Group items tagged

Resources, including technology, for helping students with limited vision participate fully in science classes

Under PLN Strategies there are some really good resources on how to create a personal learning plan, and some experiments on PLN's as professional development.

This is one of my favorite websites to discover and explore new tech tools. There are a number of Web 2.0 tools, apps, game websites, etc. that are useful to teachers at any level. Many of the resources shared on the 3 Tech Ninjas site have been put into regular use in my classroom!

This research paper looks into success factors for communities of practice. Although the "success factors" portion of the article may fit better with future "how-to" assignments, I found the breakdown of CoPs helpful. Retna covers the basic idea that adults learn from day to day experiences, not just activities specifically designed for learning. Knowledge transfer is explained with emphasis on what it looks like in organizations. The paper goes on the account for CoPs in a multi-national company based out of Singapore. The findings are explained in the three components domain, community, and practice. The key success factors are identified as leadership, culture, and individual motivation to learn. 

First thing that caught my attention was, "An employee picks up the most relevant know-how in an organisation from day-to-day activities and by watching and talking with other employees." This absolutely defines what a community of practice is. Professional development is a great way to learn, but many of us learn best by seeing a theory, action, or idea in practice. Communities of practice connect people who have similar interests, providing them with a wide range of resources to draw upon. Motivation is also a major part to making a CoP a success. Once a member, one must stay active. Having a responsible leader helps to maintain motivation and organization of the community. I especially appreciated the emphasis on informal CoP. Members are there because they want to better themselves and periodically the leader may provide a reward however I believe knowledge is reward enough. Great paper!

I like how this article talks about knowledge is best understood as a "habitus". This habitus is everything that a person does that helps them acquire knowledge. This includes their activities and life experiences.

More than a million free vectors, PSD, photos and free icons. Exclusive freebies and all graphic resources that you need for your projects

This article provides a concise look at personal learning networks in education. Benefits and reasons for educators and students to utilize are outlined.

This guide provided the benefits to PLNs, and both teachers and students can use PLNs effectively. The benefits outlined were, student preparedness, engaging, students have to take ownership of learning, individualized instruction, problem-solving skills, safety, and saves time and money. Ways teachers can use PLNs are for resource allocation, collaboration, and help. Students can use PLNs to find credible information through RSS feeds, share blog postings, about reflections and offer feedback for improvement.

This post is light on theory, but does a nice job explaining the whats, whys and hows of PLNs

A Drill & Practice app for Theater teachers and students. Helpful to all level of performers.

Great resource! I am looking for ways to help my students memorize scriptures and I think this app might be a good opportunity to adopt and adapt for that purpose. Thanks for sharing!

This site describes reasons for using tech in educational settings and provides examples of its use.

Pedagogy in Action tackles spreadsheets and why they are valuable in classrooms. Research and resources linked.

This website explains why spreadsheets are important teaching (and learning) tools. They cite research based studies and give examples of how they can/are being used.

As students construct personal learning environments, teacher instruction and support is likely to be needed. PLE's must be constructed based on needs, and students may or may not be able to articulate what their learning needs are.

Today, students already have personal learning environments, but as teachers we have the ability to forge new pathways to learning by utilizing what kids already know and modeling collaboration and exploration.

Wow! What a cool article. I really enjoyed the picture of the Networked student. This article is like a how to for a teacher wanting to teach the 21st century student. It makes me wonder if our school system should provide a class on how to set up a method for each student to display their learning or their personal learning environment.