Open Notebook

I'm getting a slow start to the day. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are a bit intense this quarter, and I needed some time to do something else other than work. Dogs needed longer walks, clothes needed washing, crossword puzzles needed solving, coffee needed to be sipped slowly, and the trails around Lake Padden needed me to run around them twice. So, I'm getting a late start to work, but I'll get everything done on my list. The rain will fall while I finish the day.

I got caught up with some reading, and it made me think of ETMOOC's current topic on The Open Movement. I haven't attended any talks, read any Slideshares, but I have checked in on the Diigo group. That's the easiest connection for me because they send me updates via email. I have, however, been thinking about the Open Movement. On the one hand, it's amazing how much I can access about my various interests with just a few clicks. I can browse reading for later on my phone while I wait for the mister to go into a bike shop. Amazing.

On the other hand, it's amazing how much disappears. We've all been there as a teacher. You find something that's perfect for your class. You give your students the link. You build content in your OL class about that link. You embed the link into an announcement that you send a face-to-face class. The link is there for years.

And then it's gone. Panicked emails from students ensue. Annoyed "Me too" posts on the discussion board. Just like that, it's gone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/25394024/

This brings me back to the Open Movement. Sure, things are getting better, but we still have a long way to go. I can't take the chance on content that might disappear. A student of mine said he liked paper textbooks because he never "has to wait for the page to download." I laughed, but his comment made me think about my paper-free classroom. A slow internet connection can really slow down your reading. Waiting for a file to open can delay a thought. 


 Will I ever get away from the notebooks?  Do I want to?

A colleague blogged about Oliver Jeffers, and he delighted me with his short film. His words rang true about why we need to write things down. He reminds us to always carry a pencil and paper. Even better, I discovered this video through a blog after reading "On Keeping a Notebook in the Digital Age" by Elizabeth Spiers.

All of the reading listed above: Free. Open. A good thing for the movement of my pen, for sure.

Spiers' best quote: "Writing things down enforces slowness, and by extension, thoughtfulness."

I've given up my paper calendar this quarter, but I'm on my third notebook since December.
 

Open Door Policy

Yes, we have an open door policy at the community college. Come one, come all, and yet when you get here, everything costs money. One way I've been trying to ease the financial burden for my students has been to use online textbooks. I'm collecting data from the students using anonymous polls about their experiences. Almost of all them like not having to pay for their books. Why bother writing a research question when you know the answer? In other words, I knew that's what they would say. I'm digging deeper, and there is still much to learn. More on that later.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafa3r/2638842103/

Okay, readers from the ETMOOC community, I've been away for awhile. I didn't get to spend the time that I wanted to on last topic, but that's fine. I'm thinking of this blog as a way to record and share what my current thoughts are about all things connected to educational technology.
 

In the last two weeks, along with teaching my normal load, I've been doing the Quality Matters (QM) certification. And that, my friends, leaves little time for anything else. I'd like to focus more the QM in later blog posts, but I can say that I've learned a lot about course design, delivery, and alignment. Their focus on interaction--student-teacher, student-student, and student-content--is a move towards on-going professional development for higher education. A move, quite frankly, I'd like to see more of with regards to teaching. Subject matter training and development matters, but quality teaching is another facet of pedagogy that often goes ignored. 

So? Where did we leave off, ETMOOC? Well, first of all, I have to admit that I'm going to start to cheat on you. That's right. I've been telling my research students to "marry" their topics, and here I am cheating on my first MOOC.

I'm mostly just delighted that I can make that analogy in class and it includes all students in my class. Marriage equality allows me to use really bad metaphors about relationships when I teach research. I'm sure my students make fun of me. I would! I've joined "Introduction to Social Media" offered by Dr. Maria Andersen and Canvas Network. I logged on, but I haven't done anything yet. Since it's offer through Canvas, I want to see as many course designs as I can since my campus is moving to this LMS. Don't worry, ETMOOC. You've been my first love, and I'm going to see it through.

Here is latest ETMOOC the message posted last week:

Welcome to topic #4!

