Group items tagged

“Does it end?”

So what did I learn or what was reinforced? A loose-knit online learning community can scale to many participants and remain effective. Only a small percentage ~10% of members will be active. Wikis need to be extremely focused on real tasks/projects in order to be adopted. If facilitators can seed good questions and provide feedback, then conversations can flourish. Use a very gentle hand in controlling the learners and some will become highly participative. Design for after the course, using tools like social bookmarks, so that artifacts can be used for reference or performance support. Create the role of “synthesizer”. I found it quite helpful when Tony and Michele summarized the previous week’s activities. Keep the structure loose enough so that it can grow or change according to the needs of the community

how information flows through a network

our position in a network, and the overlap with other networks, influences the type of information and people that we can acces

While networks have always been the backbone structure of society and knowledge,

the experience of being part of a network was not fully conscious or even explicit

What mattered was who you knew and your role in society

overlooks an important question

Even the act of connection forming requires explicit activity from a person : “Follow X” or “Accept friend request from X”

The online formation of networks is more directive than the offline experienc

the connection seems more real, more intentional

Klout analyzes influence

The prevalence of social network tools and the attention now devoted to analyzing the shape and attributes of those networks – and the evaluation of how information flows

Networks can be analyzed quantitatively to determine

I’m interested in the qualitative aspects of information flow

three elements

involved in addressing the question of

how did the person get to have many followers?

He has 12000 followers.

Let’s look at someone like Alec Couros on Twitter.

He has posted over 55000 tweets (wow!).

When someone posts a link or comment on Twitter, and it resonates with me

because he posts more often?

Because he is talented at engaging with individuals?

because he replies to more of his followers

Does he participate in more network sub-clusters

Maybe he’s just a nicer person

What are the qualitative attributes of a message that influence why it is shared

Two attributes

a tweet about something happening today is more valuable than

this is a complex/fuzzy concept

qualitatively, how does Alec differ from others in his activities on Twitter?

the prospect of retweeting is increased.

a) to express agreement b) to express outrage c) humour d) social grooming

e) self-promote f) raise awareness

what would you add?

If we have a coding scheme, we can randomly analyze the posting habits of people on Twitter

No doubt, the coding process would be better if it was automated

Not only are media firms interested in who is talking about GM or BP, but what are the emotions behind posts on Twitter/FB?

Educators are paying attention to social media.

It’s good to know that forestry graduates will have a grounding in critical thinking!

Use this free Internet tutorial to learn to discern the good, the bad and the ugly for your online research

the spirit of this Reductio Ad Absurdum dialectical approach to critical thinking,

OpenCourseWare on critical thinking, logic, and creativity

This is a very good site for developing an understanding of “logical fallacies” –

Another site focused on fallacies. This one features the complete text from Fallacy Tutorial Pro 3.0 organized as a menu of links

brief review of major critical thinking concepts and then a set of quizzes to test your understanding.

“BlueStorm is a mostly free introduction to critical thinking and elementary sentential logic

It seeks to determine how a teacher can scaffold a networked learning approach while providing a foundation on which students take more control of the learning process.

Emerging web applications offer unique opportunities to customise the learning environment for individual learners

In the past, learning environments were immediately associated with a physical location

however, the concept is increasingly expanded to include online learning, virtual schools, and blended opportunities that combine traditional with digital options

Traditional, lecture-based classrooms are designed as passive learning environments in which the teacher conveys knowledge and the student responds (Chen, 2009). Imagine the potential frustration that self-regulated learning holds for students who are quite comfortably accustomed to specific teacher directions with finite expectations.

learner motivation

Personal learning suggests learner autonomy and increased self regulation

self-directed.

they are also required to take an active role in the learning process by making decisions

Teachers, on the other hand, are challenged to provide an appropriate balance between structure and learner autonomy in order to facilitate self-directed, personalised learning

Such a scenario further presents challenges to traditional forms of assessment

The role of a teacher within a student-centered approach to instruction is that of a facilitator or coach

He or she supports the students in their search and supply of relevant material, coordinates the students' presentations of individual milestones of their projects, moderates discussions, consults in all kinds of problem-solving and seeking for solutions, lectures on topics that are selected in plenary discussions with the students and conforms to the curriculum"

