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This paper explores faculty views with respect to tech literacy, tech training, and pedagogy. The upshot is that to more broadly integrate technology in higher ed, more effective faculty training is required.

I really like the point within the paper where they identify the aspects that must be considered when training in a teacher. He states four main points about technology teacher training that I think are really relevant in where education is going today. 1. Education training takes considerably longer to learn than learning a new teaching model. 2. Access to technology at home and at school is essential. 3. Fear of the unknown must be addressed. And 4. The use of technology will force teachers to re-conceptualize the way in which they teach. I think these are 4 very interesting talking points when looking at the use of social networks and highlights the importance of using CoP's and Learning Networks to have each group benefit.

Interesting read on how to use Social Media to advance online training programs. Excellent resources on how to improve training systems through social media.

Very cool! I never thought of this as a community of practice. I use this everyday for conferencing with my colleges. We come together through this technology to share resources, plan and organize, and to develop strategies. So, of course this is a great example. Thank you for sharing!

Great article on schools using teachers to help teach others in the school about different areas in technology that they are competent in. My only thought was that it really should have gone further and reported on schools using its students to train the teachers and fellow classmates. We have a school nearby that has a class on basic computer repair and then the students then spend one hour a week going around the school helping out the teachers. Really cuts down on expenses and students have a sense of pride and a useful and marketable skill!

Personal and professional development resources that integrates with Facebook. Full suite of application training allowing people to teach & learn with friends and colleagues. 

In my research surrounding the topics of communities of practice, PLNs, and connectivism I kept coming back to the Wenger-Trayner website. There were many helpful writings and diagrams produced by Bev and Etienne (Team BE), however this blog post stuck with me. When I attended undergrad at Michigan State University these practices were newer and not taught. Does anyone know of programs that use these topics in their curriculum authentically? Are their teacher prep programs or universities that have really embraced these concepts?

For anyone who is involved in professional development for teachers and staff this site and these articles provide some interesting insights in how to move from traditional training - event based or once a year in-service presentations) to keeping the conversation going with social and informal learning. Includes theories of social and informal learning that can translate to the classroom as well.

From the site: Upload your existing training files (PowerPoint, Video, Word or PDF) and Mindflash automatically converts them into an online course, accessible to any trainee with internet access. Add as many files as you like, arranging them in just the right order to create an engaging multi-media training experience.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.

This is a list of trainings with a synopsis of each training given by Google. The site breaks down the trainings by knowledge level, tool, and certification.

Not only does this resource provide a solid description of what a PLN is, it also answers the important "why do I need one" question. It was particularly helpful to get an idea of how social media is essential to a strong PLN.

A great article that offers many valid and important reasons that an instructor should join PLNs.

This article supports why we all need to join PLN! Great read!

"It's not enough to purchase the equipment, it is also important to have support. A technology coordinator must organize training and provide ongoing support in the computer room so that teachers gradually learn to feel confident in the computer room. " Wow!! This article is old too and still this statement rings true!!

This is just an idea for integrating social media into the classroom but the homework has been done and there are some great details regarding the project. This project would make it possible for students, parent, educators, and such to be able to keep updated by using social media.

Professional development for real estate agents housed within the LinkedIn social network allowing agents to interact with other professionals from around the country and around the world in the exchange of new tools and information.

Brenda A. Dyck works with teachers to learn the newest technologies to apply in the classroom. In this article she lists many Web 2.0 tools that she has used in her professional development training sessions and describes why they are useful.

This is a training resource that I came across from a school district in Indiana. It focuses on how professional learning communities or communities of practice can avoid becoming a passing fad in educational reform. It gives three "big ideas" that educational CoPs need to focus on to truly be successful. They are: ensuring that students learn, creating a culture of collaboration, focusing on results by holding themselves accountable.

Thank you for sharing this. Just today, my school discussed starting PLC's and I feel that is important to focus on those three big ideas. I feel that this article makes us look closely at the questions and the answer to those questions before we begin creating networks and communities. Makes me think of the UbD-approach and how we should think about what the goals are and what we want our PLC's to do specifically before making them vent sessions amongst teachers.

This article analyzed the development of a community of practice of student-teachers in music in a Brazilian university outreach program. After the introduction, the author covers in detail the theory of community of practice and education. I thought the idea of identity and the strength of peer-learning activities in the outreach program were very interesting.

In this Q&A podcast, I speak with Sarah Gilbert, who facilitates ATD's Essentials of Mobile Development Using Adobe Captivate® and Mobile Learning Certificate. Sarah Gilbert specializes in training strategy, design, and development at meLearning Solutions. In her PHII Academy director role at the Task Force for Global Health, she leads a team to create global solutions for public health informatics training challenges.

Any questions you may have on how to use Google Drive supported software tools like Google Docs, Google Slides and Forms will likely be answered in this extensive step by step training document. You can also find the link to the YouTube video that shows the live training.