Wow! You've got some very useful feedback in here. I appreciate the time you've taken to pull this together. It's been a lot of fun, and I've certainly learned a lot from all of you!

1. For point number 1, what kind of planning do you think needs to go into considering flexibility for course size, and other challenges? Do you think it's possible for the same course design to work for a 5 person course, as for a 100 person course? How about other challenges, such as variations in literacy and technology skills?

2. That's a great point about your students learning to game the system. I've got a cohort in MEDIT now, that we moved from a system with quizzes and short answer problems one quarter, to a social space the next, where they were expected to expand on their ideas and think more critically. There was huge pushback at the beginning of this quarter.

The interesting thing, is that this class is not very active, and it's very small. Whether or not a community forms within an LMS, or an outside space, it's not unusual to expect 100 + posts a week, for an average size class that's engaged with the material. One of the things to think about with assessment, is how you weight community participation in the grading. There will always be people who prefer to learn alone. How do we engage them, without making them feel uncomfortable? Or, is discomfort a positive thing for learning?

Bruce, that's an important point. What can we actually accomplish within the boundaries of a "course?" There's a bit of a movement going on to redefine course, or at least explore how boundaries limit learning. That's one of the reasons I try to place such a strong emphasis at the beginning on digging up prior learning, and at the end on helping students discover how they can continue to apply what they've learned. I also think it's critical to try and encourage students to think outside the class, involving their family and friends, where they're already learning. But is all this really possible? It's a nice dream, but I don't know how much of it can be accomplished. I worry about instructors requiring a separate blog or community for their course, and not valuing the important learning spaces that already exist for students. I can allow flexibility for this, but there will always be students who don't work well with that flexibility, and want to be told exactly what to do. It's definitely not easy to balance.

I love the supporting work you've done for this. I especially like that you wrote a script for your audio introduction. That's definitely something I should learn to do!

Do you have a link to the article?

It's definitely not DNA. Thanks, both of you. It was a lot of fun. It's more that I've made a career of my hobby. I'm enthusiastic, because it's interesting to me and there's always more I want to learn. If you sit down with anyone for an hour and ask them about something they really enjoy, you'll have a similar experience :) (And I'm not from a different generation. This year's the big 40.)

I'll record it and you can watch it later. Unless you want to nap and log in really late :)

Also, keep in mind that we're not trying to deeply learn UbD. It's just one of many design strategies. I am featuring it, simply to help us see the big picture. Too often, instructors transition from classroom to online learning, and attempt to mimic the classroom experience. In most cases, it just won't work. Using a backwards design process, you avoid the risk of loading a class with activities and content you want to cover, without giving students the opportunity to uncover the learning, and build meaning together.

The link is a little funny so it doesn't work. Try this one :) http://maynardnewphase.blogspot.com/

Wow, Bruce ! I just asked you to think about it :) What a great way to synthesize your thoughts. Would you mind if I share this with others. I really appreciate the effort you put into this. What tools did you use, besides Jing?

I think I like this place much better than Blackboard for sharing and socializing around articles and topics. How about you? I think I need to figure out how to use the app on my phone, next.

I'm working on a post about what I've learned the first few weeks in this course. What's very interesting, is that I'm also supporting 3 other courses, and the experience with technology and community is very different in each of them. You're right about there not being a single tool that suits every group. I think we have a responsibility to know the tools, so we can weave them in appropriately as we get to know the people. I'm glad you're digging in and finding things that interest you :)

Jenkins has some great stuff. Good find!

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