I’ve been doing a lot of digital “makes” this week for the Making Learning Connected MOOC, and it seemed like it was time to get off the screen and get my hands dirty. While I am not a gardener (and don’t play one on the Internet), I am the vigilant Compost Man in our home. So, what I make is black gold — the rich soil that grows our veggies and flowers.
Peace (in the dirt),
Kevin
We hosted our first Twitter Chat last night, and boy, talk about a mad rush of ideas. I’ve taken part in chats before, but to be (with my friend, Terry) one of the facilitators as tweets come fast and furious was interesting and little breathtaking in its pace and speed. The hour flew by and before I knew it, we had begun and ended. In between those time warp moments, though, a slew of folks chimed in about where they were from, what they were doing in the Making Learning Connected MOOC, how they were making connections, and more.
Topics moved from the digital versus non-digital “makes,” and the use of infographics in the classrooms, and how to make connections with others outside of the MOOC. There was more sharing of technology tools, and instructions on how to begin to establish stronger connections within the community.
It was fascinating to see the conversations unfolding, blasting down the screen. Terry and I had a list of questions ready, which we popped into the mix every now and then, but for the most part, our job was welcoming folks and validating ideas, and asking questions to spur the conversations further along. You know the phrase, herding cats? That was what it was like, but in a good way, as if all the cats were purring and ready for play.
And in fact, the beauty of the MOOC community that we are helping to establish is that it can be self-sufficient, and supportive from within, with only minimal structural help from the facilitators. That’s a wonderful thing.
Peace (in the reflection),
Kevin
We invite you to come join us for the first Twitter Chat for the Making Learning Connected Massive Open Online Collaboration (MOOC) as we explore how the first week of the MOOC has been going, give some teasers of where the MOOC is headed, make visible some of the connections to the Connected Learning principles, and answer questions that YOU may have about the summer project (already with hundreds of teachers involved).
The Twitter Chat — facilitated this week by Terry Elliott (@tellio) and myself (@dogtrax) — will be taking place tonight (Thursday June 20) from 8-9 p.m. Eastern/ 5-6 p.m. Pacific / 6-7 p.m. Mountain/ 7-8 p.m. Central with the #clmooc hashtag. If you have never taken part in a Twitter Chat, it’s OK. We have designed a resource guide to help you get started: http://blog.nwp.org/clmooc/guide/getting-started-with-twitter-and-twitter-chats/
A Twitter Chat is a freewheeling conversation that is anchored on Twitter with a hashtag (in this case, we are using #clmooc) that then later gets archived and shared back out to the community.
It’s OK to lurk and see what it’s all about. We do invite you to participate, too, if you are interested, and we encourage you to make connections with others in the Making Learning Connected community. This could be done any number of ways, but finding common hashtags in Twitter and Google Plus is one possibility. (We built a resource about Google Plus, too.)
I hope to “see” you there, as we extend our MOOC conversations in every little corner of the Internet.
Peace (in the chat),
Kevin
In the span of just a few days, I’ve come across some amazing ideas for digital “makes” in the Making Learning Connected MOOC that I am helping to co-facilitate. Here are a few of the things I’ve been creating as part of the introductory activities.
Yesterday, a member of the community began to make memes for the MOOC, and she is going to try to set up a system of memes to emerge over the six weeks of work. Memes are interesting, but only if they come viral in a community, and if you begin to try to make them, you realize how difficult it is to wed the right snarky words to the right snarky picture. I gave it a try but I don’t think either of these will be viral. I’m going to keep trying, though.
Using an app called WordFoto, I was able to upload an image of myself and then add in key words that I wanted to layer on top of my image. The result is interesting — it’s as if words become the picture. I liked that I did have choices, and there are just a few tools that can use to manipulate the texture of the image. Still, I wish I had more options in the creating. If I did, I would have pulled the words back a bit as shadows, instead of having the photo be in the way back (the result is a bit like a zombie, don’t you think?)
During the first days of the MOOC, lots of folks jumped into Vizify, which is a graphical biography that pulls data from your social networking connections. You don’t do much, other than allow it access to your streams. But I did find its Twitter tool sort of interesting, as it makes your Twitter data into a video.
I had also used a Mozilla Thimble site that my friend Chad had set up for folks to share out their “last 10 books read” and it came out pretty nifty, but now, my Thimble book site seems to be down (Mozilla did some updates on Thimble and other tools this week and so I am hopeful this is just temporary.) So, I can’t share out the site but I can share out the image of the books that I used as the centerpiece of the site:
Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin
My friend, Terry Elliott, and I created the first “Make with Me” video for the Making Learning Connected MOOC, and we decided to focus on podcasting. Using audio was one of the suggested “makes” for the first week of introductions, and we wanted to be able to share out a few simple tools to lower the barrier for folks. We urge you to give podcasting a try, and to put your voice out into the world.
Peace (in the make),
Kevin
Tomorrow marks the official launch of the Making Learning Connected Massive Open Online Collaboration, and boy, it is exciting to think about getting this adventure off the ground after weeks of planning. As one of the facilitators, I have been working hard with the others to get all the pieces in place necessary for you to have a grand ol’ time this summer. (What? You haven’t signed up? Come join us.) We have tutorials, guides, suggestions, and more … all with an eye to help you get the most out of the MOOC.
On Saturday morning, we will be posting our first Make Cycle post (we’ve designed the MOOC around Make Cycles, which will have various themes to consider), followed by a newsletter, and then the start of some introductory activities. We’re aiming to ease folks into the MOOC experience.
I created this diagram to help me visualize how the interactions and connections might take place. Since we’re really honing in on the open part of the adventure, the sharing and connected spaces are decentralized, hovering around the participants. That mean that things may be taking place in different spaces, at different times, and the challenge is to keep some of those threads together. Maybe this will help you conceptualize it, too.
We will be repeating this message a lot: You are in charge of making meaning of the MOOC. You enter the conversations and Make Cycles where it works for you, you participate when you can, you guide your learning. It’s OK to lurk and check things out, It’s OK to just follow on Twitter, or take part in our Google Plus community, or to blog in your own space, or write in your network area. This MOOC is about you, not us, although we do hope you will make connections.
So, come on and make something with us this summer. We can’t wait to connect with you.
Peace (in the adventure),
Kevin
Over at the Making Learning Connected MOOC (which launches this coming week!), I created a few webcomics to illustration our Frequently Asked Questions page. It was a way to have some fun, but also get information out about what participants might be wondering about. Here is the collection:
Come join the adventure by signing up (it’s free!) for the Making Learning Connected MOOC adventure this summer.
Peace (in the frames),
Kevin
And our collection of teasers for this summer’s Making Learning Connected MOOC continues …
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The digital poster can be accessed directly: http://mrhodgson.edu.glogster.com/making-learning-connected
You can now sign up at the Making Learning Connected website: http://blog.nwp.org/clmooc/ The activities launch on June 15, and we want to invite you to join everyone in a summer of learning, making and fun.
Peace (in sparking your interest),
Kevin
Here is another teaser that I created for our Making Learning Connected MOOC, set to launch on June 15. You can sign up at http://blog.nwp.org/clmooc/ and join the summer fun. I wrote the song, using the Garageband app and my own words. The Mookle image comes from my friend, Chad.
Peace (in the MOOC),
Kevin
Here’s another teaser that I created for our Making Learning Connected MOOC, set to launch June 15. But you can sign up over at the website: http://blog.nwp.org/clmooc/
Peace (in the MOOC),
Kevin