I had to laugh when he mentioned 'lurking' because that has been my MO throughout the years with my PLN. I have always called my PLN my Personal Lurking Network because I haven't really contributed much to it, but I have definitely gleaned a lot from it.

Resourced by an edutopia article, I found this information to be both user friendly and helpful. Best of's, design tips, and aspects of PLNs that make people want to be active are included

Article by Wegner explaining CoPs that has a couple of great graphics of what it means to be in a CoP, how to develop them, and how they relate to organizations

A website created by students in the EdPsych department at University of Georgia that explains the components of connectivism as an educational theory.

An introduction to why behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, though suitable theories for their time, are no longer suitable bases for learning and teaching.

The Wegner-Trayner team created a video about CoPs and PLNs that applied their theory to social learning and the social outcomes of joint activities (CoPs).

By Etienne and Beverly Wegner-Trayner, this is an 8 page pdf of the basics of CoPs. I really like that there are myths debunked and demystified within the content of this paper as well.

This article give not only the basic idea of a CoP, but also gives tips and lessons, examples and stories, and more references for those interested in learning more. Some of the resources are in Dutch (?), so be aware.

Since I hadn't heard of CoPs, I thought I should find out what it is. For those in the same boat, there are 3 things necessary to have a CoP: 1. domain (common interest), 2. community (engaging together in activity and sharing of information), and 3. practitioners (members are not just people with a shared interest, but practicing).

A PLN is not PD. A PLN has (at least) 2 additional benefits: you study and research topics applicable to you, decided by you; you can form a symbiotic relationship where everyone is sharing information

One of the reasons I started my PLN on twitter years ago was because of a colleague. I never really 'got into' the PLN and have basically ignored it the last 5 years. This article is a reminder to me about WHY I have a PLN and reminds me that a PLN means something different for me than it does for anyone else.