A final review on #BlendKit2014...a thank you and comments on our Learning Culture

Hello and Welcome Back!

This is my very last post on #BlendKit2014 - as I am not submitting a portfolio, I'm now done the course - but I'm not done learning.  Not by a long shot!

I will be continuing to take MOOCs and continuing to write about them - although not always here.  I will share links to my blogs as they are posted just in case you want to keep up with me :)

I'm starting a course on Gamification from OpenLearning - I expect to start posting about it in a week or two...You will get the details here as soon as I can release them!  If you've read my blog before, you know that Gamification and E-Portfolios really sparked my fire!

In the meantime, I have been reflecting on my MOOC experience in #BlendKit2014 (specifically, although Intro to Marketing on Coursera has been similar in experience).  The community we've built.  The shared experience. I've come to realize something.

Universities have it all wrong.  When they say MOOCs can't replace the school culture, the classroom experience and the one-on-one interactions with the professors, I have to ask, "What dream world do they live in??".

When I attend Saint Mary's University, I was lucky.  In the grand scheme of things it's a small school, although in Canada we would probably consider it a medium school.  I knew who my profs were.  They might know my name...but generally I was "Oh right, the one who wrote about...".  I didn't have many convos with the profs, the classes weren't filled with debate, I didn't know half of my class.

Which was ridiculous.  Some classes had 30 people in it.  Some upper level courses had 12.  I didn't know them.  They didn't know me.  We had a "sage on stage" most times with limited discussion.  We didn't try to help each other to understand the material or the context.  We were not a community as such.

Now again, I was kind of lucky.  I was on the executive of the English Society.  I arranged to have profs come in for symposiums to share their latest research (we made for a great group to tell you where you ideas had room for improvement!!) and often a beer or two after.  I had office hours and spent some time debating concepts, imagery, context, symbolism, etc with a few students - generally not those in my class though.  I didn't ever feel like my understanding was important to anyone else. I was alone in making my education count.  And...that led to me maybe not working quite as hard as I should have...

I worked ridiculous hours while in school - one year I did 52 hours a week for an entire semester, went to school full time and still had a social life.  Crazy? Yes! Did I do homework?  Barely.  Did I put forth nearly as much effort as I do now?  Nope.  Not by a long shot!!

Learning about Blended Learning meant I did probably 6+hrs/wk of work to understand the content and context of the work.  Researching, piecing things together, and reflecting in this blog...at least 6 hours/week.  Just for this course.  I have been taking 8-10 more at any time.  But I had help.  I had a community of people who would talk about concepts on twitter, Google+ or my blog.  Or the discussion forums.  Or LinkedIn.  I had a personal learning network.  I made connections that I want to stay connected with.

People shared their ideas, their understandings, their successes and failures (real or perceived).  They invested in each other - showing their work at various stages, looking for feedback and advice - which they got!  Our shared goal was to have a deeper understanding.  That we all have a deeper understanding.

MOOCs can drive the Learning Culture.  It's driven by the participants, not the university and not the professors.  Each may take part, but it is the students who take the lead, help each other, look for deeper meaning, share, support, and ensure no one who wants to get ahead is willingly left behind.   We drive the Learning Culture.

We did.  Us.  I'm so glad to have had the chance to take this course with each of you.  We came in from many different walks of life, experiences, and understandings.  We finish this course with a shared experience, a shared understanding, a shared desire to help our connections find a deeper learning.

Time for some Confidential Information...

I was very intimidated at the beginning of this course - I realized that I was one of the few who didn't teach in a school or - even scarier - in a university.  I thought about dropping out a dozen times in the first week even though I loved it, was learning and having fun.  Seeing so many people with PhD or EdD after their names or job titles that were followed by at X University...Yikes!  I only had a little ol' BA...and I seldom talk about it!  And I have been working in retail (and retail training)...Double Yikes!  But this community (thankfully) quickly grew and made me feel like it was OK to come in from a different angle.  That my experiences could add value and occasionally a different viewpoint.

Had I taken this course at a brick and mortar institution, I would have withdrawn and run for the hills by Week 2.  I'm glad I didn't.

Hello #BlendKit2014 friends! You gave me a real understanding of MOOC Driven Learning Cultures http://t.co/zU1RBlPFuf Enjoy! @Accredible

— Passage Gal (@passagegal) May 30, 2014

I've written a slightly more defined version of what I am emotionally trying to explain here over on Accredible.com.  The culture we created is just as relevant as the culture at any brick & mortar school - and possibly more valuable!  What we created was something I was never able to find at any university (even though the schools all say they have it).

Thank you Dr Kelvin Thompson and Dr Linda Futch for creating this fantastic program and providing the forum for a Learning Culture to be built.  Your feedback and participation in Social Media played a great part in our community development.  Your in course emails provided great feedback and support to a gal who felt like a fish out of water but was loving to learn about Blended Learning.  Should you ever run this course again from a corporate training perspective, let me know!  I'm totally in!!

To my fellow coursemates, I look forward to staying in touch via twitter, each others blogs, Google+ and the LinkedIn group.  I hope to see you again in another course and wish you great learning, great understanding, great happiness and great success!

PLN - Personal Learning Networks???

WTH is a PLN????

Personal Learning Networks??

