Group items tagged

This resource I came across provides resources for all types of social media. Within this specific page, the topic addresses the best practices for Twitter used in the classroom. It provides information on the use of Twitter within primary and secondary schools as well as higher education. Statistics are presented to show usage within the school amongst scholars and faculty. This site is also an interactive social media network system for questions and comments.

This paper, by Ana Maria Marhan examines connectivism and social media. The author points out that because today's learning is a "messy, nebulous, informal, chaotic process, we need to rethink how we design our instruction. This hit home because I just moved to a new state and a new district, and they are very strict with, well, just about everything on the computer! I teach at a Title 1 high school, and these kids would truly benefit from instruction that wasn't so linear. These learners (like all learners) form their own pathways of knowledge, and I believe I could make a stronger impact on them if I could use more tools.

Marhan, A. M. (2006). Connectivism: Concepts and Principles for emerging Learning Networks. In The 1 st Conference on Virtual Learning. In this article author, Ana-Maria Marhan does a good job exploring the principals pushing forward Connectivism as a pedagogical helper. This becomes apparent right from her abstract "Connectivism views learning as a network creation process, and looks at how we might provide 'learning ecologies' to meet the learners' needs.". In her first section, she defines learning as "a persisting change in human performance or performance potential which must come about as a result of the learner's experience and interaction with the world." As soon as I read the last few words "interaction with the world", I began to connect the dots (no pun intended) to what I've read thus far about communities of practice. She spreads out on a handful of relevant and interesting subtopics to the overall theme of Connectivism. After she describes more about the new connected and growing world we live in she tackles the basics of Connectivism as a theory of learning and the principals behind it. Again like other articles she echoes many of the same sentiments George Siemens made when he originally proposed the learning theory. After the background on Siemens theory, she begins to draw everything together. One statement that I enjoyed was "Individual is the starting point of Connectivism: personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into communities, organizations or institutions, which in turn feed back into the network and then continue to provide learning to individual". She does a great job of supporting the use of technology not as the new power of learning but as a tool to unlock that power. "When knowledge, however, is needed but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill".

I also appreciate how Marhan suggests that connected learning is cyclical: "Individual is the starting point of Connectivism: personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into communities, organizations or institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual."

Authors discuss the random, fluid, and brief nature of most social media interactions, noting that these give little opportunity for meaning construction but facilitate information gathering and individual sense-making. The restrictive nature of social media interactions presents opportunities to find new means of utilizing the technology in learning. Circulating knowledge does not generate meaning, but collaboration does, especially on tight time scales. The authors further present and discuss the term, generative learning communities, which appear to be similar to communities of practice.

My Doctor Games has some very cool interactive simulations and games for students to extend their experience with.

These interactive web modules include media, vocabulary, games, and "ask a scientist" links for each science theme

Interactive curriculum for keeping kids safe online.

Item # 3 stood out for me.

This is a wordle that was created from the social media interactions of 400 students in one class. The students were using Classroom Salon.

This is a great example of a well maintained page that has the feeling of a sales pitch for potential new students.

Great collection of fun music activities.

National Gallery of Art's interactive art activities to explore art concepts, skills, and themes

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.

***You will likely have to sign in to the Albertson's Library to access this article! This article provides examples of how Karl Fisch uses his own personal learning network. He references electronic sources, books, and face-to-face interactions that all represent critical parts of his PLN.

This article focused on the theory and gives good if not great detail on the reasonings for the theory of connectivism. It stresses the importance of the individual driving the learning, the digital ages importance, and the idea of interaction for learning.

As a teacher of future teachers, I found this case study an interesting and helpful read. Good focus on sharing and collaboration among teachers as a means of developing self-efficacy. The researcher interviewed four teachers to develop an understanding of the way view their role as teacher, and how their interactions with colleagues impact these views.

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.

Chapter 2 begins with a good description of the theory of communities of learning as a way to learn not through cognition or other previous theories but through social interaction. Communities are organized organically unlike school classes and are a places where learning can unfold.

A variety of interactive map games for kids of all ages.