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Stephen Downes defends the ability of Connectivism to provide for instruction against some of the common critiques. He argues that many of the critics cite the lack of changes in educational institutions as proof that Connectivism is impractical. However, Downes believes we should not look at if the changes have happened, but what the outcomes would be if they did change. While he agrees the model can be chaotic, he asserts that it does not mean it can not be effective.

Great resource! Reading Sephen Downes takes me back to my Edtech 504 days! Two great points he makes about connectivism. 1."These arguments, it seems to me, are circular. They defend the current practice by the current practice." 2. "Saying that "can lead to some educational chaos" is therefore not a criticism of connectivism. " Each of these statements from the article are very profound and support well the fact that just because education has its issues doesn't mean the theories are wrong.

Found the google doc in particular very helpful. I made the argument in my blog entry this week that connectivism is in part hard to nail down because you have two ideological who are on similar (but not identical wavelengths). The only thing I am not sure I jive with is the whole "yes, you're going to be overwhelmed, but that's the modern world, deal with it" philosophy. Information filtering and search advances over the next several years are going to mitigate a lot more of this cognitive overload, I believe.

This is a mix of Stephen Downes, George Siemens and others discussing Chaos and how it relates to our learning and Connectivism as whole. Downes mentioned that in the last decade he has posted over 16,000 posts on learning. That is a stunning chaotic number for me to try and filter. Siemens uses working on a automobile engine and have bolts left over. Downes mentions that if a butterfly flaps it's wings in Central America it causes a thunderstorm in Central Park. This cause and effect on our inter-connected universe gives me pause to think about my own information filtering and what I try to absorb.

I did not know that the government required schools to filter information if taking part on an E-rate discount. A simple article but has a lot of important content.

This is a link to download a PDF that gives goes in depth about what a personal learning environment is, how it compares to a LMS, and even gives some downsides. I really like this document as it increased my knowledge of PLNs.

I really liked this resource. I have not done much work with PLN's, and this helped me get a better grasp of the concept. The resource really explains how PLN's should be used and what they can and can't help with. I enjoyed the resource. Thank you for sharing.

Sarah - I think you found a gem here. When I began to read the article, I felt that the writer was advocating a narrow focus - solely academic contributors to a PLN/PLE. As I read, the writer added the need to have a variety of contributors in a PLN. The writer addressed the need for members of a PLN to possess information fluency to distinguish a contributor speaking from a position of authority vs someone writing a narrative opinion. I hope (speaking with what little I know) to expand and grow a PLN that has both elements.

short article critiquing connectivism as a theory - great resources in bibliography too

Yes, the resource list will be helpful! Interesting tidbit shared about Siemens and his perspective for sharing online - "Siemens (2008a) argues the type of peer review processes similar to those he has encountered through blogs and wikis are at least as demanding as those of any scholarly journal in the field, whilst also demonstrating 'currency' of knowledge exchange - a key argument in his theory." I found that helpful - a practical example. Additionally, I've never heard of PhD Wiki before - will have to check it out. Lots of resources packed into one post!

I like this article the most because it has nice bullet points and gets to the point quickly and is easy to use. I also like that it is from Standford. It is lacking a bit -- no intro or conclusion-- but I found the bullet points to be dead on.

This is more scholarly and has a lot of good references to support the authors claims.

Promethean Planet has over 60,000 free teaching resources, lesson plans and worksheets. Including free interactive whiteboard resources. As we transition away from SMART Boards to Promethean ActivPanels, I've encouraged teachers in our district to sign up for a Promethean Planet account to take advantage of and share resources.

This article from the Educational Leadership journal is an interview with Karen Cator, former Director of the U.S. Office of Educational Technology. Cator goes into depth on the topic of personal learning environments. She says that PLEs bring in "the long tail of student experiences and interests." She also state that anytime you add a new technology, something gets amplified and something else gets reduced.

The first school that comes to mind when I read this article is about as poor and dysfunctional as the one in the article is well funded and utopic. In the last year there, not only have they not been able to get internet access and technology into the hands of all students, they have seriously discussed putting overhead projectors with plastic sheets back into rooms. The digital divide is alive and well, with the poor getting poorer. I truly believe that technology can make a huge difference in education, but how many students will be left behind waiting for it to get to them?

Cator hits home with a lot of these points for me. She speaks about how the digital and pedagogical divide amongst teachers and administration is so large. There are schools taking on the technological issues head on while others are still stuck in the old way of thinking. Before we can purchase all of this new technology, we need to get the teachers to realize what age they are living in and what is necessary to help them teach to the students in front of them.

This article by Richard DuFour, one of the key voices in PLC professional development, identifies what distinguishes a PLC from other Communities of Practice. PLCs in schools are focused on student achievement, and creating a common understanding of what students should know and be able to do, how we will know when a student has reached mastery, and what we will do when a student is not successful.

I also had the opportunity to go through a training with the DuFours, but for three days last summer. I felt their were spectacular. Communication and problem solving are also important aspects of PLCs. #EdTechSN

I am developing my curriculum into a more blended environment. I think the professional learning communities and collaboration suggested here could really help me overcome some barriers. Thank you.

Math Videos arranged by topic including introductory math, algebra, trigonometry and calculus. What I really love about this site is that it includes multiple (in most cases 3-4) videos from different people about a specific topic. For example, -7-2 has 4 videos on it for the same problem! It gives students a chance to see it in multiple perspectives.

This article comes from the OD Practitioner journal, Fall/Winter 2000. This article focuses on the basics of Communities of Practice, defining the dimensions, purpose and changes from knowledge sharing now rather than in the past. This article focuses on the industrial and business world. It shares that knowledge in the past was knowledge was to be horded for power, while today it is to be shared to grow said power "in multiples" (Allee, 2000). The article goes on to share the benefits for everyone as far as the business, community and the individual. I appreciate the call for possible new communities of practice to meet new business community challenges.

I like how this article, even though it focuses on the industrial/business world, still has some great applications to the world of education. It's also interesting to find out more about some surrounding groups to CoPs and how they are related. A quote from the article (pay close attention to the last sentence in regards to education) says, "Communities of practice emerge in the social space between project teams and knowledge networks. When multiple project teams are engaged in similar tasks the need to share what they know often will lead to community formation. From the other direction, a loosely organized knowledge network of people who share common interests can gel into a focused community when people recognize new shared opportunities or begin to seek a significant breakthrough. Those who would support communities need to learn what conditions foster their emergence and create an environment in which they can flourish."