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The authors look at connectivism through the lens of a literature review and a qualitative interview session with educators. With these sources the paper examines the pros and cons of connectivism including its limitations as a postulated theory. The conclusions drawn are that behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism fall short to fully explain modern learning realities, but that it is unclear if connectivism can be seen as the next stage of learning theory evolution for several reasons.

You are right about this being a "very detailed" definition of connectivism. I appreciate is the "conclusions and suggestions" section which challenges the labeling of connectivism as a learning theory as opposed to a pedagogical approach. I completed a research paper in EDTECH501 in regards to the relationship of connectivism and mastery learning, and never once did I read about this debate. To me, the fact that connectivism is more concerned with the process of learning rather than the end product proves that it is in fact a learning theory.

I really agree this article does a nice job contradicting the value or criteria of connectivism as a learning theory versus a pedagogical approach. Many of you discussed this above so I will leave it alone. The piece I wanted to comment on came at the end of the article when the author brought up the idea that older teachers take longer to learn the digital aspects and are less likely to engage in adapting the practice. Where younger teachers who grew up in this era are more apt to use and utilize web 2.0 tools in their teaching and engage in this model of teaching and learning themselves. I have to be honest that I saw some of these same things in our school when we went to a 1:1 iPad. Many of the younger and newer teachers jumped in and had very little learning curve in understanding what was happening. Where older teachers struggled or resisted the change. I would be interested in what others experiences were as well?

This is a two page document outlining the Pros and Cons of social networking in the classroom. Part of this document points out the fact that we need administrators and parents to open up about social networking.

A breakdown of pros and cons regarding social media in the classroom.

I like this article because it lists both pros and cons to using .PPT. I also like that it clearly states not to use too many slides and that it is meant to help add to the presentation, not deliver it or make it more interesting.

This article provides a succinct definition of a personal learning network and provides a list of advantages of establishing your own PLN. The article also discusses ways to create your own PLN and methods to continue to make it successful.

This article is better at the set up of an PLN and how to use it. It does give 3 of the benefits of having PLN.

One of the things that really stands out for me in this article is the idea that you need to be consistent to get real results from PLNs. One of the reasons that I decided to take this class was to force myself to post regularly on social media. It's helps get your message out there and keeps you on people's radars. Cool article! Thanks!

fThere's an ongoing debate about the role social media should play in education. Advocates point out the benefits that social media provides for today's digital learners while critics call for regulation and for removing social media from classrooms. Finding a middle ground has become a challenge.

More than 70 different PowerPoint tips from professional designers and presenters explored in a concise way.

Locate your community then draw on Google maps. Create custom, embeddable maps, with annotation, shading, markers, etc. and save maps for future reference. "Pro" version offers more tools and save options and is free but registration is required.

This is a great website for basic math fact fluency. It's free, easy and kids love it. What is so great is that the practice they do at school can also be done at home (if they have access to a computer with internet). The pros at Xtra math have completely automated the system of fact fluency in the classroom!

A nice summary of the major pros and cons for using social media in the classroom.

Great speech writing/rehearsing tool for iOS. (Prompster is for Android users.) Recommend for educators and students. Seems like a good tool for mobile learning.

The following peer-reviewed article notes the expectation of professional development in the workplace. Individuals and cohorts in all professions may receive training and PD that only goes so far. It's critical for all individuals to continue to develop and strengthen their skills, attitudes, and knowledge through the use of Personal Learning Networks. This article highlights the pros and cons of a Twitterstorm, but ultimately captivates the need to seek-out other professional beyond your institution.

This app is around $200 and is specifically deigned for younger students with autism. It allows them to communicate through images rather than speech and has had very positive feedback from parents and educators alike, who say the students want to say more but find it hard to.

This wiki has a lot of objective discussion about the pros and cons of Educational Games

The article is written to show the pros and cons of using communities of practice in the nursing field to share knowledge and collaborate in the process of innovative nursing practices.

Edutopia writer Vicki Davis discusses how PLNs have empowered her students to guide their own learning experiences. She discusses the weaknesses of PLNs and how they work.

While this blog posting from Edutopia does point to some "how tos" and practical application, it does offer key theoretical practices for setting the stage for applying the PLN model for student use. Vicki Davis, the teacher and author of the blog post, states that her students are familiar with breaking news due the development of their own PLN that acts as a "virtual locker." She goes on to discuss how their research builds the content of their PLN and the content changes based upon the assignment. The big idea is that the PLN model allows students to act as the orchestrator of their own learning and allows them to analyze information via an avenue that is personalized to student's learning needs. It also teaches students to embrace connectivism where they make connections between domains in order to form a more complete understanding.

The article goes into the role of a PLN for students. Students can create their own networks to possess information at their fingertips on any topic they could ever desire. By establishing a networking system, the students don't necessarily have to go out and scour the internet for sources when their network could bring relevant information to them.

This SlideShare explains networks and nodes,their patterns and relationships, and how they relate to Connectivism and the Connectivism learning model.

This is an interesting approach to explaining connectivism. I like that it's in a SlideShare format, and gives a different viewpoint of how the connections happen within different groups. I did find myself a little lost, and wouldn't be able to explain it using this diagram, however I can appreciate it's uniqueness.

I very much appreciated this slideshow for its explanation of a network. "Every entity is composted of addition entities." Downes 2007. This quote sums up this process beautifully. Also, the image regarding updating student's concepts regularly makes a lot of sense. If I were to try and explain all of this content in several months without update and review, it would most certainly lack important dynamic quality.

Big fan of the Newsela website application. This web-based app gives you unlimited access to hundreds of leveled news articles and Common Core-aligned quizzes. It's adaptive, and constantly being updated with great new features, like annotations, spanish translations, reading clubs, novel articles, and so much more. If any of you in this group would like to explore a Pro account, please let me know.

This article discusses computer-supportive collaborative learning and the learning theory of connectivism. It discusses the pros and cons of connectivism and how it supports a collaborative learning environment. It also discusses how a course should be designed when integrating collaborative technologies.

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.