Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

The researchers conducted a study of 2,036 online students at thirty-two State University of New York colleges in the SUNY Learning Network. Participants responded to a forty-two-item survey that investigates the connection between students' sense of learning community as measured by Rovai's Classroom Community Scale and teaching presence as measured by the Community of Inquiry Model. The study provides insight into the important relationship between instructor's online behaviors and perceived establishment of community. The complexity of the research gives rise to further studies to continue to identify the exact instructor behaviors are most effective in establishing a course presence, while staying true to constructivist pedagogy.

This source details the history of MOOCs and how they are beginning to make changes in higher education. It details some of the amazing possibilities of this relatively new educational option, but also many of the challenges that it faces.

This articles defines Connectivism is an emergent theory of learning relating to the importance of networks (connections) in learning for individuals and groups:

"We do not always construct, but always connect". This line is the central philosophy in this article that argues about the importance of online educational and informational fields in the connection of information. One interesting piece that is identified is in reference to schools and connectivism. The author illustrates that simply putting technology into the hands of students to access the web will not produce learning. As many of us have talked about in the EdTech program, simply using e-learning does not produce learning. However, the theory of connectivism argues that it can strengthen information and learning while also producing areas for students to collaborate and learn later on.

This slide show outlines and describes the shift from virtual learning environments to personal learning environments. It includes multiple infographics that contribute to understanding.

It was interesting to look through this slideshow Courtney. I work as an online high school teacher and most of my job is done through an LMS. Learning about these PLNs though has me looking for ways to make sure my students are making connections.

This blogger shared ideas on how as an educator you can embrace the learning theory of Connectivism. She states that connectivism revolves around creating online networks of learning. Through these networks, knowledge is shared. She states that Web 2.0 tools encourage this learning theory by default. Just by using Facebook, Twitter, creating digital portfolios and blogs to discuss and share education, you are on the right path to discovering the benefits Connectivism.

This wiki page from Knowledge Sharing takes an in-depth look at the use of CoP in International Development and provides an extensive list of examples to provide greater understanding of CoP and its uses.

This was a great find Natalie! I especially like the idea that the resource presents when it states that it is tempting to mandate these communities but that they can better be nurtured by continuing existence. I connect this to my own classroom and the work I do throughout the beginning of the school year where I'm constantly arranging their groups to help them develop their communication and group skills but then allow them to form their own groups as the year progresses and I find that, for the most part, they gravitate to individuals that they work best with. I really liked the infographic on where to start as well. I think this is a great go to visual for utilizing CoPs.

This online toolkit offers a brief and well-organized overview of communities of practice (CoP). It begins with a short description and follows with the history CoPs. It then offers a bulleted list of when to utilize CoPs and even provides further advice on how-to use. This site was particularly helpful in that it also offers tips and lessons learned from others as well as examples, stories, and other resources. Overall, it is organized and affords users a plethora f information on Communities of Practice.

This website cleared up a few things about PLNs for me. It discusses how in vogue calling every meeting under the sun a "Professional Learning Community" can be for administrators, but it may just not be so. Also defined are Professional Learning Environments, "a PLE is a system that allows learners to create and manage their own online learning." This site is challenging those involved in education to build those close relationships and form true, genuine (not mandated) PLNs in order to better their practice.

Here is another blog that explains PLNs quite nicely. What I noticed about this one is that they actually discussed how it is based in the connectivism theory and got its roots from it.

I like how this article brings up that PLNs can be a form of professional development. In my time as a teacher, "professional development" has always meant meetings at school with special speakers or district leaders or other teachers giving a formal presentation. However, after reading this and other articles, I am realizing that there are so many ways I can work on my professional development outside of these formal settings.

A personal learning environment (PLE) describes the components that make up the educational platforms that a learner uses to achieve educational goals. While an LMS is considered course-centric, a PLE is, thus, learner-centric. An open network learning environment (ONLE) can help bridge the gap between a PLE and LMS. ONLEs encourage social networking collaboration. This article demonstrates that online courses that are built within various Web 2.0 resources drive students to create unique PLEs within ONLEs, and ultimately to become "global digital citizens."

This article examines the nature of learning communities constructed among a diverse group of adult learners in an online graduate-level 16 week instructional design course. Researchers analyzed course artifacts, survey responses, online profiles and project evaluations to explore communities formed in an online setting that involves 21 international participants. Data was collected through observing recorded audio webcasts and chat discussions, and analysis of student profiles, artifacts, survey responses, and course evaluations. The authors found evidence of community building without significant differences associated with race, culture, or gender. Instead, evidence for community building was more dependent on active participation, forming of shared identify, and the establishment of social network. The course design allowed individuals to work and communicate collaboratively. The authors admit that the study is narrow in scope with a small number of participants, making it unreliable for wider contexts.