What is a PLN?  Well, I've done a lot of reading today on this.  To put it in simple terms (just like I like it) - it's using your social media tools to create a circle of people "around" you who can help you personally and professionally.  

• It's the blogs you read by people who are interested in a similar topic.  
• It's that Pinterest board you look at for ideas for creating lesson plans.  
• It's your LinkedIn network of pros in your field.  
• It's the folks you follow on Twitter from your #blendkit2014 course. 
• It's the Q&A board that you go to.
• Heck, it's even the YouTube channels you follow.

Functions of a PLN: Connect - Collaborate - Contribute

Benefits of a PLN: Teachers become: Aware, Connected, Empowered, Confident, LEARNERS!

Social Networks

I love this top 10 list.  Especially #10.  Get to know the people in the office/class/cubicle next to you. You never know when somebody close by may have the answer you need, be a SME (Subject Matter Expert), know how to use Google forms better than you - or be willing to listen to a lecture and give you constructive feedback.  Foster these relationships.  Add them to LinkedIn.  Get an email address for them.  Follow their professional blogs.  I wouldn't suggest adding them to Facebook...you never know what they might post that you just don't want to know!!!

Once you decide to create your PLN, you need to decide how "active" you want to be.  The graphic above gives you that designers POV.  I'm going to share my own with a few tools I use regularly.

LinkedIn - High Profile, Low Communication, Visit as you like

I'm going to admit upfront that I love LinkedIn.  In fact, if you would like to add me to your PLN, just click on the hyperlink.  I've joined various groups.  Sometimes I respond to posts.  More often than not, I don't but I enjoy reading others responses.  Frankly, if more than 1 person has shared my POV, I don't feel the need to share it again.  

What I like best is being able to message one of the professionals in my past or present without having to constantly following up to ensure I have the most up-to-date contact info.  I can ask a question privately, or in a group (like my Alumni group).  I can connect with other people in my field without having to have them in my circle of friends.

The other great thing is that it doesn't have the junk that goes along with Facebook.  No pictures of your colleague drunk at the Holiday party, very few of the chain posts (if you don't share in the next 5 minutes, you will have this happen...yeah right!), and a healthy separation of home and work.

Blogs - Potentially High Profile, High Communication on your part if blogging, Potentially a big Commitment

Following a blog requires little commitment - you can often get an email when a new post has been added and decide from there if you want to read or respond.  Having your own blog requires a lot more commitment - if you are not posting new material that captures your target audiences attention, well, good luck finding it useful - for you or your followers.  It's not only good, new material but also on a timely basis. 

For me to maintain this blog as it is now, I spend read the weekly chapter, write that summary, and then pick 4 topics that I want to explore more.  I allow myself a minimum of 1-2 hours of research and then at least an hour to write.  Yep, 3+ hours a post. But I want to read content, understand context, find relevant information (and great graphics!) to share.  For this post alone, I visited at least 14 sites!

Twitter - High Profile, High Communication, Highly Addictive!

Twitter is my best friend (and you are welcome to follow me there).  It's the first thing I check in the morning and the last thing at night.  I need my news fix before I roll out of bed or before I am incommunicado while I sleep.  I follow everyone that interests me - people who are provocative and love to debate, people who are "in the know" with different things in my city, people who tend to share what I post, giving me a larger group with whom to share my views.

I follow #hashtags (the # sign followed by wordswithnospaces).  Hot topics tend to trend with hashtags (like #blendkit2014).  Sometimes I come up with some great hashtags, generally they are just silly (like #mmmmmbaconandpeanutbuttergoodness about the Nutty Professor burger I had at Flipburger today).

Anyone who favourites or retweets anything I write gets a profile look and if they share similar interests, I #followback. You can create lists to group together anyone you follow by topic (or however you choose to organize it). Then you can select that list and only see those peoples tweets.

Try it and have fun - but don't say I didn't warn you! It's addictive!!

I think this picture gives you some great ideas for growing your PLN.

Don't forget, PLN's are not just for teachers, but for students too!  If you have a guest come into your class, have them share their twitter handle.  Helping students develop a professional network may lead to summer work or internships, a mentor, or even a collaborator on a project down the road!  Networking is as important, if not more so, than strong resume writing skills!

Other Tools

This video talks about developing more than just your social network.  It talks about grouping together the tools you use regularly like:

• GMail or other Email program
• Skype
• Hangouts or other Instant Messaging
• Bookmarking sites like Diigo
• Google or other search engine
• Pinterest
• Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers
• YouTube
• News Services
• Wikis
• Google Docs
  
  

What tools do you use regularly? What is always open on your computer?  Where can you go for information without asking a colleague?

Just Remember...

The most important thing to remember about PLNs is that data goes both ways.  

It doesn't just flow to you, it flows from you too.  Jump in, join a conversation.  Start a thread.  Write a blog (and share it here!).  When you read, let the author know your thoughts (Does the blog have too many links? Too little content? Is it oversimplified? Do you need a PhD to understand it?  Is it missing a major point?  Did the author brush past a topic that you want more information about?).  I guarantee you that the author would far rather know what their audience wants, instead of guessing! (Yes, it is a bit of a plea - comment below.  Let me know what is or isn't working for you). 

Whatever you do in your PLN, have fun, learn something, and share something. Thank you!