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I thought that this personal learning network resource was a great fit for our class. This article discusses how schools are using social media to engage students and real-world relevance, for professional development, and school, district, and teacher collaboration. They used Twitter to document and share a paper tower challenge with schools and teachers from all over the world. Twitter was used to connect with experts and students got to see that not all scientists agree on certain topics. They also connected with the community.

I like that this article looks at how Twitter can be used for students and for educators. The idea of Twitter for educators as professional development fits very well with the ideas of COP's and PLN's. While I haven't been a true part yet of a structured Twitter session for PD, I have lurked in many formal PD discussions with hashtags for our public school system and benefitted from what I gleaned.

What an awesome video. It makes me excited to go back in August and really challenge myself to use Twitter or Facebook to showcase my students. Our school district uses a hashtag #bsdpride for teachers to showcase things going on around the district and it's starting to take off. It's awesome that teachers are encouraging each other to use Twitter and begin challenges that involve students. You can tell from this video how important these students feel when their work or projects re used on social media, and are getting attention from other schools.

vozMe: From text to speech (speech synthesis). online tool that offers applications and services to convert text into speech. vozMe uses speech synthesis systems and technology to provide voice resources to any website or add speech synthesis to any web browser.

Google announced new hardware, Android software compatibility, and other improvements meant to make Chromebooks even more welcome in the classroom. The changes--plus updates to the company's suite of education products--could extend Google's influence over the American school system. Chromebooks are popular with schools because they're much cheaper than PCs or tablets.

This is an excellent overview of what communities of practice are, the characteristics that define them and some examples of what they "look" like. Gives great information to those new to the idea.

I really enjoyed the author's writing style which included metaphors and lots of examples and non-examples of COP. I noticed this blog post was 2006, and so I was curious what the author had been involved with since this post, especially since he points out the importance of sustained interaction. He now has a consulting business to help problem solve education solutions found at http://wenger-trayner.com/

Excellent resource to begin to understand CoP's. Etienne Wenger was cited in many of the articles I researched.

Examples of how our students are using PLN's and how we need to be thinking the same way that our students are if we want to be effective teachers.

This video did a nice job of showing the often antiquated school system most students function within. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of focusing on student strengths and resisting holding against them what they have not yet learned.

I like the way this video explored how students are taught in school versus how they learn information outside of school. The speaker in the video called this the "learning age" as opposed to the information age because we are learning all the time in everything we do. Yet, education still remains antiquated and traditional when our technology-filled, instant information society is anything but those traditional methods. We need to help students realize that learning is a way of life, not merely a classroom activity. The connectivism ideas permeate our society even beyond education.

This podcast features George Siemens discussing his Connectivism Theory and its relationship to Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism.

I like that it was Siemens talking about his theory in comparison to the other big 3 theories. It leaves no room for interpretation when it comes straight from the source itself.

Great resource, nice find!! I was struck by his insight that many education systems serve instruction instead of serving learning. Additionally, his description of the learning process as non linear resonates with me and furthered my understanding connectivism and CoPs. Thanks :)

In a different twist, this article discusses personal learning environments as a part of activity theory. This theory encompasses connectivism, but also adds in other elements such as rules and division of labor. The paper goes on to analyze the parts of a personal learning enviornment which include the person and the tool being used.

Summary: This article examines the distinguishing features of PLEs. The authors assert that PLEs are complex activity systems; therefore, they want to prove that key elements of PLEs can be described using Activity Theory. Section 2.3 provides a nice overview on Activity Theory, while section 4 reflects their findings. To read the article click the MSWord link. I appreciate the fact that they include diagrams and charts -- these make the article user-friendly.

This link is to a presentation on The Educator's PLN website. The video gives an overview on learning theory from ancient Greece to the present day, concluding with Siemens' theory of connectivism. This is very easy to understand and basic reasons are given for the advent of each theory with an explanation of each. When discussing connectivism, the speaker, Dallas McPheeters, talks about online self-organizing social systems (OSOSS), which are the communities that form via social networks. MCPheeters feels that technology allows history to repeat itself, providing the very best of every theory to any and every situation.

The Utah Education Network provides free web tools and services, such as lesson plans, videos, curriculum resources, student interactives and professional development for Utah educators, students and parents. UEN is the Internet Service Provider for public education, the Utah System of Higher Education and state libraries.

