Category Archives: learning
by jennymackness
This was a question that came out of our FSLT12 Research Review meeting today. We were discussing what we have found out about the ways in which people participated and learned in the FSLT12 MOOC - and the extent to which this was constrained by the structure and curriculum we designed into the MOOC.
These questions have been timely for me. I have been pondering for quite a few days now about the approach taken by George Siemens and Rory MGreal to their Openness in Education MOOC, which I signed up for.
I was completely baffled at the start of the MOOC on September 10thwhen there was nothing on the site. Apparently this was down to technical …
Why we blogby jennymackness
MiraCosta Online Teaching Programme
A month or two ago I was approached by Pilar Hernandez of the POT Cert team, asking me if I would be willing to make a contribution to the course in Week 21, which after some hesitation I agreed to do.
This invitation has spurred me on to get involved with the POTCert class which starts next Monday 1stSeptember and finishes at the end of April 2013. Last night I attended a pre-course meeting in Collaborate in which the course convenors and a few course participants discussed why we blog.
Recording of the Collaborate meetup
The reason for this discussion was that a requirement for the certificate is
- Weekly bloggingon assigned
…
by jennymackness
Academic BEtreathas got off to a shaky start, with lots of technology difficulties. There are sixteen people in this BEtreat (18 if you include Etienne and Bev) and 8 of those are online. This is a great mix of people, all working on very interesting aspects of communities of practice in their very differing contexts. It is this diverse mix of people that will enrich the experience.
One of the principles of these BEtreats is that online and face-to-face participants should be fully integrated, so for the most part the online people are projected into the face-to-face room through video on Adobe Connect – where presentations can also be shared. However, bandwidth issues make it difficult to use the …
#betreat12 Communities of practice and learningby jennymackness
These notes are from the Academic BEtreat readingon communities of practice and learning, pages 72 -102 in Etienne’s book Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity
Chapter 2 on Communityraised one question for me
How does social learning theory relate to complexity theory and connectivism? I would like to hear what Etienne and others have to say about this.
Chapter 3 on Learninggave me a surprising ‘Ah-ha’ moment in the following three lines
Meaning is the driver of learningFor those who do not think of their job as learning (Etienne is referring to the work of claims processors here) – this is because what they learn istheir practice. Learning is not reified as an extraneous goal or as a special category
…
by jennymackness
This is a quote from Etienne Wenger when he spoke to the FSLT12 MOOCin June. The recording is on YouTube and there are further details on the FSLT WordPress site .
Etienne briefly illustrated what he meant by referring to his son’s ‘meaningless’ biology homework on cells. I found this interesting as one of the more meaningful aspects of my own education was the study of biology – for me what could be more meaningful than the study of life – and within that the study of histology – related to the study of genetics, which I remember as being fascinating, since I could easily relate it to ‘me’ – why I have brown eyes, cannot roll my tongue …
The MOOC Bandwagonby jennymackness
As others have noted – most recently Bon Stewart in her Inside Higher Ed article – everyone seems to be jumping on the MOOC bandwagon at an alarming rate.
This week the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee, UK ) has jumped on it with a webinar entitled
What is a MOOC – JISC Webinar 11-07-12
Four speakers were invited. Here is the programme and here is the recording
12.00 Definitions of MOOCs (Martin Weller)
12.10 Tutor perspective (Jonathan Worth)
12.20 Learner perspective (Lou McGill)
12.30 MOOCs and online learning (David White)
12.40 Q&A
Martin Weller presented a useful overview of the history of MOOCs and some thoughtful ideas about the benefits of MOOCs and the associated concerns in …
The Case for SmOOCsby jennymackness
On reflection #fslt12was a SmOOC – a small open online course. I suspect that just as the number of Massive Open Online Courses of the Stanford typewill proliferate – at least in the short term – so too will SmOOCs.
SmOOCs have a lot going for them, principally in terms of the relationship between size, diversity and openness.
We had 151 people register for FSLT12 and 168 register for the Moodle site. Canada, USA, South America, Africa, Europe, India, the Far East and Australia were all represented and at the time of writing 60 people have accessed the Moodle site within the last 3 weeks. We haven’t yet examined the data in any detail, so these are just …
Teaching and Learning in #FSLT12by jennymackness
Today has been the last day of the #fslt12 MOOC, at the end of what has felt like an intense week of participants presenting their microteaching activities in Blackboard Collaborate. Without exception these have been impressive and as one of the course conveners it is humbling to work with learners from whom I learn such a lot. It has been a privilege. The recordings of the microteach presentations, which happened on Wednesday and Friday of this week can be found here They are well worth watching and listening to.
I have also been so impressed that participants who did not choose to be assessed have entered into this activity and have been willing to present their work and …
Microteaching activityby Apostolos K. ("AK")
This week I’ve been at the NMC conference (and Monday I was sidelined with a summer cold, no fun), so I’ve skipped out on most of this week’s fslt12 activities. I’ve been thinking about this microteaching activity, and what I can teaching in 10 minutes. The activity reminds me of a reality TV show, the next Food Network Star, where contestants have to show that they can do something, in a short period of time (a promo video for their show) that they would be expanding on (supposedly) during the full episode.
So, what could I teach in 10 minutes? The big issue is that I am thinking too big! Then, it hit me! I could go back to my… Continue reading
Learn by unlearning; see by unseeingby jennymackness
I am just back from a couple of days at a conference at Stirling University Scotland.
Roy Williams, Simone Gumtau and I presented a paper and ran a theory clinic (see here for details)
As with all conferences for me – it’s difficult to come away and clearly articulate the conference’s value, or what I have learned, or been provoked into thinking about and exploring further (at least in the short term). And as with all conferences, I went to some sessions that ‘left me cold’, but to others which left me knowing that there is lots I need to think about further. The Stirling conference (overall) fulfilled the latter more than the former. I was introduced …