Hi! I agree with Buffy in that the table was one of the most powerful pieces of this article. It broke the concept down and helped me understand communities of practice in many real world settings.

Linda, I also like this resource. As a junior high math teacher, it was nice to read about how connectivism can be incorporated into my classroom in ways that could benefit my students. I also like that this article relates connectivism to the classoom setting in a way that is easily understandable. Giving students opportunities to build relationships with others can be vital for their success!

Hello! I enjoyed reading this article and found it beneficial for it to list the main features of communities of practice. I like that it specifies in the "domain" portion that individuals within communities of practice must have a shared group of interests. It also emphasizes that a commitment to a common goal is important. This is a powerful read. Thanks for sharing.

Hello! I appreciate that you, and the article, discuss student-directed learning. I think that emphasizing responsibility, independence, and giving students the opportunity to have control over their own learning experiences can be very powerful! I do feel that a balance between teacher and student-directed learning strategies are beneficial, but I am a believer that student-directed methods should be present.

Hi, Jana- I really appreciated the point you, and the article made, about using PLNs to help "build relationships." Building relationships is vital, both as teachers and as students in the classroom. We all need trusting, and knowledgeable, peers in our lives to help us through this crazy thing called life!

I loved reading thoughts about Professional Learning Networks from a very personal perspective. One woman discusses her personal experience with her PLN and mentions that some of her very best friends are teachers within her network. Teachers that we learn from, share with, and socialize with are excellent individuals to have within our PLNs. She also takes readers through a journey through time, discussing how PLNs have transformed from the pre-Internet 1980s, with very few resources, to now, where we have multiple resources and tools at our fingertips.

This article is awesome and I love the thoughtful advice that it provides for creating a professional learning network. It describes the fact that technology has taken over the world, making it much easier to connect with anyone around you. Communicating and interacting with others can be crucial for gaining information. Asking questions, participating often, and being polite are just a few suggestions provided for utilizing PLNs.

Networking and making connections with fellow educators can be extremely powerful within the teaching profession. According to this article, making an effort to connect with others both virtually and face-to-face are essential for creating your own personal learning network. This can help individuals gain insight, information, and resource ideas within his or her profession.

Here, author Brianna Crowley describes Professional Learning Networks as "vibrant, ever-changing groups of connections to which teachers go to both share and learn. These groups reflect our values, passions, and areas of expertise." This, in a nutshell, helped me understand what PLNs are right off the bat and helped me to recognize that connections, communities, and common goals are vital. PLNs should also, according to Crowley, be created with individuals that are trusted and have similar interests, which I feel is great advice.

In this article, Siemens discusses the incredible impact that technology has had on several learning theories over the past twenty years. Technology has become such a prominent part of our world and it is "altering (rewiring) our brains." It is an interesting take on the power of technology and how it continues to have a gigantic impact on many learning theories.

Here, the author describes connectivism as the proposed learning theory for a digital age and is "based on the principle that all learning starts with a connection." Additionally, "learning in connectivism terms is a network phenomenon" and strongly emphasizes learners making connections. The concept of autonomy is also discussed in depth.

Connectivism encourages learners to make connections between ideas and their own experiences to better understand new material. It also emphasizes the vitality of learning together to strengthen education, gaining knowledge from the experiences and ideas of others. It describes connectivism as a spider web which strengthens as more and more connections form. I enjoyed reading this!

Throughout this website, Etienne Wenger describes Communities of Practice as "groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly." It strongly conveys the importance of working together and emphasizes teamwork as a vital component for success. I could not agree more.

This article discusses communities of practice in a historical sense and provided me with some relevant background information. It also describes the several reasons that communities of practice are formed. Communities of practice, among other things, can be great for "maintaining connections with peers" or can be created for individuals to come together "in response to changes" surrounding them. I recommend this read.

This article discusses communities of practice in a very understandable, clear way. It describes communities of practice as individuals working together in collaboration with a common goal, or passion, in mind. I feel that one of the most vital parts of my job as an educator is to collaborate with other teachers about best practices to use in the classroom. It was fun to read this informative article!

TeachersPayTeachers.com -- 1,000,000+ free and priced teaching resources created by teachers for instant download including lesson plans and unit plans. This is truly my favorite teaching website. There are so many incredible resources that I find here with regards to any subject and grade level. Many activities that I find here are very unique and detailed!