The authors argue that there is no difference between theories of teaching and theories of learning (rendering the debate over whether connectivism is one or the other irrelevant). The elaborate on the ideas that instructors in connectivism are participants in a class learning along with the students, rather than being the sources of knowledge, and that one important role of instructors may be to defend the connections of the past so that they will be carried forward. I found this to be one of the most illuminating articles on connectivism that I've read thus far.

While some of the tools mentioned in this 2010 video by Skip Via are a bit out of date (Google Wave and Google Reader, for instance), the importance of developing a personal learning network is clear. First, creating a PLN ensures that we have access to a support system, and additionally, we have a professional responsibility to seek out and participate in our own learning opportunities, and PLNs offer inexpensive (free) ways to accomplish this.

We hear much about the failure of MOOCs because of extraordinarily low completion rates, but what we do not hear about is whether those MOOCs are connectivist or instructionist. This article talks about the successful aspects of connectivist MOOCs, which may include promoting the development of lasting communities of practice and personal learning networks.

In this article, author Tony Bates refers to MOOCs as communities of practice, and then makes a distinction between "instructionist" MOOCs and "connectivist" MOOCs, the latter being designed to function as communities of practice. This has prompted me to look for more information on the distinction, as I am only familiar with instructionist MOOCs. In addition, I find the article of interest because of the subsequent and continuing scholarly conversation that ensued in the comments.

While this article is targeted to librarians, the concepts are relevant to all educators, as well as to students. Author Nicole Cooke argues that in developing Personal Learning Networks and/or participating in communities of practice, librarians can engage in continued and essential learning beyond the terminal degree.

This article, and more specifically, the video within, explains Personal Learning Networks. The emphasis on connectivity makes it clear how PLNs and connectivism are related.

This blog post appears to be a reflection on what the author learned during her first week in the MOOC offered by Siemens and Downes on Connectivism in 2008! I like that the author, having tackled the assigned first-week readings for the MOOC, still finds connectivism to be ambiguous. This makes me feel a little less alone, as it reflects my own opaque understanding of the theory!

I like this infographic for several reasons: 1) it's an infographic, and 2) it's Creative Commons Attribution licensed, which means anyone can use it, change, it, share it, or make it even better, as long as attribution is given! One of the key points made here is that connectivism allows for cross-generational learning, challenging the notion that learning can only be acquired through transmission from our elders.

Wesch's TED Talk illustrates connectivism in various ways. First, he notes that when a society that is based on relationships becomes a "linear" society, the results can be less-than-desirable. In the classroom, when students are not learning by making connections, the results can also be less-than-desirable.

This article discusses the importance of Twitter to PLNs. The author points to a variety of benefits of using Twitter in a PLN, including the ability to tap into collective knowledge, to amplify one's own ideas, and to solicit help from the PLN. As an infrequent Twitter user, this article really pushes me to question my lack of use of this powerful tool.

In this blog post, Amanda Hovious, librarian and instructional designer, discusses librarians as facilitators of communities of practice. What strikes me about this post is that Hovious identifies various types of communities of practice, including (for example) students in an English Comp class. If a classroom of students can be considered a community of practice, then every educator serves in a role that facilitates these communities.

The DiRT Directory provides lists of tools that address a multitude of needs, from document annotations to visualizing data. If you need a digital research tool, you can almost always be assured you'll find something in the DiRT Directory.