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Terry Elliott

Howard Rheingold Connected Courses - How is #ccourses going? Where should it go? Let's ... - 6 views

connectedcourses.tumblr.com/...-going-where-should-it-go-lets

ccourses literacies howard rheingold connected unconference

shared by Terry Elliott on 22 Sep 14 - No Cached
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 22 Sep 14
       
      I see it as a a rich space where I am responsible for my own learning and knowing.  But I am also responsible for those who are with me.  I worry that I don't get more of a sense of who has skin in the game and who doesn't.  I am trying to use these tools in my own connected courses, I am trying to connect with students here and in those classes.  How do I make connecting as routine as a syllabus AND how do I make it as valued as a syllabus.  I want to know more about how I can navigate the existing sharky waters of hied. How have others used aikido moves to enable connected values and principles in what amount to mostly unconvivial sharing tools.  
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 23 Sep 14
       
      My only wonder/concern is that other than you, Howard (and Alan, to some degree, earlier), facilitators seem to be absent from the online conversations, other than the scheduled video hangouts.  It can feel a bit ... like the classrooms that Connected Courses is trying to remix, where the knowledgeable person in the front of the room (or in the hangout on my screen), talks and shares expertise, but then is not all that active in the ancillary conversations going on outside of the classroom (hangout).  Tell me I am missing those conversations, and I will be happy/content in that knowledge.  When I bounce around the blogs, I am most often likely to see you (Howard), Terry, Mariana, and a few others in the comment sections. Maybe more plans for projects like #WhyIteach are in the mix (hope so) and ways to get folks to make content (a shared ethos of open learning? A collaborative letter to a Dean about the need for more connective learning? etc) connect deeper will emerge (doubly-hope-so).
    • Maha Bali
      Maha Bali on 24 Sep 14
       
      You just reminded me: I see nothing in the course design that helps people who are TEACHING students and involving them in #ccourses to help those students interact with each other. I am mostly seeing other educators here...
    • Maha Bali
      Maha Bali on 24 Sep 14
       
      Agreeing with Kevin here. There are a couple of other facilitators active in some spaces. Helen on twitter and blogs (did not realize she was a facilitator at first, though); Mia Zamora (she's a facilitator, right?) and Jonathan on Google+ and Mimi is starting to respond on Twitter now. But in general, I would have expected the facilitators to be active throughout and across. The only ones who are really doing that are Howard and Alan. As in, they were there from the very beginning (pre-pre-course) and everywhere in all spaces, "listening" & responding. Not every facilitator can read/listen to everything (though Alan/Howard almost seem like they do! don't know how!) but given the sheer number of facilitators their responsive presence has potential to be so much stronger.
    • swatson217
      swatson217 on 25 Sep 14
       
      I am agreeing with Kevin and Maha.
  • a better sense of how the course is being perceived and how participants would like to see it go in the future
    • Howard Rheingold
      Howard Rheingold on 24 Sep 14
       
      I hear you and we're working on it. Give it a few days and you'll see some action.
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 25 Sep 14
       
      You guys are the greatest.  Really proud to be working with you.
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 26 Sep 14
       
      I realize, too, my comment goes against the grain of Connected Learning. While I appreciate all the facilitators, I shouldn't sit around and wait for them. As Howard notes, "What it is, is up to us."
    • Maha Bali
      Maha Bali on 27 Sep 14
       
      I don't think its going against the grain, exactly, Kevin. It's a kind of speaking out. And it's also the case that some learners need more direction, or more support or explicit permission in knowing they can take their own direction... If that makes sense?
Tania Sheko

Why Read This, Why Read That?Reflecting Allowed | Reflecting Allowed - 1 views

blog.mahabali.me/...why-read-this-why-read-that

mimi ito maha bali connecting #ccourses blog post learning reflection

shared by Tania Sheko on 27 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • that she found reading books (quickly, i assume?) easier than wading through tweets and blogs; whereas I clearly did the tweets/blogs things quite comfortably but found reading books “too much”
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 27 Sep 14
       
      I feel the same as Maha, easier to read and respond to blog posts than read a book on my own - with nobody to talk to and no way of sharing my thoughts. Claustrophobic.
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 27 Sep 14
       
      I can both ways, depending on the situation. Here, with Connected Courses, I find I am (like Maha) completely ignoring all the recommended reading and diving right into the social stream.
    • Maha Bali
      Maha Bali on 27 Sep 14
       
      Kevin I keep remembering that you were initially planning to lurk coz ur not in highered. I think (assuming here) that given your personal goals and interests it makes absolute sense to go that route. I made me realize, reading this, that in some other MOOC, my behavior may be slightly different, where my goal is to get some theory rather than interact w ppl (umm i've yet to participate in such a MOOC, but i do sometimes sign up for an xMooc and just download resources and never follow the 'MOOC itself
  • Anyway, it made me reflect on why I, someone who LOVES reading by all accounts, have a strong preference for reading blogs/tweets over books/academic articles in MOOCs. There are many reasons,
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 27 Sep 14
       
