Prior to entering the M.E.T. program at Boise State University I often used the Facebook to keep in touch with old friends and family, but never to advance my career as an elementary teacher.
EdTech 543 Online Reputation Management Assignment: Here is the link to my Google doc with a list of 10 strategies for creating and maintaing a positive professional presence online.
Summary: Although the paper identifies three challenges to Connectivist Learning (self-directed, presence and critical literacies) the findings, based on Kop's research, suggest that social networked learning does work. The paper includes students responses, both positive and negative, about their learning experiences. I found that aspect of the paper fascinating.
It seems to be a common misconception that "Connectivist Learning" is meant to replace traditional methods of instruction. I came across similar articles that focused on the challenges or "failings" of connectivist learning. They cited similar concerns that connectivist learning fails to provide scaffolding for new learners, that lack of instructor presence hinders students with low intrinsic motivation, and that it doesn't support learners whose critical literacy skills aren't highly developed. Conenctivism is just one of many models to consider when undertaking the task of teaching and learning.
I agree with Angela's comment that connectivist learning theory is valuable, but it should be taken with other theories for a balanced learning approach. I found the section in the article about the need and role of critically assessing content as a part of successful learning in a connectivist approach most interesting. Who is producing the best content for learning networks to use? Are the networks themselves? How much depth do the most networks dive into any topic to produce critical literacy content? I think it is important to emphasize the quality of the production of content as well as the consumption of others' work.
I found the discussion about the four major types of activity that enhance learning to be interesting 1) aggregation 2) relation 3) creation 4) sharing. I sense this being modeled in EdTech 543.
This paper highlights current theories of learning and gives a critical analysis of connectivism ""within the context of its predecessors" in a attempt to establish whether this theory is indeed anything new to offer for teaching and learning in the digital era.
This article looks at the challenges that could be faced by using PLEs and Connectivisim in social networking. The article breaks down the challenges to Connectivist learning and then explains the research methodology behind their findings.
I especially liked the principal's reflection. There were sooo many examples of places to start. I think most people would be familiar with or able to set up at least a couple of these.
This article is part biography of George Siemens (one of the founders of the connectivist movement), part history of the connectivism movement and formation of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course). The article is relevant to our EdTech 543 discussion because it gives an in depth look into the beginning of the connectivism in the classroom, as well as why Siemens is a proponent of the movement.
DS106 is a class built around social media. Students learn how to create and distribute their contents using social media. The coursework is by definition open and public. Students find that when they engage with the world at large, their work becomes more meaningful to them.
This post talks about a project where graduate students at John Carroll University were asked to use social media while learning about gender in modern Africa. The students created a public awareness campaign around an activism project. They were then charged with using social media to get the word out about their campaign.
This page has many case studies that point to successful use of Facebook with college students. This is a page from a company so you can have some idea as to the motivation. To put this into perspective this is the only company that is financially supported by the Gates foundation. In my opinion they are motivated by more than profit but by helping schools and students make connections.
"Studies have concluded that social engagement can benefit retention efforts, and schools and teachers are successfully pursuing this tactic with the help of social media applications."
This is an article that points to studies indicating that just as social interaction can help with student retention, both in the field of study and at the school, so to can social media fill this need.
This post is from a student perspective about how using social media while studying abroad help keep them connected with students at the home institution.
The article does not touch on the possibility of these tools acting as an insulator, keeping the student from interacting with the culture they are visiting. The assumption has to be that while they are in country, they are actively seeking out these interactions. A little focus from the study abroad program could help achieve both objectives.
This article shows how to engage students and improve learning and comprehension of subject material, without the traditional lecture.
I will need a little latitude with this article and the assignment of social media in the classroom. This article does not focus on the use of social media but explains how systems can be used to prime students prior to coming to class and at the same time inform the instructor what areas students are having difficulties with at the time.
This is great because instructors and students do not have to go over information that has already been learned. Social media can be the vehicles used for this type of communication.
This article by Stephen Downes provides a great insight into what an effective PLN looks like and how it functions. I enjoyed reading about his second stage of PLNs, which is the "personal learning environment." This idea is presented as the evolution of PLNs due to technology and connectivism in the classroom.
Wow, there was a lot of good content in this article. One of my biggest take aways from the article is the great misapplication of online communities. The misapplication lies in the idea that a community follows an online course, like what we are doing right now in 543. The discussion community is created at the beginning of the course and members are active participants, during the course. Once the course ends, the community ends as well. This is not what the online community is intended to do. It is a long-term development of resources that needs to continue on.
This reminded me a lot of an article I shared for this assignment that also discussed the need for currently used LMS-based systems to move toward encompassing PLNs and Web 2.0 tools to up their social networking components. I think this is definitely an important consideration, especially for educators working in an online environment.
This article by Stephen Downes gives a definition of a community of practice and then discusses PLE's moving into networks and the characteristics of a learning network: diversity, autonomy connectedness and openness.
As I was relatively unfamiliar with learning networks before this course, I wanted to find resources that showed me what they looked like and examples of how they can be used. This article introduces the importance of using digital tools effectively and empower ourselves to gain the knowledge the web offers. The author states that "Learning therefore evolves from being a transfer of content and knowledge to the production of content and knowledge". Working in a network, PLE or communities of practice allow learners to be creative about information and knowledge, instead of just consuming information and knowledge. The article highlights the key benefits of a PLN: diversity, autonomy, connectedness, and openness.
This article is a good definition of what a community of practice (CoP) is and how they are used. It is not specific to online/social networks but offers good background on how communities are formed and what they are used for. With this general knowledge can be applied to many specific domains such as a personal learning network, a google circle or an anime club.