EDTECH at Boise State University

This site goes over, in detail, what a community of practice is. I had a little trouble understanding what the concept was referring to from the class material, but after reading this site, I was no longer confused. It defines a Community of Practice and breaks it down on a basic level. It provides the three requirements and explains what a CoP basically does. It is very informative.

Article describing communities of practice. Where they come from, and where they are being applied.

Wenger 2006, I chose this article because I recognized his name from my 503 reading. He does explain CoPs well. Wenger states there are three charateriestics crucial to being a CoP. They are: domain or the common interest; community or the interaction, and practice or the fact that the members are practitioners. He coined the phrase community of practice in reference to the living curriculum of apprentices.

Etienne Wegner is a leader in the field of CoP. He along with Jean Lave coined the term. This is his website and it provides a direct introduction to the concept and the application of communities of practice.

This is the website of Etienne Wenger, one of the leading researcher's of communities of practice. This website contains an overview of his theory and links to his papers. Wenger studied the learning process in apprenticeship situations and found that most learning and sharing of knowledge actually takes place between the community of advanced apprentices and journeymen.

Wenger defines what makes a CoP different from a group of friends who like some of the same things, people who share the same occupation, or 30-somethings who all like romantic comedies. CoPs must consist of a group of people who pursue a certain focus and help the members obtain more skills/knowledge in the process. He explains where the term came from and various ways in which it is applied today.

I'm sure many people have listed this one but it does seem like the place to start; at the source. I do like that the wenger does speak in plain language, especially in the call out boxes.

I agree with Richard, especially since the term gets used loosely and tends to mean many different things. One of the articles I found deals with contrasting four different definitions of Communities of Practice.

In this Web site Etienne Wenger introduces the concept of "communities of practice" and defines them as "groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" and describes why they are useful for learning in many different contexts. A community of practice has 3 characteristics- 1) an identity defined by a shared domain of interest 2) a community of members that engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information and 3) members who are practitioners. These communities develop their practice through activities such as sharing information, problem solving, and mapping knowledge. Communities of practice are ubiquitous and can be small or large, local or global, meet face-to-face or online, informal or formal.

Wegner describes three characteristics necessary for a community to be a "community of practice." These are the domain of interest, a community of members that engage in activities and discussions that allow them to learn from one another, and the actual practice or application of that learning. Wegner also describes what CoPs look like, the theory behind CoPs, and the environments in which they are used.

This site by Etienne Wenger gives an overview of what a community of practice is. You will find definitions and descriptions, as well as applications. There are also resources listed concerning application and learning theory.

This is Stephen Downes blog post explaining connectivisim. He asserts that knowledge is actually those connections created by actions and experience; the connections are not intentional. He discusses connectivism as the activities of connection rather than transferring, making, or building knowledge.

How a PLN can be beneficial and what resources you could include in your own Personal Learning Network.

How a PLN can be beneficial and what resources you could include in your own Personal Learning Network.

This short, engaging video provides two excellent reasons for educators in particular to create a PLN: accessibility and responsibility. The author mentions that educators need to be more responsible for their own professional development. This video switches from the "why" to the "how", but the "why" portion is an excellent resource on its own.

This video begins by describing the reasons why you should create and maintain a PLN. It goes on to describe that a PLN is a 'two-way' street where you not only absorb information but also share with others your expertise. The author goes on to describe his PLN which includes ways to find answers to questions he doesn't know, how to collect information from other experts and also how to share your own expertise.

Pinterest Personal Learning Network portal with a wealth of PLN information available from theory to practice and everything in between.

I realize this is a bit outside the scope of being a "theory" based link, but I had to post it none the less. This is a creative use of Pinterest, a social networking site, to share PLN resources.

I just loved this - someone has created board on pinterest for personal learning networks. Social media at its best. :)

Great visual representation of PLN's. Reminds me of symbaloo which I use for bookmarking.

I found this one too and posted it! I love the idea of using a personal learning network to explain a personal learning network. :)

okay, who doesn't love Pinterest? Well here is a TON of information on PLNs on Pinterest. Many resources here.

I am a huge fan of Pinterest so I thought I would check there first for more information on PLN's. I really had no prior knowledge of what PLN's were so I thought this was a great starting point. There are several websites about PLN's.

The paper outlines 4 key principles for connected learning - autonomy, connectedness, diversity, and openness. The authors' point of view is that all four principles can be "expanded to recognize individual and psychological diversity within connective environments." They conclude by saying that it is in the "context and recognition of the engagement" that makes connectivism a "viable framework for learning, offering great potential..."

In 2011, George Siemens and Stephen Downes launched a massive open online course called "Connectivism and Connected Knowledge" (CCK11.) The article defines Connectivism as "network-based pedagogy" and discusses why these authors value "the process" over "the product." Specifically, why the process of taking the course would be in itself much more important than what learners may have learned. Additionally, they offer 4 major components: aggregation, remixing, repurposing, and feeding forward. In the nutshell, the article argues that, as far as connectivism in concerned, knowledge is not something that can be "neatly packaged and passed along as a finished product"; rather, it is "complicated, distributed, mixed with other concepts, looks differently to different people.."

Interesting to see the authors explaining connectivism in light of personality theory and self-determination theory rather than trying to argue it as a learning theory akin to behaviorism, cognitivism, or constructivism. I appreciated their inclusion of Downes' four key components of connectivism: autonomy, connectedness, diversity, and openness. As I read their discussion of autonomy, my mind was drawn to Daniel Pink's explanation of intrinsic motivation, which is comprised of three key aspects: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. [See Pink, D. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.] This piece was a helpful read with a very different perspective than I had previously encountered for connectivism.

This was one of the most helpful articles to read because it not only showed connectivism as theory but also its limitations. It explores connectivism as theory and as a phenomenon because detractors feel like it does not fit the qualifications for a theory. However Mr. Bell does show how if not a theory connectivism certainly does have merit. He also compares other theories to connectivism to show that merit in today's digital learning.

This article looks at Connectivism and explores if is a learning theory. The article also addresses how technology has created the need for researchers to move beyond more traditional learning theories and develop theories that relate to the use of technology in learning.