Group items tagged

Livebinder with so many resources about Genius Hour/Passion Based Learning.

This article includes valuable information about the theory of connectivism and well as an introduction to PLNs. It discusses the need to externalize learning to make sense of it. The author goes on to explain how social media can help accomplish this. In addition, it gives the background of PLNs and explains how it gives teachers the opportunity to impact multiple communities

I saw a reference to MOOCs when I was researching so I wanted to dive deeper into MOOCs (massive open online courses). This article serves as a report card discussing the successes and needed improvements for MOOCs. MOOCs biggest successes seem to be the huge reach they have with their online presence. Millions of people enroll in the courses and top universities, such as Harvard and MIT, have MOOCs. However, some pitfalls are that less than 10% of people who enroll in MOOCs actually finish. The article gives ideas for improving MOOCs mostly based off the belief that online courses can be isolating and more collaboration with actual humans, via chats and videos, need to be included in MOOCs. I found this read interesting because the MOOCs are founded with the connectivism theory in mind, however many of this components that drive connectivsm and communities of practice are lacking.

Jake, I found a resource on MOOCs as well and while it was a positive presentation of them, it also noted some of the pitfalls. The fact that they draw mostly highly educated students, makes me wonder how accessible they are for all people. However, I know they are new and evolving, so it will be interesting to follow their development.

This article was extremely interesting! I was surprised to see the the high percentage of people who sign up for MOOCs and don't finish. I also strongly agree with the comment in the article, "people need people." Thanks for sharing!

Connectivism overview outlining major principles of the theory, includes George Siemens video. Excellent quote from George Siemens (video) "We can not, not learn"

Stacie, Good site to define connectivism. I especially like the diagram graphic and the two video clips with George Siemens, one of the gurus of this technology. The two slide shares are great too. We have one of those slides in our resources for this module.

A great article and resource on George Siemen's principles of connectivism. This includes excellent alternate resources including links to other supporting pages and video links to help understand the connectivism theory.

I love this website! I was originally hired as a cataloger and now I do reference and instruction. I spend 90% of my day teaching and I have never been taught how to teach. We didn't have classes on how to do library instruction in my library science program. What I usually do is come up with some ideas of what I want to do and then I search the freely available resources on CORA to see if anyone has perfected what I am thinking of doing in the classroom. It's a great resource for those who are starting out in the reference and instruction arena!

"Communities of practice (CoPs) are among the professional development strategies most widely used in such fields as management and education." This article expresses the use of Communities of practice as a part of the healthcare sector. I enjoyed reading about the similarities of needs among these professions and education, as all professionals should be involved in various communities of practice.

In this article Mark McBride, a librarian at Buffalo State College, discusses the recent changes that he made to his information literacy course. He talks about how he incorporated constructivist principles and problem-based learning activities into his course structure. In the process of making these changes, however, he discovered that he is really incorporating connectivism into his classroom. He makes the case that librarians should begin to adopt connectivist principles when teaching information literacy concepts. Additionally, he acknowledges that if librarians are going to move in the direction of the connectivist theory, the Association of College and Research Libraries must take a look at its information literacy standards and update them to acknowledge the ways in which learners can share and create information through the use of social media.

I often consult HBR's articles, when I'm having any issue at work or want to strengthen my own performance. The articles are relevant to various industries and focus on topics including leadership, organizational change, negotiation, marketing, and managing people.

This video discusses the importance of personal learning networks. The creator shows why teachers are supported through the use of PLNs.

Summary: Communities of Practice are all around us. They exist in most businesses and most professional communities. These communities are important because work is shared, revised, and organized; thus, making it better. The development of CoPs is dependent on leaders within these communities.

The sharing piece seems to be the most integral part CoP in my opinion. Also, before exploring these topics I feel my thinking was streamlined towards education, but I am understanding the need for CoP in all professions. If you are not sharing as a part of the community then you are not a contributor. This translates to the classroom and making sure all students play a role and have a place in the classroom's community! This starts as early as having a classroom "job."

A look at how an organization shares and uses knowledge, builds collaboration and innovation by using informal communities of interest. The paper looks at characteristics of CoP's, particularly with one group, and identifies how these characteristics can be transferrable to others.

This is an odd resource for this diigo, but you can find lesson plans here and post lessons... while making money :-)

TeachersPayTeachers.com -- 1,000,000+ free and priced teaching resources created by teachers for instant download including lesson plans and unit plans. This is truly my favorite teaching website. There are so many incredible resources that I find here with regards to any subject and grade level. Many activities that I find here are very unique and detailed!

This Boise State University site outlines CoP's that are accessible to those going into and already part of education. The activity levels of each community vary and and they are always accepting new ideas for possible groups in the future.