Over the next two weeks we hope to support your thinking and creativity around the very BIG and nebulous topic of ‘The Open Movement’. So what exactly is the Open Movement? Well, it’s not one thing. Rather, the Open Movement is an umbrella term that describes a number of overlapping and interrelated movements that, collectively, support the idea of a free and open society in the Arts, Education, government, computing/code, research, technology, medicine, copyright/copyleft, and other key areas. Over the next two weeks, we will  focus (mostly) on the Open Education piece of this movement but, as always, feel free to move well beyond what we provide.

My goal for this week will be to check out some of the sources and blog about them when I have the time. Time is tight. It is the last week of the quarter after all, and spring break is very close. Any idea that I can study where I'm promised "it's not one thing" and it's "an umbrella term" is something I know I'm going to love. 

Big Ideas for Learning

 Sugata Mitra made my Friday. 

Who do I thank? The chemistry teacher who sent a link to an English teacher who then emailed me? Or do I thank Chris Kluwe, a professional foot player who tweeted the link that the chemistry teacher read? Is it even necessary to cite the origin of the thing itself? Well, either way, maybe I've shared the link with somebody new. And I cited my source, thank you very much!

http://bit.ly/13uiWdG

In Mitra's "Build A School in the Cloud," he has several "Big Ideas" that connect directly to my own research and interests. His SOLE=Self-Organized-Learning-Environment resonates with the ETMOOC question I'd like to take up today. He speaks directly to the potential for cloud-based learning for children. That's his passion, and his challenge is inspiring.

My passion is to take the same idea, but connect it to teacher training. I've got to make these Big Ideas and do something local. Will this happen as a result of working with other teachers I know? Maybe. Can I do something as part of a committee who is looking to research online textbooks? Yes. Perhaps the SOLE idea could work for the small network of teachers that I know on my campus. Brick by brick maybe we can build something new.

What struck me about this video was the photos of children teaching one another around his "hole in the wall computers." There was never an image of one student with one computer. Yet, that's very much the way online learning--and teaching--works right now. One teacher. One computer. Alone. 

Don't get me wrong. I love solitude. It's very much a part of who I am to desire long stretches of time alone. But I learn best with other people. I need to teach other people to fully understand what I am trying to work out. I realized I need that "encouragement" that Mitra mentions. His "method of the grandmother" or the person who simply says, "Wow" holds great potential in the way that teachers learn from one another. It's how good ideas become big ideas. 

What digital competencies and skills do your learners demonstrate through their daily use of technology?

The tweet that becomes an email that becomes a blog post that might become the next Big Idea. Who knew? The "daily use" of technology holds great potential. What that means, I'm not sure quite sure, but I'm going to think about it. The next topic for the ETMOOC community sounds really interesting. 

For now, I'll leave you with a play on the word SOLE. Here's a song I can't get out of my head since I first saw this acronym.

Digital Literacy: Working Definition

Been away from the ETMOOC and blogging, but I've been thinking about my definition. My mind has been on my very first webinar with the NW eLearn Community.
I got to share some of my graduate work, and I really loved it. My case study from 2010 keeps getting longer and longer, and as much as I want to write a book about backpacking, I might need to get this project out of my head and onto the screen.

Back to ETMOOC. I sat in on the webinar from Dr. Doug Belshaw, and I have to say, I learned so much in the thirty minutes I listened to him. First of all, his website is really snazzy, and I've noticed that Alec Couros has the same style. I'm looking to put something like that together for me as I look for eLearning jobs, so I'll shelve that idea for now. From a design standpoint, you're putting together all the things that people are going to Google about you anyway. Why not put it all in one place? Snazzy with functionality. Note to self.

One of the questions for this section of ETMOOC is to come up with a definition of digital literacy and digital fluency. I've peeked in on other blogs and slideshares, and what I see over and over is an image of a flowing creek. Boulders in rushing water. Flowing currents bending around permanent (or semi-permanent) rocks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanenglish/2590910477/

           Belshaw defined digital literacy as:       

Cultural

Cognitive

Constructive

Communicative

Confident

Creative 

Critical

Civic

So if I create a definition using these words am I plagiarizing? I've got plagiarism on the brain with teaching my research course. Or am I taking the ingredients and making something new? This question is at the heart, I think, of this week's lesson. How about this?

In order to be a confident creative communicator online, you must have a cognitive framework for culturally constructed critical thinking. 

