Group items tagged

Communities of practice, according to this article, resemble apprenticeships in other parts of the world and in earlier times. It used to be that in order to learn you became an apprentice to a master in that topic. You formed a community of practice to learn that skill. Learning, in general, can take this form and mimic this apprentice relationship.

While the CoP references in this group have clearly illustrated the concept as defined by Wenger, I found this reference equally valuable as it illustrates the practice of these communities in life situations. This helped me solidify my understanding in a different context.

This video provides an overview of what PLNs are and how they relate to education. The fact that this video relates to education, specifically, is helpful in considering why PLNs are beneficial for teachers. However, the video says it is the first of four in a series, but the other videos cannot be found, which is disappointing if one wants to hear more on the topic.

Diigo has clear advantages to the individual that needs to store and recall important information. But how can it be used in the classroom? This blog post shares a few options for using Diigo in the classroom. One common problem of student computer use in schools is access to student work from home. Using Diigo, students can bookmark important websites and access them from school, home, the library or any internet-connected computer. Students will always have access to this data. Teachers and students can use the group and list features of Diigo to organize bookmarks on themes or topics. Classes can also collaborate and discuss information within Diigo.

Shelfari is an online book club with the ability to share book topics and discussions. Groups can be public or private. The Sayre HS group has a discussion on what students plan to read this summer.

Edudemic is more than just an educational technology website. For students and teachers it's a one-stop-shop for forums, articles, ideas, and resources on everything technology. Edudemic is explorable by topics such as How-To, Tools, or Online Learning. Or browse through the videos collection for amazing examples of teaching and learning. Have a great idea or story to tell? Try submitting a post to Edudemic for a global audience. Grades 6-12. Tip: The All Topics word-cloud allows users to quickly see what's trending in educational technology. Click through and explore!

SUMMARY: MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are designed to take advantage of social networks and track the learning of specific topics and specific users across tools, sites, apps, and more. MOOCs can be a part of your PLE, or your PLE can be an integral part of your MOOCs. Either way, Connectivism is at the heart of every MOOC.

Cate - After watching this video, I found MOOC to be very similar to what we are doing in this class. Engaging in the learning process and connecting/collaborating with one another. However, there are differences, such as - we do pay for this course! Overall, great social networking tool for learners. Thanks for sharing.

Cate, I liked this post. It was nice to get to listen instead of read, read, read. I found the information interesting. I had never heard of a MOOC or at least not identified as one. It fit perfectly with the connectivism. I found his comment about promoting life long network learning valuable. We are there, might as well take advantage of the opportunities.

Point/Counterpoint on Siemen's 8 principles. It appears others have attacked this concept, too, and we get to read what their brains did with the topic.

This research was published by the U.S. Department of Education on the role on Online Communities. Essentially, the research found that online learning Communities of Practice produce a wide range of values for educators, including immediate and potential value. The primary focus of this research was the role of Community Designers and the questions, concerns, and topics that must be addressed when creating a successful learning community involving educators. While member participation is the key to a successful community, there are other factors that play a major contribution in a group's success as a learning community that are addressed in this research.

This short PowToon video gives a small example of how we can utilize collaboration to reach out in finding more information on the topic of our choice.

Hi Logan, great find on this little video! It's a clever way to illustrate these concepts. It's nice to see something creative being used instead of just an article in a journal or a blog post!

A short, engaging YouTube video on defining Personal Learning Networks.

I really enjoy the simplicity of this video while at the same time the depth of understanding it gives in such a brief period of time. For me this video really drives home the effectiveness technology can have in presenting potentially overwhelming information in a very easy to understand manner.

In my opinion, the key words of this video are "what", because you choose what to share, "where" and "when" to do it. It is brief but powerful. Thanks Melodie for sharing it!

It is a website dedicated to the topic of bring 1 to 1 laptops to schools. It has information and discussion around this specific topic.

This is a great place to find video clips on any topic. It is user friendly. The site requires you to set up a user name and password.

The tag reads "Be the curator of your favorite topic". With this tool, you can easily gather articles and media from the web. Makes it very easy to publish a continuously-updated page about your topic of interest.

Use this tool to easily publish gorgeous magazines

This is an online content curation site. I like this one because students don't have to have a Facebook or Twitter account to sign up.

This links to a composition by Etienne Wenger, who co-coined the term Community of Practice. Wenger gives an overview with a specific statement that a CoP can be viewed as a social learning system, but is also part of a much broader social learning system, as a result of the network in which it takes place. Wenger goes on to identify the identities that happen as a result of being part of a CoP.

Another article by Etienne Wenger, this appears to be a synopsis and an update to his previously published book. While he does not go into great detail about the topics, he talks about communities of practice as social learning systems and in social learning systems. He also talks about the power of COPs, as well as the relevance to learning today.

This is another article by Etienne Wenger discussing communities of practice. I like it because it works in social learning systems. Social learning systems are similar to connectivism, CoP, and PLNs so I think it fits right in with our topic of study for this module.

Teachers who use instructional video report that their students retain more information, understand concepts more rapidly and are more enthusiastic about what they are learning. With video as one component in a thoughtful lesson plan, students often make new connections between curriculum topics, and discover links between these topics and the world outside the classroom.

This website is a browsable resource where topics on disability and technology can be selected and browsed.

This site provides a wide variety of information on important topics in education, including many statistics on educational technology and integration.

A free, organized collection of educational videos searchable by topic.

Collection of videos - several appropriate for early elementary students. Search by topic.

This curation tools allows user to publish a page over any topic they choose. After establishing a page, the user can then scoop different resources and curate the topic. After the user has finished gathering resources the list can be shared out to different social media outlets.