This is how the community is organized and includes contributions from all subjects. Without any one of these parts, the PLE would not function which would lead to the loss of knowledge within a community of practice.

A helpful--if lengthy--article explaining what a PLE is, and how to conceptualize the structure and role of a PLE in terms of Activity Theory. Helpful section distinguishing PLEs, PLNs, and CoPs on p. 24.

I love discovering new sites and apps that combine cool functionality and great design, and Story Map is one of my favorites (along with Flipboard!). Also check out http://timeline.knightlab.com/ for a great timeline tool. I am planning on using one or the other to create a map of all the places I have lived and then share it with my family. Only downside is the lack of documentation or tutorials at this juncture, but it's pretty intuitive. The JS name (Java Script) implies that you might have to do some coding, but it's not the case. Check it out!

Interesting article here. There's a hand signal you can use to help students remember the power and importance of PLNs. This could be helpful to teach younger students the "why" they have to be learning these skills in order to make learning meaningful. Student- Thumb; rest of the team depends on them for resources and help. Mentor- Index finger; helps organize and keep the group on task. Expert- Ring finger; ensures accuracy. Advisor- Longest finger; pinpoints needs and identifies necessary changes. Peer- Pinky finger; shares thoughts, communicates frustrations and celebrates when things are successful. Watch the video here: http://videos.videopress.com/lzULinmO/collegeunboundpersonallearningnetwork-hd1_fmt1.ogv

Love it! The hand metaphor is great.. It actually helped me to better understand PLNs myself. "Just as the hand's function is to grasp, hold, and manipulate, making it essential to daily tasks, so is the student support team essential for the same reasons."

I really like this Ryan! Not only is the picture intriguing but the metaphor is great for understanding as well as teaching about PLNs. Good find!

Physical impairments come in many forms and can generally be classified as a loss or limitation of function in muscle control or movement or a limitation in mobility. This may include hands that are too large or small for a keyboard, shakiness, arthritis, paralysis, and limb loss, among other difficulties.

Calculating the mean and standard deviation in Excel 2007 is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and only takes a few minutes. Use the "AVERAGE" function in Excel to find the mean of a set of numbers. Enter the range of numbers in your Excel spreadsheet....

This source addresses personal learning networks and connected learning environments. It describes connected learning as important because information is so widespread and accessible, and learning is now happening flexibly. The source also discusses connectivity and communities of practice.

This article discusses the idea of connected learning and its benefits. It discusses how the learner can be at the center of their learning. Although this article focuses of incorporating connected learning to teaching practices, it can also be applied to gain a better understanding of forming personal learning networks to enhance ones professional growth.

I love the term "connected learning." I can't imagine learning in isolation. I have to take what I am reading and share it out on Twitter, I want to get the interaction of others to enrich and enhance what I am learning. Learning systems is a good way to put it. You have a system in place that involves connecting with others.

Intuitive by design, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch also come with assistive features that allow people with disabilities to experience the fun and function of iOS. With these innovative technologies built right in, iOS devices become powerful and affordable assistive devices.

AudioExpert is a free and simple online audio editor, file converter and sound recorder. All the standard functionality of an audio editor provides you with an easy way to create a ringtone for your cell phone.

Abstract: How critical is the role of the user interface in E-Learning? Simply put, the best-designed content will be useless without an equally well-designed user interface that will attract the learner's attention, retain the learner's interest, and allow the learner to interact with the content such that learning can take place. This paper presents a rubric that will help assess a user interface's contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of an E-Learning application. The rubric focuses on the elements and attributes that comprise the user interface's visual design and dialogue design. A discussion on the user interface and the functions it performs in E-Learning applications serves as an introduction to the presentation of the user interface design rubric.

This short article emphasizes how social networks can build your Personal Learning Network. One great advantage is that your PLN can be accessed 24/7 The article suggests the use of Twitter, blogging, and other Social sites to connect with other education professionals to collaborate and learn.

I appreciate learning in context. Seeing how the PLN functions through Facebook and Twitter certainly filled in more blanks for me. Even though I am not a great blogger, the articles focus on student, parent, teacher, administrator communication hammered the value home.

This article really hit home, and made the CTE teacher in me say WOW! It was short and to the point on how students can really utilize social media as a tool to hone their learning. Great find Matt!

Author's Note: This article has been edited to correct inaccuracies in Google Docs functionality in Firefox, and Google Apps support.] Game on. Microsoft holds a virtual monopoly on office productivity software, but Google is virtually synonymous with the Web.

The rise of smartphones has brought real-time location data into many aspects of Americans' lives. Some mobile services use the smartphone's location to offer directions, targeted recommendations, or other location-specific information to the user. Other services incorporate a location "layer" into other types of functions, while still others exist specifically to share the user's location with friends or the general public.

This long-term project has students creating a blog that serves as their reading response journal for the year. For this assignment, students created a blog to replace their hardcopy notebooks. As students read various things in their English class, they use this one place to do all reading activities. Once they have finished posting, they then receive time to go and comment on other people's posts. This gives students a place to practice their writing skills with an authentic audience. As the year goes on and students get more comfortable with commenting, students could end up having rich conversations based on each other's writing. I like this because it is easy to set up and use for the course of the year. This can be applied to almost any subject area. Even a math teacher could use something like this for students to summarize their learning and bounce ideas off of their peers. The functionality and utility of this project make it a must-have for educators of all subject areas.

Explore math with desmos.com, a free online graphing calculator

Desmos is a free online graphing calculator that allows students to graph functions, plot data, evaluate equations, and explore transformations. It is a powerful and reliable tool that can be accessed online or through the app for free.

Asserts that technology is rewiring our brains, as the tools people use define and shape their thinking. And that the continuously shifting nature of connections makes learning not completely under the control of the participant. Though the starting point of connectivism is the individual, their knowledge is influenced by and influences a network.

This article gives an overview and background of traditional learning theory and their limitations. Then it provides an alternative theory for a digital age, Connectivism. This article gives a brief overview of Connectivism and its principles.

This is the original paper written by George Siemens introducing the idea of connectivisim. The main problem Siemens identifies with previous learning theories is that they do not account for learning stored outside the person. With technology developments, we no longer need to remember details. We can use our brain space to connect details and expand our knowledge.

The graphic on this site does a great job of helping my to visualize Communities of Practice and how they function. The graphic shows one CoP session and how the teachers involved work together on so many different areas.