Wordy? Yes. A bit academic. Maybe.

So, what does this mean to me to as a teacher? Here's an example: I am literate with some French. I can read signs. I can understand french films without reading subtitles sometimes. I could order my coffee in a cafe. I could tell you that I love you. I can answer questions on Jeopardy that involve French words.
But I am not fluent.
I don't sound like I know French. I could not have a debate speaking French. I know a little get by, but I can't communicate on the same level as I can in English. Getting by is not fluency.

For people in the digital divide, they know a little to get by but they aren't confident. They haven't had a chance to be creative. They don't have a framework to build on. Critical thinking gets lost when you are still searching for ways to engage with the material. Learning online can be a lonely enterprise. How do we get more students there? That's my civic duty as a teacher.

Why I Need More Than Six Words: Hemingway I Am Not

I really enjoyed the last topic for the #ETMOOC Massive Open Online Course on Educational Technology and Media. The problem? I'm working more than usual, so my attention span is too frenetic to get any real thoughts down. Papers to grade, posts to update, content to write--all too much to focus on to really engage with the content. But I'm taking notes. I'm bookmarking. This is my first MOOC, and I want to write and research about the potential--both good and bad--about this type of learning.

I took on the Six Word challenge (obviously) and that felt like a bit of real success and a bit of failure. Turns out, I need way more than six words. (If you know me, I hear your laughter). 
Mr. Hemingway, I'd love to walk in your shoes but I like verbosity. I like to talk. 

Case in point: This weekend was our campus faculty retreat, and I was asked to speak for 10 minutes. How long was up there? Almost 18 minutes! Blah. So much for practice and planning. 

I hope that the audience got something out of what I said, and here are a few of the Big Ideas I took away from the other speakers.  

An astronomy teacher reminded us of how little we know about the universe.
An IT worker made a video so he could be with us and his pregnant wife.
A history teacher made me see her passion for her subject.
A poet reminded me that students, like writers, work in isolation.
A nurse showed us the amazing technology our future nurses are using. 
A welder explained how his program had to become viable or it was going away.
An early childhood educator showed us how children have a need and a right to question.
A cosmetology teacher showed how her students chart their success over time. 
An art teacher made me work as a graphic designer, and I laughed really hard with my group. 

This summary is one of the many reasons I love teaching at a community college. 

By the time I was done listening to all of them speak, I was ready to go back to school so I can be their students. Turns out, I get bored with Theory when there is no Practice. These folks walk their talk in their classrooms, and I left inspired. I left understanding a bit more about their practice. The retreat theme was titled "Illuminate" and although I've been teaching at this school for ten years, this is the first time I've attended. I'm glad I went. My corner of the country never disappoints. 
Here's a photo of Saturday's sunset from my phone. 

So back to the business of this MOOC. What are we doing now?

Topic 3 (Feb 17-Mar 2): Digital Literacy – Information, Memes & Attention

Here are the questions we are supposed to explore over the next two weeks.
From the initial blog post for Topic #3:  

• What does it mean to be digitally literate? 
• What is the difference between being digital literate and web literate?
• How does digital literacy relate to participatory culture?
• What digital competencies and skills do your learners demonstrate through their daily use of technology?
• What digital competencies and skills are required by our emerging knowledge economy/age?
• What are the differences between digital literacy and digital fluency?
• What is the role of attention within the spectrum of the 21st century?
• What are the problems inherent in defining literacy, fluency, skills, and competency today (e.g., using terms like 21st century literacies, digital fluency), and how do these affect curricular development, pedagogy, and the work of teachers and students?

I'll see what I get to over the next two weeks. I've bolded the ones I'm most interested in on the first reading. I'll leave you with a quote from Ernest Hemingway that I think applies to teaching with (and without) technology.

                      "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."

Digital Storyteller 5

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50156663@N00/5608118743/

Working with K-12 teachers is inspiring.

Most etmooc activity this week: archived. 

Rununculas in a vase beautifies kitchen.

Digital Storyteller 4

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandj98/345612018/

So behind on grading. Week 6.

Started reading about learning sciences yesterday.

Squirrels torment the dog every morning. 

etmooc Diigo account is amazingly interesting.

MOOC shutting down makes local news.