Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

I think this is an excellent resource for Personal Learning Network. I agree that we need to know exactly what we are exploring. Often times there is so much information out there, that it is hard to process it all. By knowing the definition and knowing what we are looking for it is easy to focus in and find the best information. I think this is a clear definition and I have added it to my library as a resource for future use.

Thanks for sharing...Yes, understanding the similarities of PLN's, CoP's, and Connectivism and differences are key. This article points out that PLN's tend to be more like social media sites: Linkedin, Facebook, etc to collaborate and share.

This article takes the readers through the definition of PLN and describes how social media is a major proponent of creating a PLN. The article also connects to other "how to" tools for PLNs and professional development.

A personal learning network is a way for teachers to connect with other educators through social media to exchange ideas for growth and improvement.

Describes the powerfulness of a personal learning network, its benefits, and how to get the most out of being a part of one.

Thanks for sharing this site Terrence. This is a good basic resource for someone learning about CoPs. I like the FAQ's aspect of it.

This is a great article especially for those of us that are new to Twitter. I'm getting a better understanding of how it can be used for collaboration and conversations. Nice find and thank you for sharing it!

This article discusses the pedagogy and theory that is the foundation of connectivism. Discussed in detail is how connectivism impacts education in a 21sr century learning environment.

Interesting article by I. Bessenyie if for no other reason than it was originally written in Hungarian and translated. But it does show that the idea of connectivism is making waves in educational communities around the globe and not just in the United States. This article also tackles some of the more specific elements of connectivism as related to Web 2.0 & E-learning.

This article is a discussion of how network participation is making shared learning possible and the role of the traditional educational institutions.

Thanks for including this article...I got confused for a second seeing the foreign language. Since connectivism seems to espouse the belief that students lead the learning, and should all be learning different things, would it mean the end of the traditional education system as we see it? Do you think connectivism sees any future for mainstream education?

I posted a comment a few minutes ago, went away from the page, and when I came back my comment was gone. I haven't found diigo to be too comfortable to use yet. My main question was...connectivism preaches that students should be learning different things and leading their own learning experience. Does connectivism leave any room for a traditional education system?

Hey Scott. that's a great question and a certain dilemma when it comes to implementation, For me, the real revaluation was in how I personally am a total connective learner. I access information as needed from multitudes of resources. it has changed what I am willing to embrace or not. From a teacher's perspective, implementing it is a totally different animal & considers much more of a balanced, blended approach. You have to ask the question, at what point is a student self-actualized enough to own their connectivness? it is safe to say that students are connective learners regardless of whether we are involved in that or not. I would love to find a way to harness their personal relevance in the classroom.

This article focuses on elearning 2.0. Talks about how learning has evolved from long ago to today and how we used to learn from our elders and now we learn from "informally"

This article discusses socialization and the accessing of information in the information age. The article claims, "A vast amount of spontaneous knowledge exchange is taking place on the interactive World Wide Web. It is on the basis of this that the theories of eLearning 2.0 and connectivism declare that network participation and access to information and to software that interprets and contextualizes information makes a completely new, cooperative, self-organising form of learning possible."

Wegner talking about CoP. Again, although it is a short summary overview, it makes several key points which help my understanding. Firstly that the challenge which can arise in a CoP can become like a sort of curriculum which is wired on and developed. Learning, sharing happen and even new knowledge creation. As he talks about tools he makes it clear that such online tools are not in themselves CoP bbut the tools which enable them. Interesting and digestible.

I like this overview a lot. Thank you for posting. He makes CoPs sound so helpful and the people that are in them so positive and available. It makes me want to join one right now!

I enjoyed this video quite a bit. He's point at 3:25 regarding the correct usage of tools in CoPs seems obvious, but it emphasizes the need for management and organization in successful CoPs.

I really like that you chose a video. This is a great summary of what a CoP is and what it needs to be successful! Defining a community of practice is not easy but using the correct tools appropriately can make all the difference!

This was refreshing to watch a video instead of reading an article about these topics. I think that it was powerful when he mentioned that it is the learners duty to organize and be in charge of how they would like to learn and what they would like to learn. We interact daily with our coworkers, friends, family, etc. We can and do learn from all of them, it is up to how what we want to learn and to what extent.

