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Aug. 6—New! Course site now open for registrations! As announced at SciPy 2014 (July 8), I will be teaching a numerical methods course at GW this Fall semester that will be connected with three other courses around the world, and also with an independent MOOC titled "Practical Numerical Methods with Python." This is a collaboration... Continue »

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cogdogblog posted a photo: Connection via proximity?

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Lego poetry at DLTV2014

As I sat through one of the most horrendous presentations on Office 365, it got me wondering about the question, what makes a good presentation? I sat there thinking what would make this better? What was missing?

 
At first I thought that it was the absence of any conversation about pedagogy. A point that +Edna Sackson made about last years GAFE Summit in her post, ''I Want to Talk About Learning…' There was reference to pricing schemes and packages, what this includes and what that does. However, I had signed up with the hope that I could take back to school a few more tips relating to how to get the most out of Windows 8 - whether it be new applications or different functionalities - I was wrong.
 
The one thing that held me together throughout was the conversations I was having on Twitter with +Rich Lambert. He too was lost in the presentation. Although our banter was critical of Microsoft and their lack of innovation, much of it was in jest. We were adding a layer of humour that was seemingly absent. However, what occurred to me later was that it wasn't learning or even humour that makes a great conference, it is people.
 
+Steve Brophy and I presented on the notion of listening to voices in and out of the classroom. Even though we created a range of spaces to continue the conversation, whether it be in our Google+ Community, through our Diigo Group or even simply using the hashtag #eduvoice. The place where most people wanted to connect and share was not necessarily online, which may come later I guess, but rather in person. People wanted to talk, they wanted to tell their story, share their ongoing journey.

 
Creating new connections is what ALL conferences should be about. Building relationships and expanding your PLN. This sense of people connecting with people, both digitally and online, is what makes them such a fantastic place to learn. To riff on +David Weinberger's point, "The smartest person in the conference is the conference."

 
One of the things that I loved the most about #DLTV2014 was actually neither a session nor something that can necessarily be deduced to 'one single thing'. Instead it was an initiative to generate conversations about change and reform called Institute of the Modern Learner. The idea was that anyone could add to the conversation. What made this so interesting wasn't necessarily the idea itself, which was important, but the way in which it was carried and communicated. Some were handed random cards as they moved throughout the conference, an online space was created which was linked to a Twitter handle, while short injections were made during many different presentations. At its heart though, this movement to me was connected with the attempt to create a space for learning as embodied by 'Gaming in Education' stream. There were no presentations as such, instead there was a space with different hands-on posts set up, such as old console games, programmable devices and Lego poetry. Here you were at the centre of your own learning with people like +Dan Donahoo, +Kynan Robinson and +Jess McCulloch there to support and continue the conversation.

 
+DLT Victoria 2014 then to me has been a success. For it is easy to say that the spaces were sometimes confusing or there were too many sessions and streams, however if you walked away from the conference without creating one new connection or strengthening some ties that already existed, I would argue that you weren't really there. Coming back then to Weinberger, "Even if the smartest person in the room is the room itself, the room does not magically make all who enter it smarter.”

Were you at DLTV2014? If not, did you follow online? What is your story? Tell me, because that is what learning is all about.

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This ‘Need-to-Know’ blog post series features noteworthy stories that speak of need-to-know developments within higher education and K-12 that have the potential to influence, challenge and/or transform traditional education as we know it. 1) BBC gets involved with MOOCs Four universities in … Continue reading →

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Earlier this month Congress made its first moves in rewriting the Higher Education Act, including the House of Representatives’ passing a bill that would create greater federal support for and investigation … Continue reading →

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I’ve been writing nonstop for almost two weeks.


I work in a place that is about to unveil an entirely new agenda, one related to connected learning in higher education at its most passionate and most digital. My major contribution to this launch has been writing the Case for Connected Learning, a “white paper”-esque entity which will eventually end up on the website.


It is true that I have thrown my full self into this job; if anyone asked, I would tell them that I have walked to work from my car every morning, telling myself to smite with a legendary sword. Ok for smiting, which tends to be my natural state, but something else has been going on too -- something worth blogging about.


