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A great leaping off (or summarizing) video on what a PLE is and its connection to connectivism. This apparently was a high school class production. My only qualm might be that their concept of a PLE is a bit web-centric, but this is really well done. I particularly like the end portion about the role of the instructor in a connectivist world. A definitely worthwhile five minute investment.

At my institution we were just involved in developing a student learning outcome to meet our assessment plan. We made sure that information and technology literacy went past the Internet and would include professional networks that were F2F and also be able to pick up a phone and call someone.

This article separates technology used in communities of practice based upon the technology's function. Some technology supports content (blogs, vlogs, microblogs, status updates, wikis, collaborative document authoring tools, social bookmarking, media libraries and albums. Project coordination is aided by use of event calendars, task management tools to track project deadlines, and decision support tools. Incentive and recognition technology allows members to be recognized by way of badges and endorsements. Other technology supports member interaction. Profiles and social networking like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Instagram, member commenting, discussion boards, and webinar services allow for member interaction on their own time frames.

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

Heather Wolpert-Gawron discusses using Facebook in the classroom. She writes about the experience of a teacher who used Facebook in their classroom.

This EHow article described the reasons behind using the Category 5 cables. Author Jean Sommer provides information justifying the heavy utilization of the Cat5 cable.

This video blog lays out the importance of why we as educators should create a PLN. The benefits are vast and near endless, and we are at a time when collaboration across curricular and country is very simple. We should be utilizing these tools to create PLN.

This article explores uses of Facebook, Twitter and other social media applications and how they are being used in education, specifically in health professions. EDTECH543 Connectivism

I really like this article, Jennifer! It's interesting how many similarities there are between the authors' IPE (interprofessional education) program and the personal learning networks (PLNs) we will be focusing on.

This project takes place during a science fair and utilizes Twitter. As judges view the science projects, students ask simple "interview" questions and tweet the judge's responses using a common hashtag. Parents, students, and community members are able to comment and provide encouragement.

This video does a nice job of showing the benefits of PLNs. I like the "3 c's" this video outlines: collaboration, communication, and contribution. It provides examples of what make PLNs work and compares them to the typical professional development environment.

This video provides the importance and opportunity of connecting using social networking and building up educators through connecting with each other. There are many examples of how being connected has worked for different teachers.

Educators have always been connected and new tools help them get connected easier to other knowledge sources. Like the interviewed people say in the video, how do we know that we are doing well if we are not connected and get feedback? I completely agree with the idea of the need of being connected to students, colleagues, parents, community...to be a 21st century educator.

New Technologies Can Keep You Connected and Help You Manage Information Overload by David Warlick

This RTNDF (Kent State University High School Broadcast Journalism) Listserv has been one of the absolute best resources I've had in my teaching career. The ability to ask questions to other teachers across the United States who are in my discipline, tackling similar problems/challenges has created, for me, my own Professional Learning Network. I LOVE this group and recommend you find a listserv if one is available in your discipline as well.

This article is from Ebscohost and does require users to log into Albertson's Library before accessing. This paper looks at shared social capital and what it means for teachers. It also looks at the difference and the benefits for teachers using online vs offline professional development resources as it relates to Facebook.

I was reminded that Google tries to rank sites for me based upon what it thinks I want. David Loertscher addressed siloing, which means your information group is too small and possibly too like-minded. Loertscher advocates that one should open your net just a bit. He suggests seeking diverse experts to follow on the Internet and identifies some of his favorites to gain a variety of voices.

Summary: This link is to a research paper done on the implementation of a Twitter supported PLN to teacher professional development. This was a study around the ways that a Twitter PLN can support teacher's professional development. I found this paper interesting because it outlined a few realities of PLN's.

This article is a guest post by a student who describes her PLN. It is an interesting self reflection about how this student realized she had a PLN without ever actively creating it. The article goes on to discuss how she developed her PLN and the major pieces that are in it.

I love that you included a student's perspective on PLN. I particularly liked her perspective on Internet Safety. My favorite quote is one we should all remember, "Common sense is a valuable thing".

Bryan, I really appreciate this article. Maybe because I can identify with Conner Wood's journey into blogging and PLNs. His revelation of a group of people he can trust thousands of miles apart connected by the Internet and his desire to meet them resonates with me. Many times I have wanted to meet my own cohorts. Wood's reflection on the quality of his selection of progressive educators is not lost on me either. His desire to opening your PLN to a variety of fields mirrors my own. "One can have a network of the top people in one's own field, but if one cannot talk to those people about anything else, what is the point?" Pinging your PLN for the "personal" as well as "learning" seems a recurring theme.

This is another resource that requires you to log into Albertson's Library using your MyBoiseState credentials. This article's focus is on middle school teachers and looks at the MSP2 Math and Science Pathways project. The project was focused on providing connected online experiences for math and science through the use of technology. It discusses how they used Ning and Wikis for collaboration and also presents some of the findings from the MSP2 project.

This article was found through Ebscohost in Albertson's Library and will require you to login with your MyBoiseState account to read. While this article is directed at school librarians the information applies to anyone that is interested in expanding their PLN. The article is written in an easy to follow format and has great graphics throughout. It discusses why you should develop your PLN and provides management tips on how to make your PLN effective.

Research regarding the benefits of being a member of a community of practice. While the information seems a bit forced (the communities of practice used for the study were exclusively face-to-face communities), the benefits of being a member of a community of practice still seem valid. According to the study, they are (1) autonomy and freedom to think beyond, (2) sources to ideas, (3) sounding board, (4) intellectual discussion, (5) like-mindedness, (6) alternative perspective and cross-pollination of ideas, (7) overcoming intellectual isolation, (8) move towards collaborative research, (9) response to research pressure, (10) synergy and leverage, (11) time and energy saving, (12) an informal ground for learning and training, (13) fostering of tangible returns, (14) driving research, (15) opportunities to met, (16) networking, information sharing and updates, (17) support and guidance, (18) sense of belonging, (19) identity, and (20) intrinsic fulfillment. As the article is about higher education, there are certainly some benefits that are more specific to their context, but I think the findings of the article are still valid.