I started FOC08 and found it difficult to connect with people and content.  This time I’m trying a different approach.  I’m teaching, working loads and still want time for free expression so I’m going to limit my interaction to just a sprinkling of readings and a couple of new thoughts each week.  I wonder if I’ll connect with anyone with this level of interaction.  So far so good, the Hub

This Weeks Overview

Connectivism Wordle

Important Ideas for The Week – What about the kids?  It’s just a course?

The readings this week got me thinking about the future, what will it look like for these kids I’m teaching.  So I think this idea of slowly changing the way we work so that we can better understand things like Transmedia Navigation is really important.  We won’t figure out how we can best equip young students with the right skills for this kind of participation until we understand it ourselves.  We won’t understand it ourselves unless we participate.  Hence why I am involved in the course.  So I wrote a post on the blog where I wear the hat of Primary School Teacher to generate some discussion over there.

Stephen’s remark that things that are most course like – for example everyone descending on the course at the same time – feel the least natural.  This really resonates and yet I don’t feel really connected to the idea of Personal Learning Networks either.  The great thing about a course is that everyone does come together at the same time, it is also a pain.

From my internet I want the extremes either the pushing the envelope thinking or the connection to the mundane everyday of everyone else.  So I think one of the reasons that I’m really paying attention this time is that I receive a regular email from Dave Pollard and I always find him to be a good anchor.   He provides the pushing the envelope thinking so if he’s listening I’m listening along also, and he is listening.  My next step is to find someone who I can connect with who is providing the mundane Aussie perspective – connectivism in everyday life.  I think that with a theory like this it’s what you do everyday a little bit that will be where the rubber meets the road.  This is not simple and it’s not just about Twitter.

Question of The Week

• In the broader social context how can we construct an environment that motivates a variety of users to contribute so that any idea of ‘truth‘ is at least somewhat representative of the community in which it is being analysed?

Image via Wikipedia

‘In a world that is not predictable, improvisation and innovation are more than desirable, they are essential.’ My reading of Wenger helped me understand the potential of the read/write web for fostering innovation.

“Metrics for such innovations are tricky, since social practices evolve slowly and surround us continuously, and thus become our frame of reference. It is not until we are abruptly forced to put them aside that we become aware of how much they have been shaping our lives.” (link) John Seely Brown,I think Wenger is about realistically providing an authentic environment where the natural processes of learning and innovation are augmented. Imagine if we made no space for innovation in learning. There would be only one answer, one way of learning. How much real learning would occur? On the other hand if we choose only to focus on innovation it would be difficult to know what was important to us, how we should start.

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Learning in a group

People like learning from models but… not just any models. They’re a choosey lot.

• If you want people to engage in the learning experience your offering you should ask what your learners want, you should demonstrate the highest standards for your profession and you should provide ample reason for them to trust you professionally and personally.

Online application – What do you do with different level of experience in your online community? What do you do if you can’t gather enough people together around a common learning experience?

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