Beth Kanter used a LinkedIn tool to assess her network and how to improve it. Several visuals are included. Comments are not all positive though.

This parallels our hopes and dreams for Studio.

Values of open, community, and peer learning drive P2PU (Peer 2 Peer University)

Description of a course offered by the Hague University of Applied Sciences, Fall 2012. Nancy White is one of the faculty. "The intersection of technology and social processes has changed what it means to "be together." No longer confined to an engineering team, a company, a market segment or country, we have the opportunity to tap into different groups of people using online tools and processes. While we initially recognized this as "online communities," the ubiquity and diversity of technology and access has widened our possibilities. When we want to "organize our passion" into something, we have interesting choices. It is time to think about a more diverse ecosystem of interaction possibilities which embrace things such as different group configurations, online + offline, short and long term interactions, etc. In this course we will consider the range of options that can be utilized in the design, testing, marketing and use of engineering products. In this course, we'll also begin to pay attention to "The Four i's of Innovation." You'll be learning a lot about these in the coming courses, but consider this a preview. The first i is the itch; "a hunch" that there is something going on. This inclination can indicate the sublime starting point for change or an innovation The second i is insight; the research framework to base the fundamentals of the innovation on The i for idea; the experimenting towards potential solutions ("what if"- approach) The final i is for impact; the realization of the changes and innovations."

This paper written by George Siemens in 2008 on Learning in Networks raises issues very similar to those we are raising in our discussion at CPSquare. This paper also has implications for how the Women's Learning Studio is launched into practice in its discussion of teacher as learning atelier, concierge, etc. Google Scholar, Scopus, and open access journals offer increased access to academic resources; an extension to more informal approaches such as regular internet search and Wikipedia. Social software (blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, instant messaging, Skype, Ning) provide opportunities for learners to create, dialogue about, and disseminate information. But what becomes of the teacher? How do the practices of the educator change in networked environments, where information is readily accessible? How do we design learning when learners may adopt multiple paths and approaches to content and curriculum? How can we achieve centralized learning aims in decentralized environments? This paper will explore the shifting role of educators in networked learning, with particular emphasis on curatorial, atelier, concierge, and networked roles of educators, in order to assist learners in forming diverse personal learning networks for deep understanding of complex fields.

"The Varied Functions of Badges" summary from HASTAC discussion, 9/2012 My interest in the functions of badges was spurred along when the MacArthur Foundation asked for help documenting the design principles for using digital badges that emerge across the 30 projects underway by the awardees in their Badges for Lifelong Learning project. We needed to come up with a manageable number of categories. Here is what we came up with: Recognizing Learning. This is the most obvious and arguably the primary function of badges. David Wiley has argued cogently that this should be the primary purpose of badges. If we focus only on purposes, then he may well be right. His point is that badges are credentials and not assessments. This is also consistent with the terrifically concise definition in Seven Things You Should Know About Badgesby Erin Knight and Carla Casilli. Assessing Learning. Nearly every application of digital badges includes some form of assessment. These assessments have either formative or summative functions and likely have both. In some cases, these are simply an assessment of whether somebody clicked on a few things or made a few comments. In other cases, there might be a project or essay that was reviewed and scored, or a test that was graded. In still other cases, peers might assess an individual, group, or project as badgeworthy. Motivating Learning. This is where the controversy comes in. Much of the debate over badges concerns the well-documented negative consequences of extrinsic incentive on intrinsic motivation and free choice engagement. This is why some argue that we should not use badges to motivate learning. However, if we use badges to recognize and assess learning, they are likely to impact motivation. So, we might as well harness this crucial function of badges and study these functions carefully while searching for both their positive and negative consequences for motivation. Evaluating Learning. The final category of

