Group items tagged

This article reports a study of a community of practice that was focused on...developing communities of practice! Excellent exploration of the factors that influenced participation levels in this CoP, including: emotion, technology, and connectivity. The authors conclude that online learning communities succeed on the basis of the level of investment of the members.

This article reports a study of a community of practice that was focused on...developing communities of practice! Excellent exploration of the factors that influenced participation levels in this CoP, including: emotion, technology, and connectivity. The authors conclude that online learning communities succeed on the basis of the level of investment of the members.

The author discusses what happened when he created a PLN during the summer. He focuses on the qualitative data he collected from participants. He describes the two many barriers most participants shared which were a limited amount of time to develop and learn from their PLN's and also the information overload associated with connecting your PLN to social media. He also describes how the participants used the different tools.

As someone that tries to read everything in my own PLN, I appreciate the authors recommendations on ways to not become overwhelmed. Starting out by only using one or two tools and setting aside a few minutes every couple days is great advice.

Focusing on the use of Twitter in a PLN, a study was conducted involving seven educators. The results were encouraging as Twitter provided an excellent medium for personalizing their PLN and having immediate access. Although much of the article goes on to explain how Twitter works in a roundabout way, it does explain the merits of open and public forums for collaboration and discussion.

This article covers a small scale research project done to see how important the use of Twitter was within a personal learning network. It was interesting to see how impactful Twitter could be within a PLN.

I love how this article validates the effectiveness of Twitter in the building of one's PLN. I have engaged in numerous Twitter chats with like-minded educators and found great benefit in building my PLN. Thanks for linking a great article!

Learning communities help to share the responsibilities of student success within a school system. Since PLNs require a shared goal, when used in a school it helps align the vision for students, teachers, and administrators. PLNs are a continuous cycle of research, planning, and implementation. They are data driven and reflected upon. Everyone within the PLN is responsible for the development and implementation of the community. When everyone participates it creates an environment of trust and expertise that can be shared equally amongst all of the members. The learning that takes place within PLNs helps to keep school systems aligned and functioning.

This was a very interesting article that really had me thinking deeper bout PLN. One specific line " Learning communities convene regularly and frequently during the workday to engage in collaborative professional learning to strengthen their practice and increase student results" really caught my eye. How does one find time for such intensive participation? Separate from that I like the idea of learning being a group responsibility and not just an individual one.

Hi Ryann, I love this article and how it chunks the topics into easy comprehension for the reader. Collective responsibility stuck out to me the most. I think this is so important whenever tackling a project as a team. The team is interdependent and I think its important for each member to take responsibility of their strengths that they bring to the table. Nice article!

This article discusses connectivism and communities of practice within the context of situated learning. Situated learning focuses on learning as taking place by participating in the social world. The primary aim of the paper is to continue the task of analyzing and advancing experiential education.

This case study examines which factors play into a successful MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Some of these factors include peer interaction, professor engagement, and accessible course resources. The researchers concluded that these factors are as important in MOOCs as they are in traditional classroom settings. The article implies that classes based on the philosophy of connectivism are effective, but a number of factors must be taken into account when planning instruction.

It is difficult to maintain continuous student engagement in a traditional class setting. It is doubly so when the setting is online. This study researched what characteristics promote student engagement in online classes. Course takers identified 5 characteristics of MOOCs that encouraged their continued participation in the course. For the most part, courses that focus on problems and clear solutions, contain high levels of peer interaction and teacher participation, and include many active learning activities with accompanying course resources are well-liked by MOOC participants. The authors are certainly right to suggest that future research examine courses that are not as highly participatory as the MOOCs that are focused on in this study. I wondered as I read the article if the same level of engagement can be seen in other courses.

As this study emphasized, online courses have a unique challenge when compared to traditional brick-and-mortar courses because learners are physically separated from an instructor by a computer screen. Instructors do not just have to overcome motivation barriers, but also administrative obstacles. The article's "Table 2: Summary of Strategies Used" presented some well-designed methods to increase instructor accessibility---from the "Code Clinic" to weekly live interactive discussions.

Great simulation software that allows for students to really get in and understand the different systems of the frog's anatomy without the worry about storage of specimens, clean up or students not being able to participate due to personal beliefs.

At U of Texas Dallas Twitter is credited with encouraging 100% student participation. Students enjoy that everyone can be heard from regardless of class size and that format allows swift recap of important lesson components

In order to be a good student, one has to be well fed. Boston University Dining hall tweets are informative about the practical matter of food availability. This serves as a learning instrument as students who participate in tweeting can be exploring anything from conflict resolution (a burrito being thrown) to critical inquiry (requesting details of food)

Students at Burton High School in San Francisco worked on a project where they Tweeted ideas regarding a current, topical issue. Student involvement and engagement was increased due to the use of social media, and students can participate in discussions with classmates and the teacher on the given topic.

The big question presented in this article is, "How do we use technology?" The online environment is present in our daily lives and our participation is key. A PLN is defined as "the people you choose to connect with and learn from." A mutual desire for learning and participation must be present.

Hi Erin! I thought this article was quite interesting. I like how the author pointed out that so many say that the use of technology and media as a way of communicating leaves us disconnected, when really, it's the complete opposite! We are absolutely connected, just not the way we are accustomed to. Thanks for sharing!

PLN: Seaman's article discusses how to use social networking, especially Twitter to develop and maintain personal learning networks. She goes on to discuss that our we feel less lonely when we are connected, even if it is virtually on a tablet, cell phone or computer.

ePals is for classroom teachers to create and participate in a variety of projects. This is a great site that connects teachers with other teachers from around the world to use social networking and create global learning environments.

