Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

This is a great post that makes the connection between social learning theories and cooperative learning. The author asserts that using connectivism teachers can motivate their students. I particularly liked how the focus was primarily on mathematics classrooms.

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.

Two more of those "C" words- helping to discern between them. The argument here is that connectivism is new, thus the misspelled word suggestion every time I type it in, whereas Constructivism is the "old" term and connectivism brings in more social media use to let people be more connected. I'll have to book mark the other blog they mention so look for that to be posted soon.

Mark, I agree with your point, although my thought is that Siemens and others associated with the theory would not discount the importance of offline interaction (traditional social constructivism) but rather highlight the new opportunities to learn that until now where being ignored in formal educational settings.

This blog talks about online education specifically science in an online environment. The blog post attached here talks about connectivism vs. constructivism. The post runs through how both of these learning theories discuss how students learn. The blog then goes into his takes on constructivism and connectivism.

The author of this video, George Siemens, explains how networks enable us to stay current in our field and in society as well. He goes on to explain how the more connections that are made within the network, the stronger the network becomes.

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.

The author discusses what happened when he created a PLN during the summer. He focuses on the qualitative data he collected from participants. He describes the two many barriers most participants shared which were a limited amount of time to develop and learn from their PLN's and also the information overload associated with connecting your PLN to social media. He also describes how the participants used the different tools.

As someone that tries to read everything in my own PLN, I appreciate the authors recommendations on ways to not become overwhelmed. Starting out by only using one or two tools and setting aside a few minutes every couple days is great advice.

This blogger explains in his opinion the difference between a PLN and CoP. He admits that they are both so similar, but explains a couple of way they differ. PLN's can be more random, where of CoPs are not. In other words in PLN's people can connect via the web at random or different times to learn something where in CoP's meetings are more deliberate and subject focused. Also, another difference is that PLN are extremely flexible and loose where CoP's have a shared domain.

As is the case with many academic theroists, I admit that I find Siemens (the co-ideological leader of the connectivist movement) much more engaging to listen to than to try read. I didn't think I would stay with this for the full hour, but I did. I love the citation of the TS Eliot quote "Hell is a place where nothing connects" and its discussion here relative to the cognitive overload that many modern day learners are experiencing (i.e., too many resources, too difficult to assess what is worthy and what is crap). Highly recommended.

You will need to use your BSU information to access this pdf article by Christine Muller. This is a pretty dry article that attempts to make the connection between the need for community and mathematics. The author states, "Despite a common belief that mathematical practitioners prefer isolation and self-study, we observe that they are highly collaborative and active in their community. Mathematical collaborations are essential for any stage of mathematical practice". The author states the need to further analyze the need(s) for web-based community tools, such as discussion spaces that facilitate international online collaboration on the Web. This article is a starting point of a great discussion but needs much more elaboration.

You will need to use your BSU information to access this scholarly article. This article explores the foundation to the concept of Connectivism. Connectivism is basically how the various connections are created, formed and strengthened in education and in all types of learning.

A video about all the reasons people seek out others that share their beliefs. The bottom line of the video - to create, to grow, to learn - to create a better me.

I really like this article. Gives so many examples of free collaboration/sharing tools in the classroom. I appreciated the use of not only social media sites, but so many interactive sites that include collaboration tools - Even game-based learning ideas. Thanks for sharing! Matt

I have to try more of these tools out. It's great that this resource is found and can help our learners stay connected and that we have these kinds of resources to allow them to digitally create and collaborate on projects, and ideas.

What a fabulous find! I will definitely be taking a closer look at some of these! Nice job finding this incredible resource.

Teachers who use instructional video report that their students retain more information, understand concepts more rapidly and are more enthusiastic about what they are learning. With video as one component in a thoughtful lesson plan, students often make new connections between curriculum topics, and discover links between these topics and the world outside the classroom.

Easy to use presentation software created by Google, as part of the basic suite. Google Slides facilitates presentations and allows for collaboration between users. Ceate a new presentation and edit with others at the same time. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Slides to edit PowerPoint files. Free from Google.

Video showing how to use Zapier, a workflow app to connect Survey Monkey to Google Docs.

Connect your students with people and ideas from around the world. This is the tool that not enough educators are using!

Hangouts bring conversations to life with photos, emoji, and even group video calls for free. Connect with friends across computers, Android, and Apple devices.

Empower your classroom with the best games, apps, and maker kits, including engaging lesson plans aligned to core standards. Explore, connect, & create. Join today!

The volume of social networks and resulting conversations is growing exponentially everyday. People are discovering new social networks, making more connections, downloading more social apps and buying smarter devices, all contributing to an explosion of social data. Organizations are seeking to use this data to increase sales, advance their bottom line and meet corporate goals.

LRNG is an organization who works with cities and organizations to connect students' learning with career opportunities, and to prepare them for life and work in the modern economy, by providing guidance and access to local and national opportunities, peers, and mentors.