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As Morin says of information: "Information is not an end-of-the-line concept, but rather, a point-of-departure concept" (14). As he says later, we must learn to define from the center out, not from the outside in. Siemens says about the basic principles of Connectivism in his online book Knowing Knowledge (2006): Learning and knowledge require diversity of opinions to present the whole … and to permit selection of best approach. Learning is a network formation process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.  Knowledge rests in networks. Knowledge may reside in non-human appliances and learning is enabled/facilitated by technology. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known. Learning and knowing are constant, on going processes (not end states or products). Ability to see connections and recognize patterns and make sense between fields, ideas, and concepts is the core skill for individuals today. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. Decision-making is learning. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Many of you have noticed pingbacks on your blog. What is pingback ? The following information is from http://www.hixie.ch/specs/pingback/pingback-1.0 Pingback is a method for web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their documents. Typically, web publishing software will automatically inform the relevent parties on behalf of the user, allowing for the possibility of automatically creating links to referring documents. For example, Alice writes an interesting article on her Web log. Bob then reads this article and comments about it, linking back to Alice\'s original post. Using pingback, Bob\'s software can automatically notify Alice that her post has been linked to, and Alice\'s software can then include this information on her site.

Characteristics of Strong Critical Thinkers inquisitiveness with regard to a wide range of issues concern to become and remain well-informed alertness to opportunities to use critical thinking self-confidence in one's own abilities to reason open-mindedness regarding divergent world views flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions understanding of the opinions of other people fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning honesty in facing one's own biases, prejudices, stereotypes, or egocentric tendencies prudence in suspending, making or altering judgments willingness to reconsider and revise views where honest r

There are multiple layers to curation, each of which has benefits when applied to learning and performance: ·         Aggregation: Gathering and sharing relevant content. It releases the individual worker from needing to seek out the content. ·         Filtering: Instead of simply aggregating content, filtering shares only those resources that are most relevant and valuable. ·         Elevation: Recognizing a larger trend in the sea of seemingly less important content. ·         Mashups: Merging two or more unrelated pieces of content to form a new message. ·         Timelines: Organizing random pieces of content in chronological order to show the evolution of an idea. 

Free software that creates a folder on your hard drive and automatically syncs the documents in your Google Docs to it.

Choosing a Topic - take a little extra time defining your topic and the post will flow better and you'll develop something that matters to readers. Crafting Your Post's Title - perhaps the most crucial part of actually getting readers to start reading your post when they see it in an RSS reader or search engine results page. The Opening Line - first impressions matter. Once you've got someone past your post's title your opening line draws them deeper into your post. Your 'point/s' (making your posts matter) - a post needs to have a point. If it's just an intriguing title and opening you'll get people to read - but if the post doesn't 'matter' to them it'll never get traction. Call to Action - driving readers to do something cements a post in their mind and helps them to apply it and helps you to make a deeper connection with them. Adding Depth - before publishing your post - ask yourself how you could add depth to it and make it even more useful and memorable to readers? Quality Control and Polishing of Posts - small mistakes can be barriers to engagement for some readers. Spending time fixing errors and making a post 'look' good can take it to the next level. Timing of Publishing Your Post - timing can be everything - strategic timing of posts can ensure the right people see it at the right time. Post Promotion - having hit publish - don't just leave it to chance that your post will be read by people. Giving it a few strategic 'nudges' can increase the exposure it gets exponentially. Conversation - often the real action happens once your post is published and being interacted with by readers and other bloggers. Taking time to dialogue can be very fruitful.

Harold Jarche comments on collaboration are what iFacilitate is all about, "knowledge exists within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities. It is by doing our work that we co-create our roles in our networks. Roles emerge from the activities involved in working with others toward some common purpose. This is social. Social media are merely a conduit for collaboration."

MOOCs aren't for every learner. This article provides both sides of the story around some common components of most MOOCs. To provide the reader a participant's point of view of MOOCs, our collective interpretations (along with impressions shared with us by others) are encapsulated.

What you see happening now with the massive open courses is going to fundamentally change the business models. It's going to put the notion of value front and center. Why would I want a credential from this university? Why would I want to pay tuition to this university? It really ups the stakes.

As you are beginning to see conversation and community is disparate and distant, on the "locationless" web. How will we solve this problem? Here are a few ideas. 

Why should you blog? I can't tell you. I don't like telling people what to do, or why they should do something. Instead, I want to show you a couple of things that, through my own experiences and research, I've deducted happen to the majority of people once they start to blog.

Live Online Learning - a facilitators guide Virtual classrooms provide a fantastic opportunity for any organisation that wants to get more training done more cheaply, particularly when participants are widely dispersed. Many of the skills of the classroom trainer can be transferred without difficulty to an online setting, but the experience can still be strange and sometimes a little daunting for those starting off as virtual classroom facilitators. This ebook brings together best practice guidelines from around the world and from our own extensive experience. It will provide you with invaluable support as you look to transfer your skills online. To get your free copy of our Live Online Learning ebook just click the Pay with a Tweet button below and use Twitter or Facebook to help us spread the word.

Facilitation: Is largely around helping people connect, share, and learn together; disrupting the walls that keep them apart, understanding the purpose behind their interactions and assisting them achieve this in the longer term. Moderation: When issues arise, 'moderation' is the set of communications and processes thing that deals with them.

Faculty Voice in Online Education: Enhancing Relationships Between Faculty and Students for Learning Success In an online learning environment, what you say is not as important as how you say it. When your "online voice" positively affects the relationship between faculty and learners, student retention in online education is greatly enhanced. Join us on March 31st for a free webinar that will help you identify your online persona and ways to improve it. You'll learn how to apply an active listening model that strengthens relationships between all members of the online learning community and improves the learning experience, overall. Talking points include: Is your language positive or punitive? What color and font size should you use to communicate? How does your persona come through in teaching?

Benefits of Online Discussions

Five Factors to Great Discussions in Groups - Online or in Person