Group items tagged

Description of research exploring the impact of network participation and diversity on the quality of ideas/innovation.

I was just reviewing GG's Blog and came across a post where GG posted a  personal teaching philosophy mind map. The philosophy matched very closely with my approach to teaching and also my aims through this course. One aspect of GGs philosophy which I had not really considered in my own context however, was the idea of Life Long learning.

Conference paper describing how a USQ under-graduate course has included an assessment item drawing on curation - one form of "PKM". Includes discussion of changes in the availability of information and Personal Learning Networks as parts of the rationale for the move.

One of the critiques of MOOCs that perhaps can be applied to broader ideas of NGL - or at least need to be considered. In particular this links to the under-developed aspect of NGL in this course - global learning.

The topic of this post is not directly related to NGL. What I think is relevant/important is the quote an over focus on the individual and insufficient focus on their interactions and the need to engage in those interactions Which I think is a perspective/problem that resonates with NGL. NGL at some level is about encouraging, enabling, and thinking about the interactions - the connections. As you are thinking about your DBR projects, consider how, if, and what your project is doing about the interactions between the people and objects within your particular context. For a concrete example, I'll turn to a particular bandwagon of mine. A couple of people have "as teacher" roles that involve helping teachers use digital technologies effectively. Often the problem here is framed as digital literacy. The individual teacher doesn't know enough about technology to fix the problem. The common solution is to do some form of Professional Development so that the individual can develop the knowledge. Which for me, brings back the quote. - "focus on the individual and insufficient focus on their interactions" A NGL solution to this problem would - I think - focus more (but not entirely) on the interactions.

Wanted to highlight this from Rebecca to make a point about broadening concepts of NGL. It's about making connections with technologies and without. Often this is interpreted as people creating information for others, or consuming information created by others. Wearable technologies - especially of the type talked about by Rebecca - provide connections to information in a way previously much more difficult. But they can also be used to scaffold learning. e.g. the "learning to run 5Km" app that Rebecca talks about in her previous post. Suggesting a possible way to break out of the LMS and social media into a very different type of network learning.

Focus on improving the social experience of learners. Approaches to address the problems of limited social contact between learners; limited timely support; limited engagement in developing knowledge together; persistence of MOOC courses; limited search functions; adaptivity of courses.

A conference paper reflecting on the experience of participating in one of the early connectivist MOOCs (cMOOC).

News article from this morning which I think captures some of the common fears and implications around NGL practices. First there's the whole fear of Wikipedia - where everyone and anyone can edit - and how reputable is. Can a "network" reference resource be as "safe" as a formal/controlled/hierarchical one? Or is it really just a different type of safety? How intelligent use of technology can be used to address these concerns e.g. the @congressedits twitter account making visible what certain people are doing. etc.

Case study of "ds106" perhaps one of the most interesting, successful, and different examples of NGL. Offers specific advice on what ds106 offers to others who wish to set up a similar type of learning experience.

23things is a "course" used and modified by libraries throughout the world to introduce folk to social media. A way of an organisation helping staff develop some of the skills necessary to recognise some of the potential benefits of NGL

A journal article that gives a more formal treatment of issues in a connectivist context.

"Connected learning" is a particular flavour of network learning out of the US. An interesting combination of perspectives and thoughts and one that is getting attention at some US universities.

Canadian university professor shares some initial thoughts on how he intends scaffolding student learning in his open course through the use of Personal Learning Plans. While I'm not going to mandate this in NGL this time around (next offering is perhaps another question). It's something you might like to explore for your own purposes. I'm a little intrigued by the idea of some open courses making a decision to offer multiple pathways through an open course. Shouldn't it be the learner that (is helped to) create their own path?

How do you support all learners to achieve what they aspire to achieve? 

PhD thesis reporting on the impact of blogs on student writing and seeking to offer advice to help "teachers understand the potential benefits of blogging and journaling to increase the content and voice writing skills of their students"