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This is an excellent overview of what communities of practice are, the characteristics that define them and some examples of what they "look" like. Gives great information to those new to the idea.

I really enjoyed the author's writing style which included metaphors and lots of examples and non-examples of COP. I noticed this blog post was 2006, and so I was curious what the author had been involved with since this post, especially since he points out the importance of sustained interaction. He now has a consulting business to help problem solve education solutions found at http://wenger-trayner.com/

Excellent resource to begin to understand CoP's. Etienne Wenger was cited in many of the articles I researched.

This article explained what actually is done in a CoP and it helped me to connect it to PLNs and Connectivism. In a CoP, communities of people that have common goals and interests are sharing, collaborating and discussing ideas, solutions, and problems that have to do with their particular interest/goals. Through these interactions, new knowledge is formed and they are able to continue to gain more insight and advance in their endeavors. A CoP is a PLN and uses Connectivist theory to enhance the learning and networking.

Communities develop through a variety of ways. A table is provided with many examples that help to clarify these ways. Some include problem solving, requests for information, seeking experience, reusing assets, and discussing developments. It is very easy to apply these examples to a variety of personal and professional CoPs.

This article explains why communities of practice are so important for the business realm. In one statement it explained that companies have now figured out that "knowledge = power, so share and it multiplies". This idea is synonymous with connectivism and the idea that in order to gain more knowledge more connections must be made through sharing, collaborating, creating, etc. This article also made the distinction between tacit knowledge that is rooted in people's life experiences with explicit knowledge that is deliberately shared outside of people. This distinction also helped me to really see the reason why connectivism, PLNs and CoPs work so well together. You have a group of people, connected by common interests and goals, that are expanding upon their knowledge by sharing their own collective experiences and goals in effort to connect with others that can share insight, collaborate with and add to their ideas, solutions and questions.

Allee uses the term organizational intelligence to describe how CoPs are becoming more prevalent in the modern workforce. He talks about how he has consulted with various multinational companies to help them create CoPs and to get employees at various levels to share their expertise.

This is a great video that showcases how Connectivism acts as a source for finding new information. The author shows an Etch a Sketch and gives a complicated puzzle to solve. The solution to her problem is also directly related to Connectivism because in order to obtain the information that she needs, she will have to connect with people outside of her "box".

The goal of teachers in the digital age and how we can use PLN's to help. "No one is really asking teachers or school systems to change what they've been doing. They're basically asking them to basically do what they have been doing better. The huge barrier is trying to get people to acknowledge that this new world of learning exists and then starting a conversation around how can we make that effective for kids." - Will Richardson

The goal of teachers in the digital age and how we can use PLN's to help. "No one is really asking teachers or school systems to change what they've been doing. They're basically asking them to basically do what they have been doing better. The huge barrier is trying to get people to acknowledge that this new world of learning exists and then starting a conversation around how can we make that effective for kids." - Will Richardson

This webpage from the US Department of Education describes how Communities of Practice can improve education.

SUMMARY: The DOE gets behind CoPs as potential answer for achievement gap and underperforming teachers and leaders. Money, time, and resources were thrown at this initiative to see if online CoPs could become the missing link in the instructional shortcomings. Citing examples of success, one is drawn and intrigued to look further at the project as we are now 2 years later.

Finding and researching CoP sites I came across the Department of Education's answer on the Communities of Practice within education. The Department of Education has added the communities of practice within an initiative called the Investing in Innovation along with a series of other initiatives.

Yes -- it's OK to filter Internet content in schools. No -- students should learn how to handle the Internet as it is. The debate continues no solution in sight. You'd search far and wide to find an adult who does not support protecting children from pornography, hate speech, and other undesirable content on the Internet.

Blog for adaptive and assistive technologies.

Yudu allows the upload of PDF format documents and transforms them into published eBooks

This video talks about the 3 Big Ideas we want to have in a PLN for educators

This video talks about the 3 Big Ideas we want to have in a PLN for educators

This is Micosofts answer to the IPAD. Our school demanded that IT purchase the new IPAD with out invesitgating all possible solutions that are out there. I personally think that the Kindle is still the best reader out there. Sorry if I am off topic a bit but thought that this would be a good thing to post for us teckies....

Includes a nice list of 9 free alternatives to Ning.

A collaboration suite for online and blended learning.

A learning theory is a conceptual framework that attempts to explain what happens when people learn. Learning theories can help people interpret observations of learning, and direct people toward solutions to practical problems. In general, there are three types of learning theories: behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivist.

The app, developed by Software Solutions, LLC, offers deaf and hard of hearing individuals a convenient, portable means of learning and using sign language throughout the day.

A toolkit that provides multiple guides and resources to teachers looking to integrate digital tools into the classroom. The "Instructional Delivery" guide provides a pre-screened list of software that can be used as solutions to classroom instructional issues and needs.

MrExcel is your one stop for Excel tips and solutions. MrExcel offers help for excel including seminars and other training.