Summary: This article focuses on a CoP who have come together to create and Adaptable Personal Learning Environment for people with disabilities. Their goal is to create a virtual learning environment that a user can adapt to meet his or her own unique needs. By using an existing system (Portland VLE) and updating it they will be able to improve access. Their basic goal is to establish access for all (in their region). The other long term goal is to allow users to create their own PLE which will enable to them to create their own learning network. I am not sure if this article meets the criteria set out by our instructor but I liked the idea that people are working together to create a technological interface that will bring not only technology access to people with disabilities but will also allow them to create a personal learning environment and / or learning network!

Explore forensic science, environmental science, body systems, diseases, drugs, scientific method, and science careers through virtual clinical trials, CSI scenarios, etc.

Get the latest outer space and science news, NASA information, watch space flight videos at Space.com. View exclusive solar system Images, latest astronomy news and more.

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.

The iPad is the king of the mountain when it comes to school officials' current use of mobile technology, according to a new survey of district officials, who also offered their preferences for the kinds of apps they want to see in classrooms. More than 80 percent of district technology officials said districts use or plan to use iPads over the next year or two, according to the results released by Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc.

This article focused on the theory and gives good if not great detail on the reasonings for the theory of connectivism. It stresses the importance of the individual driving the learning, the digital ages importance, and the idea of interaction for learning.

By Dr. Etienne Wenger tthis is a stong definition oa community of practice with some thought given to implementation.

I especially liked how the CoP was referred to as a joint enterprise that is continually being renegotiated. Isn't that what learning is supposed to be all about? The table listing the relationships between CoP and businesses was interesting. The bootleg relationship does not surprise me at all. This one frustrates me greatly since it only applies to a select group of people who keep many things to themselves. Just think if they were to share some of their knowledge what an impact it could have on the organization. It was good to see the seven different styles of leadership defined, however I believe a good leader would exhibit a bit of each one of these characteristics. Being a leader is not a simple task but it is important to be well rounded.

I like the graphic organizers that are included with the information on communities of practice. The first is almost like a life cycle of a community of practice. Nothing that I read in my research acknowledged that a community of practice may have a timeline on it, so even though it may be implied, it was nice to actually see it in print. The second, the table, defined certain types of categories that CoPs may fit into. I was drawn to the third column, the challenges of each group, because it shows that working in a CoP and sharing beyond the community itself may not always be free of issues. Thanks for sharing this resource!

In an animated video, Steven Johnson examines how good ideas develop. He proposes they rarely happen in a moment, but develop over time. It is necessary for those good ideas to come in contact with other good ideas from outside sources. When we have systems that allow for these ideas to come together, we are creating an atmosphere where better ideas can flourish. He believes that an increase in using the internet will lead to an increase in connectivity and more good ideas than ever before.

I enjoyed this video very much! Somethings are so obvious but the realization doesn't hit until you hear it or read it. In this case, I enjoyed the narration of how a good idea is very seldomly an "Eureka" moment. The internet was a work in progress for 10 years. I had no idea! Something that struck me is that great, life-changing ideas are usually a collaborative effort. I can also appreciate the narrator's stand that it is possible that all of the digital distractions might actually hinder those ideas. But, with technology collaboration on those ideas has gotten a little easier.

A paper suggesting the need for technology to fully nurture and create an authentic learning process. It advocates for a an equal, four-part learning ecosystem that includes learning content, learning context, learning subjects, and learning technology. In addition to technology having its own dedicated category, the idea of connectivism can be found throughout the other three categories as well.

This journal article discusses how ideas taken from the connectivism learning model are being used in the educational reform process of Vietnam. This paper goes through how using the principles of connectivism can help reform the Vietnam educational system.

As students construct personal learning environments, teacher instruction and support is likely to be needed. PLE's must be constructed based on needs, and students may or may not be able to articulate what their learning needs are.

Today, students already have personal learning environments, but as teachers we have the ability to forge new pathways to learning by utilizing what kids already know and modeling collaboration and exploration.

Wow! What a cool article. I really enjoyed the picture of the Networked student. This article is like a how to for a teacher wanting to teach the 21st century student. It makes me wonder if our school system should provide a class on how to set up a method for each student to display their learning or their personal learning environment.