MOOCMOOC-day-3-peerology

I would disagree with that - there are definitely 'leaders' out there. It is just up to you to find them and follow/not follow them. Or become one;)

If the "classroom" is to be a safe space how does this chime with cMOOC philosophy of 'learning in the open' and 'learning in a real community'?

Most students I know are hard to engage in higher level discussion of learning and teaching and the teachers are often not equipped to do so in a non-threatening way. I mean in non-education classes.

Found this one fairly disturbing. Apropos of dangers of putting yourself out there in the community for the networked learning experience (a beginner's anxiety here). What if communities are not welcoming of your input? What if instead of finding gentle mentors to guide you to your OWN PERSONAL truth about noodle preparation, you find RTFM-type response? There is plenty of examples out there - help forums and Wikipedia among more commonly cited. Alas the gentler voice in the comments from David Jennings soothed my anxieties somewhat:)

What would it feel like to be educated that way? I was brought up in a banking model. Would have I been happier and my potential more fulfilled if "problem-posing" was my daily staple at school? Remember feeling frustrated at the end of my undergraduate degree as I felt my own learning was restrictive. I was afraid to breach the boundaries of the learning I have been brought up with - I knew I would be able to achieve the required grades that way. But it did not feel like real thinking and exploration, the real risk-taking that it should be. I stuck with what I knew and what was safe. There was no guide to take me through the riskier path. The outcome of which was too unpredictable when the stakes were so high. Maybe this is the fear that our Honours students feel - such high stakes at a stage they should be exploring the subject and taking real risks. How dare we impose innovating learning on them!

Students have had their private and disruptive comm channels for years - take your spontaneous study group idea. Now they self-organise of fb and elswhere (seen a study at Edi Uni in Scotland where massive amounts of such collab was discovered to be going on independent of the pedagogy in the classroom). The question is - would our attempts at organising and facilitating this kind of learning not be seen as a form of invasion of student's privacy? They may feel refreshingly subversive (just like the edupunkers do) - will the motivation vanish if we join the party? Do we need to get involved beyond showcasing the tools and techniques and making sure that they stay safe online?

Students I know (and love;) would rather gauge their eyes out than ask for more collaboration. Perhaps we do it all wrong:( Or is collaboration here=discussion/exchange?

I find myself often asking this - how do I engage students from non-education and non-online learning domain in the 'innovative' learning practices. They (and often myself) like it simple and often do not have time to process the new ways of doing things. Experimentation can hurt their marks and their futures.

Ok - let's be a tad provocative here: This term raises the hair on my neck. I would be very cautious if somebody used it on me. To me most of the time what you are learning from your students is different from what they are learning from you - I think as a teacher you largely learn how to teach better (may be different when the class is the teacher's research and experimental ground around the topics you are both interested in - so you are likely to learn alongside each other, but even then I feel a bit of a discomfort when what effectively are your guinea pigs are claimed to be your equals in this inquiry).

Teo seems to bring up a question I had in my mind when I read the intro blurb for today: How could a teacher describe "pedagogy" to a student who didn't know the term? Many don't." What I would add is - that this applies to many 'teachers' out there. Do teachers need to know the theory to be good teachers?