The purpose of this test case is to introduce a model for the student construction of personal learning environments that balances teacher control with increased student autonomy

a level of structure is required to scaffold the learning process

Networked learning refers specifically to "learning in which information communication technology is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners, between learners and tutors, between a learning community and its learning resources"

Networked learning is manifested in personal learning environments (PLEs), or "systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning"

a model of the networked teacher that represents an educator's professional personal learning environment (PLE)

Figure 1: The Networked Teacher (Couros, 2008) It is a model through which teachers begin to build professional connections to support teaching practice

The Networked Student Model adapts Couros' vision for teacher professional development in a format that is applicable to the K-12 student. It includes four primary categories, each with many components evident in the networked teacher version (Figure 2).

he networked student follows a constructivist approach to learning. He or she constructs knowledge based on experiences and social interactions

Constructivism encourages "greater participation by students in their appropriation of scholarly knowledge"

Technology supports this appropriation as a collection of tools that promote knowledge construction,

Networked Student Model.

Students use RSS and social bookmarking to organise information and build upon prior knowledge with the goal of completing a task or meeting a learning objective. Social media, or web-based applications designed for the purpose of interacting with others online, promote conversations. Blogs are an example of a vehicle through which students can reflect on the learning process. The sub-parts coexist to support a constructive learning experience. The student's personal learning environment pulls them all together.

Siemens (2008) associates the concept of connectivism with networked learning

in the networked learning environment, blogging is a key component of the personal learning environment through which students respond to and collect the opinions of others. Students identify blogs that target a specific unit of study, and they have the option to respond with opinions of their own.

In a traditional classroom setting, the teacher has primary control over the content.

Networked learning gives students the ability and the control to connect with subject matter experts in virtually any field.

The skill to identify valid content and expertise,

The connection to humans is an essential part of the learning process. That connection expands to include access to resources and creative artifacts.

design of the teacher-facilitated, student-created personal learning environment

The teacher was a facilitator in the process helping the student scaffold network learning and manage the content as it became more complex.

Construction of a personal learning environment does not necessarily facilitate comprehension or deep understanding

The networked student model is one of inquiry, or the process of "exploring problems, asking questions, making discoveries, achieving new understanding and fulfilling personal curiosity"

In guided inquiry, the teacher provides the problem and directs the students to the materials for investigation

The teacher is necessary to help the students navigate the breadth of content, apply the tools properly, and offer support in the form of digital literacy skills and subject matter expertise. Yet the teacher may not be the only expert in the learning process.

The test case for this model took place at a K-12 independent school in the southeastern United States. Fifteen students participated during a nine-week term as part of a contemporary issues research project. The contemporary issues course was unique to the school in its delivery. It was the first time a blended format had been offered. Students attended class three days face to face and two days online. Course assignments and discussions were organised using Moodle,

For the networked student project, each student selected a contemporary issue or topic for which he or she had a strong interest

Passion for a topic was one means of motivation

assessment of each student's ability to synthesise the research

The networked student test

It addresses the problem of determining the level of structure needed to facilitate networked learning while providing a foundation for greater student control over a personal learning environment

to collect student perceptions of the learning experience relative to their autonomy and comfort with the networked learning format

two key considerations when introducing the Networked Student Model. The first was student familiarity with web applications used to build the personal learning environment.

Second, considerably more structure was required since this was the first time each student embarked on the Networked Student Model.

The teacher gauged the level of structure depending upon the student's motivation, comfort with technology, and interest in the topic.

Patterns for networked learning

The learning environment slowly shifted from the classroom to online.

Google is used repeatedly because signing up for one account gave students access to a number of useful learning tools.

The level of structure is adjusted based on the prior experience of individual students.

Student activitylevel of structure

Personal learning environment toolset

a new tool was introduced each day over two weeks.

personal web page aggregators

iGoogle, PageFlakes, NetVibes, and Symbaloo

Personal web page compiles learning tools

There were four components of the assessment process for this test case of the Networked Student Model: (1) Ongoing performance assessment in the form of weekly assignments to facilitate the construction and maintenance of the personal learning environment, (2) rubric-based assessment of the personal learning environment at the end of the project, (3) written essay, and (4) multimedia synthesis of topic content.

