* iPED * * iPED International Conference 2009 * iPED 2009 Conference * Themes * Speakers * Virtual delegates * Author Guidance * Register for iPED 2009 * Venues * Contact us iPED 2009, 4th International Inquiring Pedagogies Conference 'Researching Beyond Boundaries', Academic Communities without Borders 14 - 15 September 2009, Coventry, UK NEWS SUBMISSION SYSTEM OPEN You are invited to join our international iPED JISCMAIL discussion list. Read how delegates from Pakistan and Thailand viewed the iPED2008 conference.

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Template for Building a Small Powerful Network December 15, 2008 · 58 comments networkThis post is somewhat inspired by a thought Jeff Pulver tossed out as an aside at his Social Media Jungle prototype in Long Island a few weeks ago. Hat tip to you, Jeff. Jeff Pulver said this: "We're making our own dial tone." In such a typical Jeff Pulver way, he tossed out a little idea that had been bouncing around his head, but that he hasn't rolled into any particular context yet, so I'm going to run with it. I've got an idea that came to me tonight about Twitter (amongst other social networks), and I'm going to share it with you: take that dial tone idea and build your own network. We're sitting on something because we're still in the "gee whiz" mode. Let me explain.

I've been preparing a class session on communities of practice this weekend, and it's been underscoring for me just how important people are to an effective learning environment. We're independent adults, and we like to think of learning as something that each of us does for ourselves, but all the terrific resources in the world can't hold a candle to the power of what can occur between people.

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Elearning is growing and evolving hand in glove with a constellation of technologies that have their roots in a number of places. One is in collaboration software. If we look back to the origins of the internet (ARPANET) through to today's big emphasis on "Web 2.0" tools, there is a constant thread of the dynamic interplay between technology and the groups using it. The early software was written because scientists needed better ways to collaborate. Usenet evolved as more and more people started using it, creating both technological and social demands on the system. Personal publishing - while easier today with blogs and wikis - has been around since the early nineties, giving voice to people in new ways that ranged wider than their geographic communities, creating learning connections that span the globe. Community influences technology and technology influences community. This is true in the application of technology for learning.

Twitter Set Theory & The Wisdom of the Group Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Several weeks ago I was introduced to an idea that I have found to be profound in its simplicity but complex in its implications. In an informal discussion about educational technology at EduBloggerCon West, Steve Hargadon described the kind of learning that is taking place in today's social networks. Interestingly enough, I caught the discussion via Ustream (and participated remotely within the Ustream chat), demonstrating yet another facet of this idea. I will paraphrase what Steve has come to call "the wisdom of the group": You don't need to have everybody in the room in order to have a good conversation. In other words, once you reach a certain number of people - local experts, if you will - you can have very rich dialog without requiring that all of the experts be present. Steve has found this to be true in many of the social networks that he frequents, and I have found it to be true in Twitter. In the days following our discussion, I have drawn up several diagrams that I think demonstrate additional dimensions to this concept (they also fit in nicely with this fine collection).

As a follow on to the discussion of social learning and formal learning in Long Live … great post by BJ Schone - Have LMSs Jumped The Shark? I constantly hear people (across many organizations) complain about their learning management system (LMS). They complain that their LMS has a terrible interface that is nearly unusable. Upgrades are difficult and cumbersome. Their employees' data is locked in to a proprietary system. Users hate the system. It's ugly. (Did I miss anything?) We've recently seen LMSs shift to include more functionality, such as wikis, blogs, social networking, etc. I think they're heading in the wrong direction. I don't really understand why LMS vendors are now thinking they need to build in every possible 2.0 tool. If I want a great blogging platform, I'm going to download WordPress (it's free and has a huge support community). If I want a great wiki platform, I'm going to download MediaWiki or DokuWiki (also free and they have huge support communities). And when it comes to social networking, as a co-worker put it, "Do they really think I'm going to create a 'friends' list in the LMS? Seriously?"

Pointing to the 'Social' and the 'Network' in making the case for social networking (twitter edition) Posted on April 5th, 2009 admin 10 comments I recently did a presentation for a senior administration group on campus at UPEI and, in combination with some very good questions from PatParslow about how I talk about organizing my twitter account, I figured it would better mark my learning and potentially prepare these thoughts for a more deeply thought article to post it here and get some feedback from you fine folks if the topic interests you.

I recently read a very interesting post by Terry Anderson, Edublogers as a Network of Practice. Network of Practice - a distributed aggregation of members who share some common interests and values, but their correspondence and especially face to face meetings occur much less often or not at all. Leadership and activities in a NoP are emergent and usually informal. NoP members interact sporadically and develop their network in an informal and spontaneous manner that is occasioned through blogs, social software based communities, perhaps a face-to-face or online conference, newsgroup, mailing list or other shared social networking interactions. Membership in a NoP is voluntary, usually open, often transitory and likely many of the NOP members are strangers to each other.

Twitter: Better Late Than Never Tuesday, April 7, 2009 With so many high-caliber people finally digging in (acquiesce?) to the utility of Twitter, I'm finding myself approach such widespread new-found enthusiasm with mixed emotion. On the one hand, I'm grateful that people are finally realizing what we've been saying for years: Twitter can be an extremely powerful tool/experience. On the other hand, I feel somewhat dismayed that it has taken so long for folks to catch on. Regardless, I'm excited for the direction now being taken by leaders in my new district.

Communities of Practice Posted on March 13th, 2009 by Harold Jarche I'm reviewing my resources on communities of practice and synthesizing some of the articles I've come across and added to my social bookmarks or blogged about on my Communities Thread. One of the best sources of practical knowledge on online community building is Anecdote from Australia. In Building a Collaborative Workplace, they discuss three types of collaboration - Team, Community and Network. As they say, "Our purpose is to provide an understanding of the type of culture required to support collaboration."

Community of Practice Case Study Posted on July 25th, 2007 by Harold Jarche I'm working on a community of practice for green building technologies and am discussing business community networks here in the Maritimes. I thought it would be a good time to review some lessons from the first online community I was responsible for. The first online community of practice for which I was responsible was a project to enhance collaboration of members of the learning industry here in New Brunwsick, Canada (LearnNB). The initial focus of this CoP was research and development, especially business models and commercialization. It was not intended to be a theoretical or academic community, but one looking at the development of practical applications- be they products, services, standards or models. Membership was open to anyone.