"Google Forms that he shares with 7th grade parents and guardians in the spring, before their student enters middle school. If parents aren't able to attend the meeting, Jeremy simply posts the survey on his school webpage for parents to access. When parents are done with the survey, Jeremy can access the results of the survey through a spreadsheet and in addition can easily view them in graphs as well."

I love that this article plainly states new expectations for educators to use, "instructional strategies that match learner expectations and the physical changes that technology has wrought on the human brain." I appreciated the honesty that there hasn't been a tone of research done on Connectivism, which can seem frustrating at times. However, hopefully we as educators can be part of that, which is what Connectivism is all about.

I love how simple this blog post makes PLNs. The first two sections seem the most helpful this week as we work to understand them, but I was especially excited to see the section "Ways Students Can Use PLNs." The ultimate goal for being in this program and class is to bring it to my students.

Although this article focuses largely on tips for setting up and using a PLN, I appreciated the brief introduction about PLNs, their basis in connectivism and how it really can improve us as professionals. The first tip also focuses on the need for engaging in the collaborative process which is central to the success of PLNs.

a. For the visual learners, this slide share gives a brief account of how we have gained information in the past and how connecting with others can build our knowledge bank. The second part provides ideas for building PLNs, specifically focusing on twitter and social bookmarking services.

This article focuses on the role of personal learning environments in higher education. I particularly appreciated the description of the PLE in the article. Pointing out what it offers that Learning Management Systems do not, the PLE is explained as the future of education where the student takes control and responsibility from the reigns of the institution. It also suggests that PLEs have staying power in education due to the fact that they are not wrapped up with a specific technology, rather they have the ability to adapt and change as technology around us continues to do so. The author discusses how students should be given challenging situations rather than ridged assignments. The article finishes with an example where this idea was implemented in an online learning environment. Väljataga, T. (2010). Learner control and personal learning environment: a challenge for instructional design. Interactive Learning Environments, 18(3), 277-291.

This is one article in a series geared toward teacher librarians. This article is short and deals with both the "why" and "hows" to PLEs. (Although the term Personal Learning Environment is used instead of PLN, I felt it could still be helpful.) The article sets up the need for PLEs by recognizing the vast amount of information available to us today. It follows by breaking down Personal, Learning, and Environment in a concise form. The second half of the article focuses on the "hows." I have included the reference only because I had some difficulty retrieving some of my previously bookmarked pages from Ebscohost. "Personal Learning Environments in the Learning Commons. By: LOERTSCHER, DAVID V., KOECHLIN, CAROL, Teacher Librarian, 14811782, Dec2011, Vol. 39, Issue 2"

This short article is written for school administrators to convince the audience of the power the PLN can bring to their work. The article recognizes apprehensions to use twitter, defines a PLN, and finally explains how it can connect the reader to a valuable group of fellow professionals. If ebscohost doesn't work, this is the link through BSU's Library search results: b. http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/4595249723&referer=brief_results

This research paper looks into success factors for communities of practice. Although the "success factors" portion of the article may fit better with future "how-to" assignments, I found the breakdown of CoPs helpful. Retna covers the basic idea that adults learn from day to day experiences, not just activities specifically designed for learning. Knowledge transfer is explained with emphasis on what it looks like in organizations. The paper goes on the account for CoPs in a multi-national company based out of Singapore. The findings are explained in the three components domain, community, and practice. The key success factors are identified as leadership, culture, and individual motivation to learn. 

This provides another basic overview of communities of practice. There is a brief description followed by the history of the term and the development of the theory. It continues to outline the three required components of CoPs.

a. In this short article, Bell provides an overview of connectivism as a theory for the new era of education. Statistics of increases of internet access in homes and us in higher education set the stage to making connectivism a legitimate player in education today. Bell then breaks down connectivism as a theory and identifies it as the successor to classic educational theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. The article ends with some suggestions for educators looking to apply this theory.