Professional learning can be observed through online interactions. People are expanding their professional knowledge by voluntarily participating in online spaces.

SUMMARY: I especially appreciate this resource as it points you in several exciting directions to online CoPs to help you as a consumer of informatioin understand what constitutes a CoPs. I was pleased to see that I already belong to a few of these CoPs and I am excited to look into the others.

This was a great find. This site connects educators with communities that suit their needs. Educators can pick their interests and connect with folks on the spot. I really enjoyed viewing this resource!

First of all of course I love the name of this listing of CoP, "Online Communities of Practice in Practice". This listing is so interesting to me, I have for a long time collected from individuals blogs through feeds, but I haven't come across such a good listing of online communities. It was amazing to me as I begin to research these groups the number of educators in these networks. Of course each person is at their own level of involvement, but they are each harnessing the power of connecting in their own right, exactly how it works for them!

Views connectivism as a learning theory. Lists the 6 key skills that educators today should posses. These skills are: technical competence, experimentation of teaching methods, provide learners with autonomy, engage in creation, play and explore big ideas as well as capacity for complexity.

Author Sam Gist defines connectivism and explores some of the possible challenges that educators may face in adapting to this into their classrooms. He also highlights skills that may help educators embrace connectivist principles.

Faculty eCommons is a nice resource for educators incorporating social network learning within the classroom. This specific page adresses connectivsim; its meaning and use as well as connectivist pedagogies.

This article focuses on the future of the learning management system in online education. It argues that the closed LMS is incapable of offering the interactivity of web 2.0 technologies to students. It stresses the need for greater connectivity and environments that can be personalized.

I had never heard of start pages until reading this article. Are these used? I didn't recognize any of the products listed.

As the person in charge of the LMS at the School of Nursing, I find this article to be completely valid. We have some younger faculty that want to do more than our LMS will allow, even with some of the widgets that have been added. The main problem that we have is that our current faculty simply use our LMS as a place to provide information instead of encouraging students to use it more like a PLE.

This blog post discusses what a PLN is and how educators can create a PLN to support meaningful and relevant learning. It describes a PLN as an aspect of a PLE (personal learning environment) and then compares and contrasts the two. The author also provides examples of PLNs and discusses how to use MOOCs (massive online open course) and cMOOCs (connectivist massive open online course) to help build a PLN.

In this blog from Debbie Morrison it looks at creating a PLN. However, what make it interesting is her discussion of the difference between PLE's and PLN's which she states are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be.

This article has some interesting points about personal responsibility in creating a PLN.

SUMMARY: MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are designed to take advantage of social networks and track the learning of specific topics and specific users across tools, sites, apps, and more. MOOCs can be a part of your PLE, or your PLE can be an integral part of your MOOCs. Either way, Connectivism is at the heart of every MOOC.

Cate - After watching this video, I found MOOC to be very similar to what we are doing in this class. Engaging in the learning process and connecting/collaborating with one another. However, there are differences, such as - we do pay for this course! Overall, great social networking tool for learners. Thanks for sharing.

Cate, I liked this post. It was nice to get to listen instead of read, read, read. I found the information interesting. I had never heard of a MOOC or at least not identified as one. It fit perfectly with the connectivism. I found his comment about promoting life long network learning valuable. We are there, might as well take advantage of the opportunities.

This is a link to a paper about building online communities of practice with social networking tools. It details the CoP model introduced by Wenger, McDermott & Snyder: that is comprised of members and continually changes, that it is mutual engagement that binds members together, and that there is a shared set of resources that develops over time. The domain of CoP is is common ground that created a community. Practice comes from the resources that are created. The authors lead of of this into their proposed phases of the learning process in a CoP: Context, Discourse, Action, Reflection, and Reorganization.

This paper shows how members of communities of practice can increase their learning through social networking tools. They discuss how social networking is the forum for the domain (common ground) where people can discuss their ideas. This helps create personal meaning. This happens with a community which is a group of people who want to learn and interact together. The practice is the knowledge that the group develops. Within the article, he discusses how different social networks enhances communities of practice.

Babbel is the new way to learn a foreign language. The comprehensive learning system combines effective education methods with state-of-the-art technology. Interactive online courses will improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation skills in no time. You'll make fast progress and have fun doing it.

This is a subscription website but they do have a free trial offer. This site offers learning videos on many subjects. They are engaging and entertaining. After the videos students can take an online quiz to test their learning.

I love this book! It was written as an experiment in online participatory, collaborative scholarship. It looks at how learning institutions can become as flexible and collaborative as social networking sites. Personal learning networks are highlighted in several examples. The leads on the project are Cathy Davidson (see earlier bookmark) and David Theo Goldberg.