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Guy Merchant looks at learning through participation in online communities that might be able to be described as communities of practices or affinity spaces.

A straightforward government-issued document on Communities of Practice that focuses on a variety of benefits for both organizations and individuals. Uses business at the working guide- not education- but the principles are the same. Very easy to comprehend document.

Thanks - I read this because it was not aimed at education which is where my interest tends to take me. I liked that there were examples with benefits but did find the description was probably a little narrow in stating that, ". .. who often collaborate via established Web sites. These community Web spaces are designed to allow community members to share ideas and knowledge in several ways" Enjoyed reading it though. Thanks.

SUMMARY: This PDF highlights crucial points of "then" and "now" to help the viewer understanding the depth of change of modifications occurring under this theory to learners, spaces, relationships, and roles. This PPT could be incredibly useful in simply teaching the basics of the theory to newcomers.

Bonnie Stewart makes connections between Boyer's four components of scholarship and network participation. She contends that networked engagement fits Boyer's model for scholarship, and broadens scholarship, building connection, collaboration, and curation between individuals rather than roles or institutions.

A very interesting article! Even though the word "connectivism" isn't used (that I could find), what the author describes is essentially that. I especially liked this quote from the article: "Twitter served as a space for thinking aloud, sharing expertise, and raising investigative conversations. Participants appeared to carve out regular areas of discussion and investigation for which they become known, in their Twitter circles; peers would then send them links on those topics due to their expressed interests, and signal them into conversations in those areas, thereby extending participants' network reach and visibility." Sounds like connectivism in action!

This article comes from the OD Practitioner journal, Fall/Winter 2000. This article focuses on the basics of Communities of Practice, defining the dimensions, purpose and changes from knowledge sharing now rather than in the past. This article focuses on the industrial and business world. It shares that knowledge in the past was knowledge was to be horded for power, while today it is to be shared to grow said power "in multiples" (Allee, 2000). The article goes on to share the benefits for everyone as far as the business, community and the individual. I appreciate the call for possible new communities of practice to meet new business community challenges.

I like how this article, even though it focuses on the industrial/business world, still has some great applications to the world of education. It's also interesting to find out more about some surrounding groups to CoPs and how they are related. A quote from the article (pay close attention to the last sentence in regards to education) says, "Communities of practice emerge in the social space between project teams and knowledge networks. When multiple project teams are engaged in similar tasks the need to share what they know often will lead to community formation. From the other direction, a loosely organized knowledge network of people who share common interests can gel into a focused community when people recognize new shared opportunities or begin to seek a significant breakthrough. Those who would support communities need to learn what conditions foster their emergence and create an environment in which they can flourish."

In this article, Torrey Trust gives an overview of personal learning networks (PLN) and discusses their relevance in education. She identifies two different types of PLNs, information aggregation and social media, as well as their benefits. Many of the tools available for PLNs as well as examples for how teachers can use these tools are also examined. Additionally, three popular online PLNs, including Classroom 2.0, The Educator's PLN, and Edmodo are reviewed.

This is a great article that summarizes key features of PLNs in education. I particularly appreciated the section that discussed motivation regarding teacher participation in PLNs. The collective knowledge and the safe space in which teachers can share ideas and resources with one another seemed to be a powerful motivator for educators when it comes to participation.

This article clearly has a clear connection to teacher practice. The focus on teacher lifelong learning, essential to enhancing learning in schools, is critical. PLNs give teachers a place to break out of the isolation of classrooms so they can reach out to other educators with new knowledge and support so they can meet any challenges that may arise.

Defines CoP's and reinforces that CoP's focus on sharing knowledge and developing best practices. Identifies CoP's as a model for connecting people for learning, knowledge sharing, collaboration and organizational development. Provides great key questions for growth of a CoP.

This is a great guide from Educause on the "nuts and bolts" of establishing a PLN. This resource provides a step-by-step guide to establishing a CoP.

This article is really helpful since it gives practical there are some things you can do. My favorite is "Design." You can not just set up spaces and expect people to interact. You have to drive purpose and there has to be meaning there.

In this article by Patricia Deubel, Ph.D., she states how connectivism is a learning process that is continuously changing. What an individual learns is always changing and that certain internet tools have clouded the quality online. However, she discusses Siemen's learning ecology such as a variety of learner types (beginning to advanced) as well as different spaces to work on what the individual is looking to accomplish.

With PowerPoint Online you create presentations right in your internet browser. They live in your OneDrive or Dropbox space, and you can edit and share them online without any other software or installations. Let's walk through the steps for creating a basic presentation: PowerPoint comes with "themes," sets of professionally designed colors and layouts.

VoiceThread is a collaborative multimedia slide show tool that supports voice, video, animated commenting, and several document formats.

Transforming media into collaborative spaces with video, voice and text commenting.

Presentations with added voice, video and text comments.

Jing allows you to make a short video of what you see on your computer monitor, recording your voice as you click away. Excellent for creating "how to" videos, this tool has a free educational version with quite a bit on online space to store what you create!

You will need to use your BSU information to access this pdf article by Christine Muller. This is a pretty dry article that attempts to make the connection between the need for community and mathematics. The author states, "Despite a common belief that mathematical practitioners prefer isolation and self-study, we observe that they are highly collaborative and active in their community. Mathematical collaborations are essential for any stage of mathematical practice". The author states the need to further analyze the need(s) for web-based community tools, such as discussion spaces that facilitate international online collaboration on the Web. This article is a starting point of a great discussion but needs much more elaboration.

Transforming media into collaborative spaces with video, voice, and text commenting.

Learning can now occur anytime, with anyone, with a wide variety of technology, and in a variety of locations. This new learning landscape directly challenges the notion of "classroom" and suggests that new learning spaces are required to meet the needs of today's learners and the learning opportunities before them.

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others.

There is so much you can do with Google Earth, layers, marking things, adding video, making paths/trails. It's a big world out there!

Voicethread allows users to create videos and share with others.

Transforming media into collaborative spaces with video, voice, and text commenting.

Voicethread is a great way for students to add narration to their presentation slides. Simply upload graphics and images to the slides then record narration over it. Great for presentations you wish to share with others and students can receive feedback from the Voicethread community.