I really enjoyed watching this video. I had searched for some videos on Communities of Practice, but this is clearly the best one I have seen. It provides a clear explanation of CoP's and even some information on what it takes in order to be successful.This is important because it shows what a successful CoP should look like.

I enjoyed reading this article and especially like how they focused on the connections that Twitter can be used to make, such as connecting students across the district, country, and even the globe. I also liked how they highlighted ways teachers use Twitter - many of the things they mentioned are exactly how I use Twitter myself!

I think that Twitter may be one of the most effective means of networking and communication we have. It is an easy way to share simple, straightforward information, and the character limit forces us to get right to the point. It's also increasingly how companies are interacting with the public, especially in terms of customer service. So it makes sense that teachers should use it to connect and learn quickly and easily. It's difficult to teach our students how to use it, however, because of how easy it is to abuse, but that's when it becomes our job to teach how to use it appropriately.

An introduction to Communities of Practice which provides a well written yet concise overview of the systems organization and application in the real world.

Summary: This user-friendly article discusses what CoPs are and what they look like. I appreciated the fact that Etienne Wenger says a CoP could be " … a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope." However, he also adds, that sharing the same job or the same job title doesn't mean you are part of a CoP. A true community must interact and learn together! This article provides a great starting point for those who do not know much about CoP and / or where the concept came from.

Communities of practice are groups of people who share the same job or a common interest in a subject. They come together to form a link to help each other perform in the world around them. This article talks about the value of communities of practice and how and why they work.

Eckert, P. (2006). Communities of practice. ELL, 2, 683-685. In this article, Mrs. Eckert does a great job in simplifying what a community of practice entails and means. She allows you to visualize the communities you belong to as well as other communities of practice you interact with or observe on a daily basis. One important distinction is that the author of this work is written from the sense of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology and not from an educator's mind set. Irrespective of this standpoint, you can see direct correlations to where students understand themselves and what communities of practice your own student population may fall under. In order to understand the social development of communities of practice Mrs. Eckert does a good job in breaking down common cores that can emerge from memberships. The linguistic side she writes, "A white working class Italian-American woman does not develop her ways of speaking directly from the larger categorical working class, Italian American, and female, but from her day to day experience as a person who combines those three memberships. Her experience will be articulated by her participation in activities and communities of practice that are particular to her place in the social order."(Eckert, 2006) Building upon that theory, she discusses the importance of social space "Emma Moore's study of teenage girls in Northern England (Moore 2003) traced the gradual split of a group of somewhat rebellious "populars" as some of them emerged as the tougher "townies" in their ninth year. In the process, the vernacular speech patterns of the "townies" intensified in opposition to those of their more Conservative friends". (Eckert, 2006) While the article sheds more light on the development of speech patterns and dialects through the medium of communities, we can also see the definition in practice in which a collection of people gather together over a common interest and then orients to their new surrounding

This is just a basic definition of communities of practice. It is a very easy way to understand it.

Communities of practice (CoP) are created through a community of people who have common interests. In communities of practice, Eckert (2006) explains "a community of practice develops ways of doing things, views, values, power relations, and ways of talking" (p.1). CoP's have a way of providing a personal identity and a way of speaking within a CoP.

Interesting 'real world' scenarios to illustrate the definition.

Etiene Wenger, a major contributor to the idea of a Community of Practice defines the term, explains how they're used within organizations, and discusses the importance of maintaining them so that they're most effective.

I like how it uses real-world examples from the corporate world to help define Communities of Practice. COP's are not a new organizational unit, but just a part of the organizational structure.

What a great resource for district leaders! The bullet points under "districts can" are clear and non-intimidating, the kind of statements superintendents should be able to make to their technology departments to make it happen. The action steps are very helpful, and provide concrete guidance on how to bring in technology to support professional learning in the district.

I like how this resource states"WHY" we need to support Professional Devlopment and CoP's and provides action steps for superintendents. A very valuable resource for school boards and upper management.