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This study evaluated the CoPs in State Farm Insurance to study various variables and their impact on the effectivenss of CoPs. SOme of the varialbes include level of trust among members, connectedness, member committment, community leadership strength, perceived impact on job performance, and perceived community effetiveness.

This article from Minnesota State University talks about the half life of information and how today information is growing and doubling at such a fast rate that no one can be as knowledgeable in there field as they were 50 years ago. By using connectivity it allows people to better keep up in there knowledge field.

This is a really interesting article. I never thought about it, but it is a compelling notion that one person cannot be an expert at anything any longer, simply because everyone can be an expert with a device in their hands.

This article gives you the standard overview of connectivism; however, the point about knowledge growing as more nodes are established is a great point. I would agree with Chris Denny. Can anyone (sometimes even the teacher) be the expert any longer without prescribing to connectivist theory?

This post explains very clearly what the purpose of connectivism is and why it is critical to student learning. It explains 6 things educators should do with their students and how to encourage them to explore and connect with ideas. At the end it provides a few examples of tools readily available to use in connecting people and technology.

This article states the knowledge exists "through the variety of connections established amongst students, instructors, and technologies." It gives 6 skills that connectivist educators need and examples of networks and tools.

Great article! I have been very intrigued about connectivism since I heard about it in my learning theories class. This article gives good reasoning behind connectivism as well as a few ideas for how to incorporate it.

This is a more technical site that better describes CoPs.  It talks about what a CoP is and what the requirements are.  I particularly like that the it states that the learning is not necessarily the primary reason for the existence of a CoP.  It also gives some sources for further study.

This article is an outline of Communities of Practice with description of relevant terminology outlined and defined. Identifies the three components of CoPs - domain, community and practice. This article says that the central component of this learning theory is to draw participants deeper into the community through the attractiveness of developing skills relative to the domain.

This one I didn't summarize, only because I really had a hard time grasping the three elements of the CoP, and I thought this site encapsulated it nicely. Incidentally, my creative assignment for this week was inspired by the reference to Star Trek fans in this post. Here are the three elements make up CoP, and again, this information below is taken straight from the source (long quotes), because the definition is so good: 1. There needs to be a domain. A CoP has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest (e.g. radiologists, Star Trek fans, middle school history teachers, Seahawks football fans, etc.); it's not just a network of people or club of friends. Membership implies a commitment to the domain. 2. There needs to be a community. A necessary component is that members of a specific domain interact and engage in shared activities, help each other, and share information with each other. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. In this way, merely sharing the same job does not necessitate a CoP. A static website on hunting in itself is not a community of practice. There needs to be people who interact and learn together in order for a CoP to be formed. Note that members do not necessarily work together daily, however. Wenger points to the example of Impressionist painters who sometimes met in cafes to discuss their painting styles. He indicates that even though these men normally painted alone, these kinds of interactions were essential to making them a CoP. 3. There needs to be a practice: A CoP is not just people who have an interest in something (e.g. sports or agriculture practices). The third requirement for a CoP is that the members are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources which can include stories, helpful tools, experiences, stories, ways of handling typical problems, etc. This kind of interaction needs to be developed over time. A conversation with a random stranger who happens to be an exp

Edutopia writer Vicki Davis discusses how PLNs have empowered her students to guide their own learning experiences. She discusses the weaknesses of PLNs and how they work.

While this blog posting from Edutopia does point to some "how tos" and practical application, it does offer key theoretical practices for setting the stage for applying the PLN model for student use. Vicki Davis, the teacher and author of the blog post, states that her students are familiar with breaking news due the development of their own PLN that acts as a "virtual locker." She goes on to discuss how their research builds the content of their PLN and the content changes based upon the assignment. The big idea is that the PLN model allows students to act as the orchestrator of their own learning and allows them to analyze information via an avenue that is personalized to student's learning needs. It also teaches students to embrace connectivism where they make connections between domains in order to form a more complete understanding.

The article goes into the role of a PLN for students. Students can create their own networks to possess information at their fingertips on any topic they could ever desire. By establishing a networking system, the students don't necessarily have to go out and scour the internet for sources when their network could bring relevant information to them.

This is more than a brief introduction, as the title states. Wenger explains the origins, definition, and applications of communities of practice.

Country Comparison Compares the social and economic status of countries, as well as country size. The United States is the default country, but you can compare other countries as well.

Education affects society as a whole; when society fails, education is often to blame; education is a social-sorting tool that affects societies and culture; social networks allow education to take place anywhere

Denscombe argues that a research paradigm based on communities of practice might be the flexible multi-layered approach needed for mixed methods research. The basis of communities of practice states that learning is a collective activity and knowledge is shared. Mixed methods researchers share practices in a more formal paradigm than that of communities of practice; however, those communities of practice could still create the new paradigm that mixed methods needs. More research is needed to determine this for sure.

This article draws a link between personal learning networks and connectivism. The author states that "PWTs allow learners to expand their capacity for knowledge by connecting to external resources", which is one of the principles of connectivism. A variety of personal learning networks are also described.

This tool helps me find some other social learning tools and helps define what a PLN is. It's a concept that I've always worked with and used, but never had a definite term for.

I like the idea of how a PLN's component parts can include (what the authors call) personal web technologies (PWTs). The authors feel that PWTs are especially unique because they create "a continuous, dynamic learning environment for individuals as they move from one role to the next." It is this special property of PWTs that gives individuals the power to "manage their own learning resources." The authors also briefly draw an interesting connection between PWTs and connectivism, but it isn't explored in depth. They do offer an in depth discussion of PWTs shortcomings and potential disadvantages. I especially like their warning that "learners who use PWTs must learn to question sources, verify information, compare and contrast various perspectives and become more independent."

I found the Nielson report cited in several of the articles I reviewed and decided to check it out. The Nielson report typically cites was published in 2009 and so instead I retrieved a more recent (2011) report on the state of social media. This is a fascinating graphic display of the synthesis and major findings of research on the use of social media both in the United States and globally. This is important as we consider the needs and possibilities of using the connected learning theories reviewed in our reading. The data gathered reflects a continued rise in access of social networks and blogs across a wide variety of demographics. Information such as 4 out of 5 active Internet users now visit SN and blogs cannot be ignored as we consider the impact this has on instructional design and education technology applications.

Another successful Skype application in the classroom! These students are learning about different states and playing games like Family Feud!

A teacher discusses the use of Edmodo in his classroom. He shares the guidelines, discussion groups that students participated in, and results. He outlines how students improved technically and socially, stating overall that students are excited about participating in the community.

This article was accessed via login at Boise State Library. The research article is a survey of a small sample of graduate students who indicate that many students are used to using facebook in informal ways, but perceive the potential for acceptable grading and learning outcomes through a facebook format.

This article was accessed bia Boise State Library login. This article reveiws a survey of students in a case study where facebook was used as an LMS. The findings are that it can be used to supplement, or substitute an LMS; and that it is most appropriate for younger students. Privacy was an important concern.

Boise State University's EdTech program uses Moodle as a social networking site in all of its classes. It allows students to share work and to comment on each others' work.

This is San Diego State University's facebook page, which effectively uses, through a bill board style, links to all major parts of campus. This is similar to the links you would find on a webpage for the school with the added benefit of seeing current student activity in bulletin boards, and finding services with relative ease.

This article states the importance of connectivism in the facilitation of self-directed and self-regulated components of education. Details of a study on introducing learners to this type of learning report the necessity of student support and scaffolding when planning to implement self-directed learning into a course.