      This is something I've been thinking about for ages but feeling like I've failed in that I've lost the enthusiasm for reading books, or maybe don't have the focus stamina any more. Thanks for writing this out, Maha, I might do my own blog reflection.
  • reflecting on connecting
  • ...30 more annotations...
  • “my way
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 27 Sep 14
       
      I think finding our own way is a key element here.
  • Mimi’s point that a connected learning experience “welcomes people with different dispositions and orientations to learning”,
  • In terms of learning: Is the MOOC about experiencing connecting? Or about reading about it?
  • the MOOC is about reflecting on connecting,
  • My first PhD supervisor was big on encouraging me to read diverse articles not single-authored books
  • My second supervisor (who replaced the first) was big on me reading original works by e.g. Marx, Foucault, etc.
  • I also find reading translated works really difficult and find it a better investment of my time to first read more contemporary (or at least, more education-focused) interpretations of the “greats” works, before reading the original. It helps me read it better
  • I do not value the book-authors more than I value the blog-authors
  • can interact with them more regularly
  • more accessible, easier to read quickly
  • 2. Attention issues
  • Philosophical approach to reading
  • This is particularly funny because I keep not finding time to read the”attention literacies” part in Howard Rheingold’s Net Smart, as I get ‘distracted’ into reading different parts of it (i’ve probably read half the book already, just not in order).
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 27 Sep 14
       
      I can relate to this behaviour.
  • And that’s why I voice these things in MOOCs, because I am pretty sure that courses about connection want ppl to feel they can participate.
  • Taking steps: Conceding Having said all this… I went into unit 2 of #ccourses today and did the following
  • So basically, I hope to engage with these readings “my way” (so not deeply with each entire book, unless it draws me in, but with parts of it)
  • hope that blogposts by other people & the hangout will fill me in second-hand (you see what I am doing here, don’t you?)
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 27 Sep 14
       
      Very clever. I think this method wards away the guilts and also sustains engagement in the course. The alternative would be to give up and feel defeated if you couldn't do everything.
  • P.S. some ppl may say that w blog posts u have no guarantee of quality vs a book recommended by the facilitators. However, there are many ways to gauge a blog’s quality, incl knowing the person, seeing it retweeted often or with many comments – and it takes v little time to skim it to decide to read deeply;
  • lovely quotes from Mimi’s post
  • Connected Courses is a veritable cornucopia of ways of participating with no central platform.
  • colliding through a loosely orchestrated cross-network remix, immersive theater where participants are all experiencing a different narrative.
  • hybrid network, more like a constellation that looks different based on where one stands and who one is.
  • a site of productive tension that is characteristic of connected learning.
  • Connected learning is predicated on bringing together three spheres of learning that are most commonly disconnected in our lives:
  • peer sociability
  • personal interests/affinity
  • opportunities for recognition.
  • reciprocity and fun in the social stream
  • our personal interests and expertise
  • institutional status/reputation
Kevin Hodgson

The "learner's why" vs the "teacher's why"Reflecting Allowed | Reflecting Allowed - 2 views

blog.mahabali.me/...arners-why-vs-the-teachers-why

shared by Kevin Hodgson on 21 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • focusing a whole lot on the teacher’s “why” during #ccourses, and by doing that, we might be losing focus of the learner’s “why”
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      One of the most glaringly wrong assumptions a teacher can make is to think that just because he or she taught it that the students learned it--even with good assessments and feedback.
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 22 Sep 14
       
      Good point: keeping the shift on focus to the learner. In my realm, this is made more difficult by the overburdened Teacher Evaluation process that is directed at the teacher, teaching, not the student, learning. In my opinion ....
  • At least, it should.
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      This is the "put the food down where the beasts can get to it" school of learning--free range learning.  But I do think there is and perhaps should be a political agenda in #ccourses, I mean, something's gotta change in hied, right?  Everyone so far seems to be taking a bit out of that bit of pie.
  • video of Mike Wesch
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      Randy Bass does in this video:  https://vialogues.com/vialogues/play/17699  at 18:23  His reason why> shared difficulty.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • (this is funny because i LOVE audiobooks and podcasts
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      This is exactly why I use Vialogues:  asychronous, allows serial tasking, allows for quick focus and return.
  • That it seemed quite structured and with lots of instructor-centered stuff…
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      Alan is very aware of this and has bought into the enter/exit anywhere/anytime.
  • People need different degrees of structure
    • Terry Elliott
      Terry Elliott on 21 Sep 14
       
      This is a very fluid undertaking and requires that learners know when they need one or the other or somewhere in between.  I have had to do a lot of this for my students and I was always ready to do it in #clmooc.  Personally, I need to learn to ask for help/scaffolding. 
  • I don’t think I’ve heard enough about their individual (not collective) “why” as facilitators of #ccourses.
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 22 Sep 14
       
      I also don't think, other than Howards and sometimes Alan, that the facilitators are all that engaged outside of their hangouts and video feeds. Or am I missing their interactions in various spaces?
  • It’s really important, I think, that if you’re going to provide lots of options: a. That learners are absolutely CLEAR they don’t have to do all of this; and b. That reading through the options is not itself a huge time investment; and c. That skimming through the details of the options is not a huge time investment
    • Kevin Hodgson
      Kevin Hodgson on 22 Sep 14
       