Seeing connectivism (one of the "C" words) in connection with MOOC is not "new", but seeing how MOOCs can be categorized as cMOOCs or xMOOCs and what they mean explains a few things to me. I've been dabbling with being a participant in MOOCs, #change11 probably being the first one I tried. Since then I've tinkered in Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, Canvas, and a couple others. I look forward to the unit we do on MOOCs because it may help me understand why I get confused as I go from MOOC to MOOC because the style, presentation, and expectations differ so much from one to another.

In this scholarly article, Bessenyei discusses the current desire in education to decrease the alienation of traditional schools. He looks at connectivism and network theories as a way to decentralize learning into self-organizing networks. These networks allow information sharing to become more significant as students information sources are varied to include experts as well as other students from multiple institutions.

In this article the author discusses the importance of connectivism that is dependent upon learning in a web 2.0 platform. As the influence of the web has spread so to has the importance the ability to share and distribute information to people all over the world. The premise of this article is that as costs continue to soar in education the connectivism platform offers an alternative way to disseminate learning. The web is now no longer a medium for learning, it is the platform and center for personal learning. One final point that is made is the importance in educating students how to use the available online resources to construct learning for future use because as online resources and CoP's continue to be the primary sources for information it is important to understand how to use and identify these resources for continued learning.

Bessenyei takes an interesting look at the history of elearning as it relates to student learning requirements, societal norms and Connectivism today. The authors perspective on Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and the policital development of elearning provides the reader with a new lens to look at the variety of social media that is used today.

This is a more technical site that better describes CoPs.  It talks about what a CoP is and what the requirements are.  I particularly like that the it states that the learning is not necessarily the primary reason for the existence of a CoP.  It also gives some sources for further study.

This article is an outline of Communities of Practice with description of relevant terminology outlined and defined. Identifies the three components of CoPs - domain, community and practice. This article says that the central component of this learning theory is to draw participants deeper into the community through the attractiveness of developing skills relative to the domain.

This one I didn't summarize, only because I really had a hard time grasping the three elements of the CoP, and I thought this site encapsulated it nicely. Incidentally, my creative assignment for this week was inspired by the reference to Star Trek fans in this post. Here are the three elements make up CoP, and again, this information below is taken straight from the source (long quotes), because the definition is so good: 1. There needs to be a domain. A CoP has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest (e.g. radiologists, Star Trek fans, middle school history teachers, Seahawks football fans, etc.); it's not just a network of people or club of friends. Membership implies a commitment to the domain. 2. There needs to be a community. A necessary component is that members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities, help each other, and share information with each other. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. In this way, merely sharing the same job does not necessitate a CoP. A static website on hunting in itself is not a community of practice. There needs to be people who interact and learn together in order for a CoP to be formed. Note that members do not necessarily work together daily, however. Wenger points to the example of Impressionist painters who sometimes met in cafes to discuss their painting styles. He indicates that even though these men normally painted alone, these kinds of interactions were essential to making them a CoP. 3. There needs to be a practice: A CoP is not just people who have an interest in something (e.g. sports or agriculture practices). The third requirement for a CoP is that the members are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources which can include stories, helpful tools, experiences, stories, ways of handling typical problems, etc. This kind of interaction needs to be developed over time. A conversation with a random stranger who happens to be an exp

People learn from watching others and then applying that knowledge in their own experiences; learning is seen as a social process rather than an acquisition of knowledge; in order to be useful, knowledge needs to have a context within a community

Etienne Wenger discusses elements of Communities of Practice, with a focus on the private sector. Though the discussion is pertinent to all uses of CoP. Noted as a crucial component is how the community is managed by facilitators, for that is who is ultimately responsible for caring for the domain of information. And who must know what the group needs in order to prosper. Where the information is being shared by peers to address questions and challenges in common. While interactions among community members include cultural and structural components, there is space for each participant to realize their identity through connections and engagement

A mostly visual representation to explore connectivism as it occurs through an open learning system. Points brought up include learners making meaningful choices while exploring their personal interest in order to guide learning. And as participants engage in making connections, a natural result will be content development and eventually those more experienced students becoming mentors.

Great video that has a section about how our students are "different" than when we were in school. "They [Students] expect to learn from technology because that is what they are used to." As soon as ALL teachers realize and accept this fact, then we as teachers can be one step closer to helping our students achieve their FULL potential!

I like the idea of learners making meaningful choices. Anything that can guide students to make effective and relevant connections is a great resource. I also think teachers have a lot to learn about the way our students learn these days. The idea that students actually need to be a force in their own learning and that they expect instant gratification are concepts I have been seeing more frequently in my own classroom. Great resource!

Explains the role creation plays as a component of connecting. Creating artifacts and participating in activities forms knowledge connections, that are most desirable in an open space with open content. The formation of new connections can lead to the redistribution of power in society.

The visuals of networks (among people and space) were powerful. I agree that one of the most impressive features of a MOOC is the creation of peer networks.

I really liked how the author began with demonstrating networks and then showed how learning is also a network. Shelly was right in that it is very powerful to see as a visual.

Wasko and Faraj discuss the phenomenon of shared knowledge in the digital world; why communities of practice emerge and the motivations of the participants to share knowledge. As they state, "People often behave altruistically and pro-socially, contributing to the welfare of others without apparent compensation."

Very interesting paper. It's an investigation into electronic communities of practice, especially as to "why people contribute time and effort to the provision of knowledge as a public good given the propensity for people to act out of self-interest." I think the authors results are intriguing. They find that people in these electronic communities of practice behave out of a sense of moral duty; feel that sharing knowledge and helping others is `the right thing to do'; desire to advance the community as a whole; and often make contributions in order to have the favor returned one day. In the end, the authors find that within these electronic communities of practice, people contribute time and effort through a combination of altruism and self-interest.