HASTAC discussion by badge designers, 10/2012 Note this excerpt: Include badge earners in the design process of your program. Understand their motivation, what drives their involvement, and what they hope to get out of the program you are creating. Consider the diversity of your learners; they are likely to be driven by different goals. Assessment is just as important in a badge-based learning system as it is in more traditional learning environments. In order for badges to have value to the earner and to those who would consider using the badge to impute the skills or competencies of an individual, appropriate assessment practices need to back up the process by which the badge was awarded. Craft a badge system that is flexible enough to accommodate a range of learning styles, motivations and pedagogies. Some contexts call for more proscribed badging opportunities, where experts set up gauntlets which learners pass successfully before earning badges. Other systems call for a more grassroots approach, in which learners set their own goals and pursue less well-defined pathways that get them where they want to go as individuals, with badges in hand to show for their efforts. Creating a badge system that can adapt to a variety of contexts and audiences is a worthy challenge. Break up complex requirements into simpler steps and attach a badge to each step (so the badges act like waypoints on the overall path).

This site, HASTAC (Haystack--Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory) is a super sophisticated version of what I hope the Studio will become.

A blog by Kirsten Olson on her new book, Wounded by School. Really like the Learner's Bill of Rights she has here: A Learner's Bill of Rights Every learner has the right to know why they are learning something, why it is important now, or may be important to them someday. Every learner has the right to engage in questioning or interrogating the idea of "importance" above. Every learner has the right to be confused and to express this confusion openly, honestly, and without shame. Every learner has the right to multiple paths to understanding a concept, an idea, a set of facts, or a series of constructs. Every learner has the right to understand his or her own mind, brain wiring, and intellectual inclinations as completely as possible. Every learner has the right to interrogate and question the means through which his or her learning is assessed. Every learner is entitled to some privacy in their imagination and thoughts. Every learner has the right to take their own imagination and thinking seriously. -From Wounded By School

Believe these questions also apply to business start-ups Excerpt What is your pitch? Einstein said it best: "If you can't explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough." This is why elevator speeches are a good test. I loathe how reductive they make the mission feel, but they make for a really good exercise. Because if you can't tell me what you do in half a minute-especially if you're fired up about how right your cause is-do not pass go, do not collect $200. Go back to the drawing board so you can tell me, simply, clearly, and quickly, what it is you do. You want my attention, don't you?"

Blog post by John Seely Brown, "Identity Shift is the biggest shift of all. We're moving from a sense of "I am what I wear/own/control" to "I am what I create, share and others build on." How do I put something into play so others build on it? When you figure this out, you understand agency and impact. "

Very interesting blog post that speaks to our desire to help women tackle desired futures design issues

Great blog post by Reid Hoffman on three puzzle pieces that shape your career path

Excellent post on how to treat failure as an opportunity to learn, persevere, and try again

Blog post by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner on leadership groups within communities as act of service to lead group process. September 14, 2012 Need to do something like this in setting up Studio leadership roles that could be period specific, event specific, etc. See excerpt: The practice goes like this: everyone at a meeting belongs to a leadership group - and each group stewards one part of the learning process of the whole group. In this way leadership of the community meeting is distributed over the entire event. Leadership here is seen as an act of service, that is, not leadership in terms of telling others what to do, but helping the group develop itself as a learning partnership. We've seen these groups lead to some transformational turn-arounds in group dynamics and the learning potential. (Notwithstanding the times they flopped - which led us to learn a great deal!) We gave playful names to the groups in the spirit of making it a fun and inventive way of leading the process: agenda activists, community keepers, critical friends, social reporters, external messengers, value detectives. Over the years we've come to see that these groups can work well in lots of different contexts including group meetings, conferences, and long-term community development. Anywhere, that is, where there is an intention for collective learning.

blog post by Clark Quinn, September 25, 2012, on transcending experience design "they argued that what was due next was a "transformation economy", where people paid for experiences that change them (in ways that they desire or value).

learning tools identified by Clark Quinn, September 21, 2012

An interesting eportfolio approach to a PLN/PLE by Chan Sook

EdTech wiki with index for PLE diagrams

Slide share program presented by Steve Wheeler at St. James School, Exeter, England, July 14, 2012 as part of the Vital Meet Workshop. Excellent review of where the web started, evolved to, and could be going for learning.