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This text highlights the eight major principles of the connectivism theory and connects them to the Association of College and Research Libraries informational literacy standards. This source objectively evaluates the effects of connectivism when implemented for the purpose of teaching literacy standards. The big idea to be taken away is that as school librarians are embracing the digital media world, which is drastically altering student library experience, they are intuitively embracing connectivism, but would benefit from being more intentional about applying the theory. The theory applied to the library experience would involve the domains of information management, contacts, synchronous communication, and RSS. The goal would be that the conenctivism theory is applied so that students make personalized networks using the domains that maintain a dominance in secondary and post-secondary libraries.

Abstract: How critical is the role of the user interface in E-Learning? Simply put, the best-designed content will be useless without an equally well-designed user interface that will attract the learner's attention, retain the learner's interest, and allow the learner to interact with the content such that learning can take place. This paper presents a rubric that will help assess a user interface's contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of an E-Learning application. The rubric focuses on the elements and attributes that comprise the user interface's visual design and dialogue design. A discussion on the user interface and the functions it performs in E-Learning applications serves as an introduction to the presentation of the user interface design rubric.

How two teachers put into practice a connected network of learners. This article features two teachers who worked to connect their students across the globe. Both classes in California and South Africa joined via Twitter, Skype and blogging as they read and experienced a shared novel. Each class offered different learning opportunities. The learners grew as readers and writers, but also as a community of connected learners.

In this article two university librarians advocate using social media platforms to teach information literacy concepts. They believe that social media platforms, which students already engage in, provide a perfect focal point for showing students how they can access all kinds of information sources outside the realm of the traditional sources like books and scholarly articles. Because of the need to critically evaluate information found on the web, the use of social media for research provides an excellent demonstration model for this essential skill. Librarians, the authors say, should embrace a connectivist approach when using social media to show students the process for making connections between different sources of information.

This article seems so relevant, especially to my teaching experience. I think that teaching students how to use social media and evaluate information on the internet is not just something librarians should teach; it should be something all teachers cover as it is extremely valuable. As the world around us changes, so to must our teaching practices and the content we cover.

Learning Forward notes that learning communities are those in which "Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment."

Greetings Molly, Thank you for sharing this article. I especially liked the video. In a perfect world all grades and subjects would be aligned. I think most schools attempt continual improvement by evaluating student data. I hope. I like the idea of owning students in such a way as to be responsible for all student learning. Good article.

Bookmarked from Molly on EdTech SN

A fantastic utility for grading quizzes and tests using your webcam.

This article discusses communities of practice from a business perspective, which I found interesting because CoPs truly to exist in all professions; they aren't strictly and education trend. The merit of CoPs, according to the author, is that people share their experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways that foster new approaches to solving problems. They discuss the various benefits of CoPs and then examine why they aren't more prevalent, concluding that though the concept has been around for centuries, it hasn't been widely accepted yet and therefore companies (and education) haven't spent a long time cultivating them and helping people learn to effectively develop them. They refer to CoPs as the new frontier and predict that they will become a more and more important part of knowledge acquisition for professionals in the future.

This is a great resource that focuses specifically on the use of communities of practice in business environments. However, the information is easily transferred to other areas of industry or academia. It addresses the fact that CoPs are different than the traditional approach of working in teams in that their success and usefulness can be difficult to measure. The author gives tips for how to evaluate the success of a CoP through the sytematic gathering of anecdotal evidence.

This is a great resource for businesses to gain insights into the use of Communities of Practice. In this article, Wenger and Snyder discuss Communities of Practice and their value for organizations.

This article defines connectivism and its connection to information literacy and pedagogical practice.It explores the relationship between connectivist principles and ACRL Information Literacy Standards. It argues that if librarians and educators do not learn pedagogical strategies, students who are active learners will be ill equipped to create and evaluate new information.

Ever considered PLN's for students, found this on Twitter. I really like the fishing analogy at the end. Great idea for creating student centered learning.

I like the idea of students creating their own personal learning networks. That is very 21st Century learning focused. It could open up a lot of opportunities for students and even educators. Nice source!

This article focuses on the student PLN and how a global PLN would help students with there search for knowledge. This would also lead students to self directed learning. Students could use their PLN to push their own learning in the direction they want to take it.

This is my second unusual reference but well worth it. Chapter 3 provides the reader with a research article that considers the value of the PLEF Personal Learning Environment Format when implementing personalized mashups to increase collaborative learning. This peer reviewed article provides a Connectivist theoretically based argument for engaging dynamic virtual and network learning in lifelong, informal and personalized learning environments.

What does a truly inclusive school look like? Improving Education: The Promise of Inclusive Schooling, a new booklet from the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, offers educators a close-up view of inclusive education. The free booklet includes a questionnaire to help educators evaluate and improve their schools.

PLN have been around forever but now we use technology to help increase those who can be involved. Most of the Personal Learning Networks are online and we can communicate with others from around the world. This article gives examples of how to use a PLN and how to build your own.

I liked the video clip that showed how networking can be beneficial. Simple video that explains it for people like me who are new the world of PLN's.

I like the chart of resources. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all of the social media tools available out there on the Internet, so the chart in this blog post is helpful. Thanks!

Communities of Practice and Social Learning Theory related to First Year Experience type programs in Higher Ed.

This is the government's take on Communities of Practice, and I included it because like it or not, it impacts many of us on so many levels. The National Education Technology Plan asserts that we need PLC's, and if you have never read this document, it is worth the read. It definitely furthered my knowledge when I read it in EDTECH 501. The bottom line is that because so many students have access to mobile technology, they are able to be a part of social networks. The goal is to harness this power and cultivate collaboration and engaging learning experiences. Its premise is student-centered learning where students are able to make decisions and choices that form their own pathway to learning.

Thanks for including this document. I was impressed to see the progressive views outlined with many strong and important points for changing our education culture. One of the main areas included the need to leverage technology to empower students and shift learning responsibility from teacher to learners. In essence we want to strive to create master learners, where students understand how to evaluate and gain the information they need as life-long learners. The section "Measure what Matters" I especially applauded, as I feel our extreme emphasis on testing is misplaced if we don't make sure the tests and measures are appropriate for what students need to know to be life-long learners. Do standardized tests even have a section about locating information and assessing its validity? This report started out with a short list of recommendations that included, "Be clear in outcomes we seek". I think this is an important point as we strive to embrace and utilize the growing potential of connectivness.

This article applies communities of practice as learning networks specifically for the purpose of life-long learning. The need for life-long learning continues to rise, and the authors reviewed research and applied findings to design a framework for an improved model that looks at life-long learning within these newer visions based on developing theories. The authors point out that lifelong learners are not only consumers of learning, but benefit as active contributors that also creates an enduring membership of the community. Included are learning network model diagrams to show the relationships in the learning community network. In the conclusion, the authors admit the work is still in an exploratory phase and much work is still needed to refine the framework and improve the evaluation of effectiveness in practice.

How three theories have shaped distance learning over the years. Connectivist theory shows how learning is about forming connections with others through human and digital interaction. Developed in the digital age and assumes access to social networking technologies.

This is a March 2011 journal article that highlights the shifts in technology and theory for distance learning. First, there was the cognitive-behaviorist with it's focus on read, watch, and recall. As the web developed, we saw constructivism shift the teachers duties from content creator to a guide through the content as students synthesized. Connectivism promotes the teacher as a "co-traveler" helping students to explore, connect, and create.

This site explains the five stages of adopting a personal learning network: Immersion, Evaluation, Know it all, Perspective, and Balance. It includes an image that shows the evolution of those stages.