Grad student writing is, in general, an odd and unnatural thing.  In some ways, it’s not so much about the content as the ability to write in APA (or MLA or Chicago).  There’s an art to APA, for sure, but it’s an impersonal game –the same game that an excellent medical student (and I was an excellent medical student) masters as they roll through the multiple-choice based case studies of the Step examinations.  It's not particularly student-centered, if you think about it.


APA shapes the grad student writing experience, making assignments impersonal and personal at the same time; yes, you will judge me on my ability to play the APA game, but I am not synonymous with my ability to write in APA.  Funny how this sort of writing protects a grad student in some ways, but limits her in others.  Among other things, I am limited by the desperate need for validation when I write in APA – I need a second opinion on my ability to play the game.


But what I’ve written recently – it’s an entirely different thing. I was told to write anything other than an ordinary white paper.  No joke. I was told to write as myself, the natural smiter.


Well, I’m not APA.  I read the Atlantic.  I read Time.  I love a little Brian Williams and a lot of Maria Popova.  And Paul Simons and Regina Spektor.  And Ingrid Michaelson and Isabel Allende and Ernest Hemingway.  And if I could land a gig as a Woman Correspondent We Love for Esquire, I would drop this doctoral degree with poetic speed and rock myself (and the babies) all the way to a scotch whisky and a cigar in Midtown NYC. 


It turns out that after all these years of dictating patient charts and writing research papers, I like to write with a little bit of poetry and a lot of storytelling served saucy-like on a smoking slab of APA.


And the most interesting part of this experiment (to me, at least) is how I feel about others reading it.  For the first time in my grad career, I don’t care what you think about what I wrote.  If Gardner Campbell gives me constructive criticism (and I’m sure he will), that’s is perfectly fine and I will eagerly make the corrections.  Maybe I’ll even learn something. But ultimately, I feel like I have come out of this experience knowing me and my writing better than I did a month ago. 

And it’s good, just the way it is.  I don’t need validation from anyone.



So, I guess my advice to all of you graduate student advisors is to make sure your students have at least one opportunity to write as themselves and not as slaves to the good people at APA.  I don’t mean throwing them a reflective paper or two; I mean an all-out, big bad 5000 words of something.  Something with punch and power.  Tell them to go balls-to-the-wall and see what happens.  Having that opportunity has been the most valuable grad student experience I’ve had yet.  I can only hope that others have the same opportunity.

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creative commons licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by pasukaru76 This is part 4 of 5 in a series of posts for Building Connected Courses: Feed WordPress 101 Basic Concepts of Syndication – and what to think about even before you touch that WordPress thing Installing and Setting up Feed WordPress – Minimal settings, and planning the way content is sliced, diced, and recombined Feeding the Machine – How to get RSS feeds into the aggregator without losing a finger »» Some Feed Magic «« Optional ways to improve feeds from sites such as flickr, twitter, etc, creating a twitter archive, RSS Feed TLC A Few More Tricks – leveraging categories, adding attribution, setting featured images The previous posts in this series covered setting up Feed WordPress and getting mostly blog feeds into a syndication site. But you are certainly not limited to blogs, you can add anything to […]

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Photo Credit: Celestine Chua via Compfightcc

This is the first assignment as a part of the ATC21S Coursera MOOC. It involved selecting an example of collaborative problem solving (CPS) in which you have been involved. The response included illustrating an understanding of the nature of collaborative problem solving, why it is important and what sets it apart from activities like group work. Associated with this, two specific incidents were required to demonstrate that different collaborators have different levels of skill in CPS. This is my response ...


It is easy to think of Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) as a highfalutin euphemism for what is commonly known as group work. However, they are not the same. The major difference is that CPS focuses on the skills and attributes people bring, rather than the jobs people do. In a traditional classroom, group work usually involves splitting a task between members in order to do something more efficiently or simply to share responsibilities. These contributions are then usually assessed at the end of the outcome. With CPS, the focus is not so much about product, but what that process can bring to bear.


In his book Too Big To Know, +David Weinberger argues that there are two key elements relating to diversity which make the room smarter: perspectives and heuristics. Perspectives are the maps of experience, while heuristics are the tools we bring to bear. Without either, there is little point to diversity. I feel that the same can be said about CPS.

What is significant is that success is not deemed by the room itself, but by who is in that room and what skills may be drawn upon. The reality is some individuals have more abilities than others. For as Weinberger posits, “Even if the smartest person in the room is the room itself, the room does not magically make all who enter it smarter.” CPS helps assess the contribution of the different people in the room by splitting work into different subsets as represented in the Conceptual Framework for Collaborative Problem Solving in order to identify areas for growth and improvement.