      This is the ethos of open education, right? (and how it comes into conflict with credit-based courses out of universities)
  • there is no failure in the MOOC
swatson217

Chicken/egg reflections on intercultural maturity, criticality, & open-connectednessRef... - 1 views

blog.mahabali.me/...criticality-open-connectedness

via:packrati.us ccourses chicken egg reflections intercultural maturity maha bali #ccourses

shared by swatson217 on 07 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Then again, it might just be because I now know them enough to understand their humor
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Me too, born in Australia but from Russian and German background - both parents born outside Australia. I've always felt that I am both and neither.
  • I still feel kind of hybrid)
  • our ability to share humor might be a function of how well we know each other
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Yes, there is the connection between friends who respond to the same humour and share interests, but there is also the shared history that allows common responses. 
  • ...29 more annotations...
  • Then this got me thinking about the difficulty of sharing humor not only across cultures, but online
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Because, of course, open online environments do not discriminate on the basis of race or anything else.  Humour is such a tricky thing. You can live in the same house for decades and still not get somebody's sense of humour. It's almost a language in itself.
  • And some “i have nooo idea what you’re talking about” things
  • It’s interesting to study the effect of this on how well creative brainstorming works…
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      What do you mean by that, Maha, your point about creative brainstorming?
  • how I never got the refs to Greek mythology
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Me too, and at Uni I studied literature, and was too busy to catch up on all the reading I needed to get the references. So when my first son proved to be a big reader, I made sure he read a lot of the mythologies - Greek, Roman, Norse, etc. I'm sure that kind of roundedness helps with self confidence. There's so much referencing - how much of our culture is referenced from history!
  • In my PhD research, I ask a chicken-and-egg question about intercultural maturity and critical thinking.
  • empathy
  • is likely to be open-minded, curious, willing to question one’s own views, interested in understanding different world views – all of which mean this person is likely to behave positively in an intercultural learning experience
  • A good critical thinker
  • intercultural
  • exposure to diversity
  • But how to develop these characteristics?
  • If you’re closed minded and not curious, you’re unlikely to seek intercultural exchange
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Can you change students from being closed minded to open minded? I hope so, because otherwise education is a waste of time. But sometimes I meet teachers who are so closed minded (in terms of trying new ways of teaching) that I give up hope.
    • swatson217
      swatson217 on 08 Oct 14
       
      Can you change teachers fro being close minded to open?
  • So which comes first?
  • But if you have never been with people different from yourself, how do you learn to behave in these situations in such a way that helps you learn from it?
  • and so you keep finding yourself in situations and you take advantages of opportunities to connect openly, and then you reap the benefits of that, which fuels you further?
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      This is such an important question, and one I've been thinking about over the years. Do I give up with certain people and just focus on convincing those who are open? My job as a teacher librarian depends on convincing teachers that it's worth collaborating with me. Otherwise I can't work with students apart from traditional resourcing.
    • swatson217
      swatson217 on 08 Oct 14
       
      yes yes yes
  • how do you get someone into intercultural experiences
  • Is it that you start out as someone who loves openness and connection
  • Same questions could be asked of open/connected learners
  • how do you develop critical thinking needed to develop intercultural maturity without being in an intercultural experience;
  • But how would you “get in” if you don’t already have that attitude?
  • That question plagues me with reference to whether we can actually draw people into open/connected learning
  • Like Laura Gibbs, i’d take curiosity over security any day.
  • A lot of people are monuments/avatars/objects before we decide to engage
  • Someone said her students were shocked when a book author (Howard Rheingold) replied to their tweets. As in, they had not before really thought of him as a real person. Funny.
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      Yes, my students are confused and very surprised that a 'real author' would even consider connecting to them online. Once an author was involved in my students' blog comments, and one student said he would rather not know him as a real person because he wouldn't be able to live up to his 'imagined' persona (my words).
  • is it possible for someone to get interested in open and connected learning, to become a connected educator, without first experiencing the beauty, the potential of that, if they are not originally of open/connecting attitude? Or not digitally literate, even.
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      I still wonder if what I experience as an enjoyable connective experience is unique to me and those who have chosen to participate. Maybe some teachers wouldn't find this kind of thing interesting or enjoyable.
  • How do you draw them in to try? If you give a workshop on it, hands-on, will they come? Will it sound like gibberish and feel overwhelming?
    • Tania Sheko
      Tania Sheko on 07 Oct 14
       
      And how do you sustain that even if the workshop is successful?
    • swatson217
      swatson217 on 08 Oct 14
       
      I struggle with this with my teachers.
  • about how joining an academic conversation midway feels? It’s the same for joining an open online community or finding oneself in a new culture
  • It takes time to figure out where to start, whom to talk to, how to talk, how to engage in culturally acceptable ways, etc.
    • swatson217
      swatson217 on 08 Oct 14
       
      Maha, this is a great question!
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