Some thoughts on Dave Cormier’s Massive Open Online Courses for Network Creation

From the beginning of this course I stated that my intention was to explore how we can use the MOOC model and principles to engender the “large-scale and rapid social transformations I believe we need in this time of change, challenge and crisis.” (I’m not so much interested in the content of #PLENK2010 – PLEs & PLNs – as I am in the process.)

Dave Cormier’s video of a draft presentation touches upon this idea.

In the video Dave talks about how the MOOC model can be used to leverage the social web for:

1) Effective collaboration
2) Network creation
3) As a platform to learn how to use social media effectively

This takes the MOOC model well beyond a course for learning and speaks to what I’m interested in doing with it.

I would like to add the following possibilities to the list:

4) Community-building
5) Peer support and learning
6) Crowd-sourcing solutions

I’m sure there are many more.

So what interests me is whether the MOOC model be used to create an issue- or topic-based open network?

But what about the name?

An issue that has always bothered me about terms such as PLE & PLN is that they don’t seem relevant to the average user of social media. These people are using what we in educator-land call PLEs and PLNs all the time but they don’t call them that.

Of course social media users on the web are learning, but they are also creating and sharing and networking and a whole bunch of other things (in fact learners are doing this with their PLEs and PLNs too!). They don’t single out “learning” as the focus of what they do, yet lifelong & lifewide learning is embedded in what they do.

Are these terms self-marginalising? Do they limit the concept to the education sector only?

This takes us back to the term “MOOC” which, after all, stands for Massive Online Open Course.

If the goal is to extend the MOOC model beyond a strict learning or education focus then shouldn’t we come up with another name for it? Wouldn’t calling it a “course” hold it back from its full potential?

Suggestions?

What about Massive Open Online Network?

Or Massive Online Network, since it’s only open in relation to historically closed courses anyway?

Or what about Massive Network, since the “online” is a given and therefore superfluous?

What about just Network, as they can small or large, depending on need?

Does it really even need a name?

Participating in a MOOC is like dining at a banquet

So I was checking the #plenk2010 Twitter stream on Hootsuite the day after our first PLENK2010 Elluminate session (recording available here) and I saw a lot of re-tweets for this blog post – PLENK 2010: Just Like ‘Watching Football’ – by Stefanie Panke. (Stefanie later got a mention by George in The Daily).

Stefanie doing a great job of knowledge curating

Stefanie’s post is a review of the Elluminate session. She writes about coping with the surfeit of information involved in a Massive Online Open Course and reports:

Stephen Downes encouraged participants to be selective in their attention and activities within the class. “Think of it as football. People do not stop watching football just because they cannot watch everything!”

(I quipped I’d be paying selective attention to the hot dogs at the time!)

Then in the post comments George Siemens pointed to a post by Leigh Blackall which in turn led me to George’s slideshow at SlideShare on Curatorial Teaching.

Cafeteria or buffet?

The sixth slide in the show is on the “Cafeteria approach to education”. The picture George used to illustrate this (see above, I hope George doesn’t mind me pinching it) looks less like a cafeteria to me and more like a smorgasbord or buffet.

And that got me thinking: to me, approaching a MOOC as I would approach a smorgasbord or buffet makes a lot of sense (and not just because I’m a foodie! :-))

You say metaphorical, I say analogical

Here are some of the ways I see dining at a banquet/smorgasbord/buffet as being analogous to participating in a MOOC.

• You are responsible for getting your own meal.
• You serve yourself when you are ready, rather than being served by someone else when they are ready.
• There is a wonderful array of choices, with something to satisfy everyone.
• We can pick and choose according to our own unique tastes and nutritional needs (I’m allergic to the Moodle forum. I just have to look at it and I break out in a cold sweat! :-))
• There’s way more than I could ever consume (or even taste), yet I can appreciate the diversity of the food without having to eat, or even try, all of it.
• If I try to take in everything I would just make myself sick. It’s possible to over-consume, whether it’s food or information. We need to be selective, learn to discriminate and not be too greedy!
• I can get all the necessary nutrients and nourishment I need without eating everything on offer.
• There are many things I have no interest in, and that’s just fine. It’s horses for courses (although steer clear of restaurants that offer horses for courses).
• If I try something and I don’t like it, I don’t have to eat it. I can go back and choose something else.
• We don’t have to test everything ourselves. We can ask others what they recommend. And we can steer clear of the dodgy prawns if people are screwing up their noses and leaving them uneaten on the side of their plates.
• I can sample a much wider range of foods than I would be able to if I was just ordering a single dish from a menu. I can have a bit of this and a bit of that.
• I can try new things I might never have tried if I was restricted to meals on a menu.
• I can make up my own crazy combinations that wouldn’t make sense to others. Brussel sprouts and cheesecake? No worries!
• I can make choices authorities may not approve of. Your Mum may not have let you pile your plate high with roast beef and nothing else, but if you want to, knock yourself (and your arteries) out!
• There is a sense that we are participating in a shared social experience (any shared meal would do this, I guess, although I find buffets to be particularly fun).
• It’s a more efficient system. You can eat as little or as much as you like, yet it still works out as affordable. There is less waste than when everyone is given the same meal size. Those who eat more are balanced out by those who eat less. You only take what you need.

Okay, I’m not so sure about the last one. Does it make sense to talk about efficiencies and waste in the digital realm where information is infinitely reproducible and distributable at virtually no cost?

