Situated Learning by Jean Lave My rating: 4 of 5 stars A book I've been meaning to read ever since I was introduced to communities of practice in 2005.  It only took a dissertation as an excuse to pull it off the bookshelf.  Not a bad introduction if you're looking for a historical view of CoPs. I am sure there are other books on my bookshelf where

 Dunkin' Defense!Update: passed 🎉🎉🎉

Mind Meld: Micro Collaboration Between E Learning Designers And Instructor Experts by Jon D. Aleckson My rating: 2 of 5 stars A bit conflicted about this book. On the one hand there are some elements of sage advice in here, but the book has a few failings for my liking: 1. There is barely any cited evidence here (the references list is just 2 pages), and most 'evidence' seems to

Thinking Collaboratively: Learning in a Community of Inquiry by D. Randy Garrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book to read, especially the section on Leadership as it connects to the community of inquiry framework. When the CoI was recommended to me (for my dissertation), I didn't really think a ton about it because the only context that I had encountered it in was classroom

E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice by D Randy Garrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars A nice, short, overview of the community of inquiry framework for those who are new to it. The book basically breaks down to 1/2 being about the CoI (discussing each part in details, and encompassing recent research), and 1/2 being application. It

Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks by Starr Roxanne Hiltz My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not very many people talk about ALNs (asynchronous learning networks) these days. Even the journal for ALNs has been renamed to "Online Learning". Still, this was an interesting historical dive which provided some interesting background on early online learning

Well, the fourth expansion of Star Trek Online, which brings us a sliver of the Gamma quadrant, gamma recruits, and the Jem'Hadar playable faction is here today! I had an opportunity to play a bit today as a new Jem'Hadar "first" (aka captain) under the name of Arak'Ouzo (yes having some fun with the name).  The first couple of missions were quite fun to play, and flying a "bug-ship" is quite

Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community by Rena M. Palloff My rating: 3 of 5 stars Interesting book. It's more geared toward practitioners than researchers. I'd recommend this as a a design "cookbook" companion. The thing that has really struck me with this book is that the authors use the term 'collaboration' to refer to anything that involves multiple people working

Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education by Nancy Falchikov My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not a bad book. "Tutoring" in this book means anything between an the work that an "more knowledgeable other" (Vygotsky) does, to teaching assistants. There is quite a broad range to work with, and an interesting book to consult when thinking both about course design and program-level

Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Learning by David W. Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book looking at individual, competitive, and collaborative learning. The framing of the book is more K-12, but I can see applications to higher education. Definitely worth at least a quick look through both by instructors and instructional