Difference between CPS and group work often relates to the authenticity of the task. Group work is often heavily scaffolded. In comparison, CPS is ambiguous and ill-defined. There is more than one way to solve problems and deciding on such solutions is usually more important than the end product.

An example of CPS I have facilitated was the creation of the school yearbook. My Year 9 Elective Class was put in charge of creating a yearbook. They had to decide who the yearbook would be for, what it would include and how they would complete it. Once students had made these decisions, they worked collaboratively to develop roles, timelines and expectations.

Two particular incidents of ambiguity associated with CPS was firstly, the beginning where the project was in its infancy, and secondly, in what +Bianca Hewes' describes as the ‘mushy middle’, where the project had taken shape, but hurdles start to arise.

The beginning is always an interesting point to reflect upon. Everyone starts from scratch, with a new opportunity to prosper. However, this lack of clarity and cohesion often divides collaborators.

On the one hand, some members commence by working as a part of the group to define the project and then set out to independently come up with all the answers. Although there is some recognition of the need for information, there is little consideration as to where this comes from or how it all fits together.

In contrast, there are some collaborators whose first thoughts are about everyone else. This does not necessarily mean that they are leaders in the traditional sense. On the contrary, they often seek to support others to take the limelight. These students persevere in the effort to identify the heart of the ambiguity and break things down into subtasks. They seek to include all the differences of opinion and create strategies associated to goals for how the project is going to push ahead.

The second significant incident when it comes to CBL is the middle stages. Unlike the defining stages of a project which asks collaborators to work together to define what it is that they are working towards, the middle stages raises the challenge of redefining ideas, managing goals and continually reviewing strategies.

For some, this part can be gruelling. Whereas in the beginning the connection that everyone shares is obvious, once people start moving into different subtasks, they lose track of where they are in relation to the wider problem. Therefore, when issues arise, there are random examples of trial and error. However, little effort is made to modify the initial hypothesis or reconstruct the problem at hand. It is simply seen in isolation with little connection to the other tasks or group members.

Contrary to this, some members thrive on continually reflecting on goals, connecting personal contributions with the work of others, exhaust all possible solutions when faced with a hurdle and evaluate their own performance. For example, when a program didn’t allow for the creation of collage, a student with high level ability took a step back and considered the alternatives. Once they exhausted this, they then spoke with other members of the group to see if anyone else had any ideas.

 While here is the feedback which I received ...
Suggest any elaboration of the example that could have made it more clearly an example of a collaborative problem solving.
self → I think that I could have been more explicit in regards to the assessment. Maybe even fill in some examples and attach them to the document.
peer 1 → This example would need significant elaboration if it is to be considered an example of collaborative problems solving, The author speaks about the difference between CPS and groupwork, yet fails to implement this in the learning activity.
peer 2 → It would be better to show the specific skills listed in CPS workframe.
peer 3 → Provide clear links of personal behavior to CPS framework.
Say what you liked best about this example as an instance of collaborative problem solving. 
self → I like the practicality associated with the task. It is essential that the task is authentic.
peer 1 → This example did not address Part 1 of the assignment as outlined, and completely failed to recognize Part 2. This example does not demonstrate the capacity to use the conceptual framework for CPS.
peer 2 → i am not sure about the difference between CPS and group work and i think this homework gave a good explanation.
peer 3 → Very vivid and essential examples of CPS are provided.
It was definitely an interesting process and demonstrates one of the biggest problems with innovation, implementing 21st century strategies and education in general. As much as we think that we are on the same page, this is rarely the case. That is why the focus needs to be on creating canvas to structure the conversation as +Richard Olsen has suggested with the Modern Learning Canvas, rather than dictating strategies. For how can we achieve anything if we cannot talk about it?

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A pedagogical experiment conducted by a professor at the University of Zurich upset his institution, many of his students, and Coursera headquarters. The debacle surrounding his tinkering with a Coursera course highlighted important issues surrounding Massive … Continue reading →

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Happy Public Domain Month! Our open resource colleagues in Europe are especially busy this month promoting the Public Domain standard for shared European cultural resources: Here at Europeana, we talk … Continue reading →
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