Eggs, Ecosystems, and the Power of Connected Learning

Eggs, Ecosystems, and the Power of Connected Learning

Kelvin Thompson, Ed.D.

University of Central Florida

@kthompso #FLDVIPN2015

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike 3.0 UnportedLicense. Portions of this work are the intellectual property of others and are attributed appropriately in context.

http://bit.ly/thompson_fldvipn2015

Primitive audio recording of the session http://bit.ly/audio_thompsonfldvipn2015

“Day 5: The Back of My Classroom” by bonnie-brown on Flickr CC BY 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnie-brown/4249862228

“egg crate” by meg-z on Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/meg-z/4522641172

“26” by pixopatamus on Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/pyxopotamus/15767780015

“Impossible?” by h-k-d on Flickr CC-BY-ND 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/6984394425

Metaphors

Are

Destiny- K. Thompson

“Echinacea Bee_Teresa_Prendusi” by USDAgov on Flickr CC BY 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/7420018760

MOOC

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open CourseWare(OCW)

Open Learning

iTunesU

podcasts

screencasts

online course

blended

hybrid

Connectivism

Hour of Code

flipped class

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

TwitterTED Talks

YouTube

Google Wikipedia

wikis

blogs

RSS

IFTTT

htmlBYOD

mobilehuman moments

Tips for Exploring the Ecosystem

1. Get comfortable with openness

2. Embrace the infostream

3. Practice connected learning*4. Help students become connected

learners

Get Comfortable with Openness

• True Stories of Opennesshttp://stories.cogdogblog.com

• Creative Commonshttp://creativecommons.org

• Open Educational Resources (OER)https://www.oercommons.org

Open TeachingTeaching in the Open Closed Teaching

What happens in the course stays in the course

Semi-permeability(Some elements go “out”)

Complete* permeability(World comes “in”)

Openness Continuum

http://bit.ly/teach_open

UCF Faculty Seminars in Online Teaching

• Online/blended learning focused• Co-presented by teaching faculty and instructional

designer• Information-packed• 30 minutes!• Interactive webinar format• Repository of recordings and supporting resources• New topics each semester

Subscribe to mailing list to be notified of upcoming seminarshttp://bit.ly/facultyseminars

Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

a resource to support the curation of effective pedagogical practices in online and blended courses

individual entries include:• strategy description drawn from the pedagogical

practice of online/blended teaching faculty• artifacts depicting the strategy from actual courses• alignment with cited findings from research or

professional practice literature

All released for reuse/remix under Creative Commons

http://topr.online.ucf.edu

• 60+ published strategies relevant to online and blended courses

• New strategies added/updated regularly• Categorized by Content, Interaction, or Assessment• Get ideas for your blended or online course design!

BlendKit Course Materials

• Instructional modules

• BlendKit Reader

• Do-It-Yourself design tasks

• Recordings of interdisciplinary faculty interviews

• Recordings of online webinar discussions with faculty cohorts

http://bit.ly/blendkit

Embrace the InfoStream

• Information as a flow or stream

– See danah boyd http://bit.ly/streamCSU

– Choose: fight, float, or navigate (McCarthy, 1991)

• Practice: Consuming, Curating, Contributing

– Establish access point(s) (e.g., Twitter)

– Take in, screening for relevance

– Mark for later use (e.g., “Favorite” in Twitter)

– Retrieve when needed

Practice Connected Learning

• Professional conferences good starting point (e.g., resource sharing via official channels & Twitter back channel)

• Form/engage with a Personal Learning Network (PLN) See http://bit.ly/pln_intro

• Participate in a cMOOCSee http://bit.ly/mooclunch_resources01 for a starting point

http://bit.ly/edtwitterchats

October is Connected Educator Month

http://connectededucator.orghas year-round resources but buzzes during October

BlendKit2015

• Free, open, online course built around BlendKitCourse materials– February 23 – May 12 (five weeks)

– Facilitative communications

– Weekly webinars

– Interaction opportunities among cohort

– Choose your own participation level

– Optional (paid) “Certified Blended Learning Designer” credential

• For Info or to Register: http://bit.ly/go_blendkit

Help Students Become Connected Learners

• Design activities for students to: Consume, Curate, Contribute– Model your own practice

– Establish a mini-Personal Learning Network (PLN)

– Set expectations (and scoring criteria?) for on-going activity

– Encourage students to spin off their own PLN

• Scaffold with supporting resources– Align with learning objectives

– Provide examples

– Link to how-to guides/tutorials

“Ending the egg crate will liberate both students and teachers.”- Darrel West (The Brookings Institution)http://educationnext.org/time-to-abandon-the-egg-crate-approach-to-education

Offered by Scott Sava at http://ssava.deviantart.com/art/Mork-474467115

Please Follow-Up

Dr. Kelvin Thompson

@[email protected]

http://about.me/drkelvinthompson

http://bit.ly/thompson_fldvipn2015