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Paul Beaufait

braz2010vance [licensed for non-commercial use only] / PLN - 4 views

  • Etienne Wenger (2007) asked Cristina Costa when she knew she was in a community of practice and she said, when she noticed her practice had changed. And this is the correct answer.  When your practice changes, you know you have truly learned. The next step as a teacher is to model what you did for your students so that some will follow in your footsteps. So how can you do it?  Your change in practice probably won't be from this one encounter, unless I can convince you or nudge you, if you were heading that way already, into taking the next step in your journey.  The goal is to move from being just a consumer of networked content, which you in essence hoard, to a creator of content, which you share with the network that shares with you.
  • language teachers need to look beyond what it appears on the surface is happening between them and the learner and consider the bigger picture, such as ways in which technology fosters connections with communities and networks that humanize rather than isolate to strengthen individuals as an integral part of modern society and how that society acculturates, or learns together.
  • I encourage colleagues to think SMALL because in my view the computer is no longer the salient aspect of technology. The salient aspect is the use to which technology is put, and the salient use is to re-wire and expand how we are able to learn by enabling us to nurture and participate in always-on PLNs, or Personal Learning Networks.
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  • In order for teachers to grasp the fundamentals of applying technology to transformative learning outcomes, practice with peers is necessary, where teachers themselves become mentors for one another while sharing with one another their discoveries and experiences with their own learning.
  • Teachers who drive their own professional development through participation in PLNs constantly express and assess each other's needs, and promote professional development on an as-needed basis, from where it is only a short leap to applying it to students.
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    PLN: The paradigm shift in teacher and learner autonomy
IN PI

K12 Online Conference 2008 - 0 views

shared by IN PI on 22 Jun 08 - Cached
    • IN PI
       
      reflection is not quick. It is a challenge and you need others to accompay you and expand your thinking. I am glad that I am being led by Wendy and Brian through some of this active reflection... i might not have dug this deep on my own.
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    About the hidden purposes in using technology in the class; about the absolute need for reflection on how to enhance students autonomy and learning skills through the new web tools.
Paul Beaufait

Half an Hour: The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On - 0 views

  • While we want to provide personalized attention, especially to submitted work, testing and grading, learning is still heavily dependent on the teacher. But because the teacher in turn is responsible for assembling, and often presenting, the materials to be learned, customization and personalization have not been practical. So we have adopted a model where small groups of people form a cohort, thus allowing the teacher to present the same material to more than one person at a time, while offering individualized interaction and assessment.
  • Though networks have always existed, modern communications technologies highlight their existence and given them a new robustness. Networks are distinct from groups in that they preserve individual autonomy and promote diversity of belief, purpose and methodology. In a network, however, people do not act as disassociated individuals, but rather, cooperate in a series of exchanges that can produce, not merely individual goods, but also social goods.
  • In the case of informal learning, however, the structure is much looser. People pursue their own objectives in their own way, while at the same time initiating and sustaining an ongoing dialogue with others pursuing similar objectives. Learning and discussion is not structured, but rather, is determined by the needs and interests of the participants.
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  • it is not clear that an outcomes driven system is what students require; many valuable skills and aptitudes – art appreciation, for example – are not identifiable as an outcome. This becomes evident when we consider how learning is to be measured. In traditional learning, success is achieved not merely by passing the test but in some way being recognized as having achieved expertise. A test-only system is a coarse system of measurement for a complex achievement.
  • The products of our conversations are as concrete as test scores and grades. (Ryan, 2007) But, as the result of a complex and interactive process, they are much more complex, allowing not only for the measurement of learning, but also for the recognition of learning. As it becomes easier to simply see what a student can accomplish, the idea of a coarse-grained proxy, such as grades, will fade to the background.
  • Most educators, and most educational institutions, have not yet embraced the idea of flow and syndication in learning. They will – reluctantly – because it provides the learner with the means to manage and control his or her learning. They can keep unwanted content to a minimum (and this includes unwanted content from an institution). And they can manage many more sources – or content streams – using feed reader technology.RSS and related specifications will be one of the primary ways Personal Learning Environments connect with remote systems. To use a PLE will be essentially to immerse oneself in the flow of communications that constitutes a community of practice in some discipline or domain on the internet.
  • In the end, what will be evaluated is a complex portfolio of a student’s online activities. (Syverson & Slatin, 2006)
  • place independence means that real learning will occur in real environments, with the contributions of the students not being some artifice designed strictly for practice, but an actual contribution to the business or enterprise in question.
  • As it becomes more and more possible to teach oneself online, and even to demonstrate one’s achievement through productive membership in a community of practice, there will be greater demand for a formalized system of recognition, a way for people to demonstrate their competence in an area without having to go through a formal program of study in the area.
  • the major shift in instructional technology will be from systems centered on the educational institution to systems centered on the individual learner.
  • rather than the employment of a single system to accomplish all educational tasks, both instructors and learners will use a variety of different tools in combination with each other.
  • Automation allows us to more easily create and present content, to more easily form groups and collaborate, to more easily give tests and take surveys. This frees instructors to perform tasks that have been traditionally more difficult and time consuming – to relate to students on a personal basis, to offer coaching and moral support, to learn about and analyze a student’s inclinations and understandings.
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    Thanks for all of your inspiration!
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    "an epic, must-read article" according to Brian Lamb (A social layer for DSpace? 2008.11.19 http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/brian/archives/049355.php)
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