Identify ten reliable resources and post to social bookmarking account. At least three new resources should be added each week. Subscribe and respond to at least 3 new blogs each week. Follow these blogs and news alerts using the reader. Subscribe to and listen to at least two podcasts (if available). Respectfully contact and request a video conference from a subject matter expert recognised in the field. Maintain daily notes and highlight resources as needed in digital notebook. Post at least a one-paragraph reflection in personal blog each day.

At the end of the project, the personal learning environment was assessed with a rubric that encompassed each of the items listed above.

The student's ability to synthesise the research was further evaluated with a reflective essay.

The personal blog provided an opportunity for regular reflection during the course of the project.

Students were instructed to articulate what was learned about the selected topic and why others should care or be concerned.

As part of a final exam, the students were required to access the final projects of their classmates and reflect on what they learned from this exposure

to give the students an additional opportunity to share and learn from each other.

Creativity is considered a key 21st century skil

A number of emerging web applications support the academic creative process

Students in this project used web tools to combine text, video, audio, and photographs to teach the research topics to others. The final multimedia project was posted or embedded on the student's personal wiki page.

The student-selected topics of study included

Video conferences were conducted with

All students participated in the video conferences and identified subject matter expertise as a key element of a personal learning environment.

Four key areas were targeted to assess the success of the project and determine whether an effective balance between teacher control and student autonomy was achieved:

Creation of the personal learning environment as a replacement for a traditional textbook

Student use of technology to complete projects was identified as important because the students had little prior exposure to technology as a learning tool.

Time management and workload were tangible measures of comparison from the student's perspective and indicated his or her ability to self regulate the learning process.

Student perception of whether he or she felt equipped to study other topics in this format with less teacher intervention provided some indication as to whether greater student autonomy was achieved

In addition, this also will encourage open communication between companies, employers, HR departments, owners, and managers.” 

Without appropriate technology tools and resources available in their work environment, they may look for help from non-work related services such as Facebook.com. Integrating social media into the development environment eliminates this potential challenge and at the same time increases the potential for success of the development effort and of the new managers. 

Can social networking provide a practical way to help prepare new managers for their duties? Considering the rapid growth of social networking adoption among younger workers, this is a question well worth asking

Creating a curriculum for training new managers and supervisors is a common task that falls to instructional designers

The typical approach for many decades has consisted of a combination of classroom events, each lasting from one to five days (or more). This default design has many problems, including travel expense and time away from the job for the managers. Not infrequently, there are severe mismatches between what is taught and the actual practices supported by the organization’s culture.

There is an increasing number of companies and online service providers who are convinced that social networking can help overcome at least some of the issues common to the classroom-only approach

By combining formal classroom instruction and online reference and performance support with online coaching, mentoring, and informal learning through social networking, a new manager can gain a solid theory foundation, just-in-time help, and culturally correct application pointers.

Informal learning, as an object of attention by researchers, is not a new topic. However, it only appeared on the radar screens of instructional designers less than ten years ago. The emergence of online social media has led to the notion of somehow tapping into the potential of this channel, that carries so much of the real learning that goes on in organizations.

In our current age, we have plenty of channels in which informal learning can take place: everything from microblogs (Twitter), to communities (LinkedIn Groups, discussion forums), to user-created content (wikis, Weblogs, YouTube), to social bookmarking (Delicious), and surely more to come.

But we also have plenty of examples of attempts at use of these channels in which the attempts failed. The virtual landscape is littered with the remains of abandoned wikis, content-less and comment-less Weblogs, and LinkedIn Groups where the spam has driven out the discussion and all but eliminated any possibility of learning.

Existing informal learning groups online include a surprising variety of formats

Jay Cross’ Internet Time Community,

Participants in the Twitter #lrnchat sessions also comprise an ongoing informal learning group

if informal learning is going to take place online, it must be self-sustaining

Focus

Focus

Payoff

here are the factors that seem to drive participation and commitment by members.

What makes informal learning online work?

Focus

Dialogue

Leadership

Membership

Process

If a group lacks focus, or focus is too narrow, if the group’s process is too complicated, if there are not enough members, and if there are no rewards for participation, the group will fail. Informal groups are a lot of work to establish and maintain, and the work falls equally on all members.

Setting up a social network for manager training

The first task is to establish a design for the social interaction. This must come before technology selection, so that the limitations of the technology do not drive or constrain the interaction.