But there is a sense in which MOOCs seem an efficient use of money and resources, by providing broader access to the learning experience for the same costs (to the institution) as traditional courses. The Wikipedia entry for buffet describes it as “a popular method for feeding a large number of people with minimal staff” and that seems to fit.

Football or food?

The smorgasbord analogy talks about consumption and so for me it’s a better analogy than the football analogy which talks about attention. When I consume something I take it in and digest it. When I’m giving something my attention that seems like a much more passive act to me.

What do you think? Does the analogy work for you? Can you see any other ways we can extend it?

Analogies can be wonderful things!

It’s surprising how powerful analogy can be. When Stephen mentioned the selective attention football analogy I felt a shift within myself. I relaxed and felt more confident about dealing with the information flow from the MOOC, and I saw others in the Elluminate chat have a similar moment. From the number of times it’s been re-tweeted it seems that the analogy struck a chord with many people.

For me the smorgasbord analogy takes that feeling of being able to relax and yet feel more in control even further.

It’s all a good reminder how right-brain activities like analogy, metaphor, imagery and symbolism can be just as effective in learning and cognitive change as rational thought.

Easier said than done

Of course, all of this is easier said than done. I still have a tendency towards gluttony. I have to keep reminding myself to pace myself. Too much of a good thing can still make you sick. I have a tendency to want to take it all in. This of course, is fear: fear that I will miss out on something; fear there will never be enough; fear that I won’t be good enough.

Abundance is good

To me, one of the greatest strengths, and greatest challenges, of a MOOC is the sense of abundance. We are provided with a veritable cornucopia of choices. This is a good thing. I’d rather have too much than not enough. When there is abundance we can choose to be overwhelmed or we can choose to relax and enjoy the plethora of options.

Now eat, drink and be merry!

So let’s tuck into the feast that is the PLENK2010 MOOC banquet and dine to our heart’s content (without pigging out)!

I’m baaaaack! And I’m reviving this blog for the PLENK2010 MOOC

I’m back, and I’ve been inspired to emerge from my (latest!) blogging hiatus by Personal Learning Environments, Networks, and Knowledge 2010 (#PLENK2010), a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) facilitated by George Siemens, Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier & Rita Kopp.

Well, that’s a surprise!

I am surprised to find myself engaged in a course on Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) and Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). These were topics that were of a great interest to me back in the days when I was actively involved in the elearning, online learning and ed-tech sector, but I swore off this field in the mid 2008 (see Where in the World Wide Web is Sean?)

No more ed-tech for me, no siree!

I’d had enough. It wasn’t for me. I wasn’t making the impact I had hoped for. I seemed to be hitting my head against a brick wall all the time. (However, on reflection I’ve realised that the brick wall was internal, caused by my own fears, which led me to hold back from saying the things I wanted to say. No wonder I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere, I didn’t feel heard and I end up feeling unsatisfied.)

Since then I’ve been off exploring (the not too inconsequential problems of) the state of the world, how we got to be in the situation we are in, and what we can do about it.

Finishing unfinished business

Now the emergence of the PLENK2010 MOOC has had me reviewing and thinking about that earlier period of my life and made me realise that there are many things I didn’t say back then – mainly because of a block I had about expressing opinions publicly – that I’d like to say now. I believe the MOOC will give me that opportunity.

New applications of old knowledge

I also feel that the principles underpinning PLEs, PLNs, MOOCs, and the pedagogical models and philosophies that accompany them – such as free and open learning, Networked Learning and Connectivism – offer great hope for creating the type of large-scale and rapid social transformations I believe are needed in this time of change, challenge and crisis.

I’d like to use this course to explore ideas about how we can use these tools, strategies and methodologies to create what one of my favourite thinkers, Charles Eisenstein, calls “the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible.”

Coming out of hibernation

So, after many years of self-imposed sequestration, I’ve decided to “go public” again, so to speak, and reconnect with the world.

The timing is a bit earlier than I had planned – I haven’t quite finished working through my ideas and gathering my resources for my new projects yet – but maybe waiting for things to be “perfect” rather than sharing my unfolding process has been part of my problem with expressing myself all along.

Although it feels weird and a bit scary, getting involved in the MOOC does feel like the right thing to do.

But how long will it last?

I’m not sure how involved I’ll be. And I might lose interest, especially if I’m not learning anything new, or if it gets too overwhelming (staying abreast of the things I’m interested in is hard enough without taking on a crazy, full-on MOOC about topics I thought I’d left behind!) We shall see.

Staying in this part of the blogosphere for now

I had intended to walk away from this blog and leave it behind when I left the ed-tech sector, but it seems like the logical place to continue to share my thoughts, ideas and explorations regarding the topics related to the PLENK2010 course.

So I’ve brushed the dust of this ol’ thang, picked a new blog template and revamped the design a little to reflect the it’s new purpose. All up I haven’t expended much energy on the changes, so if my interest does wane then nothing will be wasted.

I plan to publish my thoughts on other things I’ve been exploring elsewhere in due course.

For now, let the MOOCly adventure begin!

links for 2009-01-02

• Jokosher
  Jokosher is a simple yet powerful multi-track studio. With it you can create and record music, podcasts and more, all from an integrated simple environment.
  (tags: music software opensource audio linux ubuntu sound)
• NeC’réation – La boutique – SLOP
  SLOP is a tool that converts builds made into Second Life or OpenSim in a format that is compatible with either one of the worlds.
  (tags: secondlife opensim software tools)
• Livestation | Watch instant, interactive, live TV on your desktop
  Watch the world’s leading TV channels in the highest quality plus your favourite web channels, all in one free player.
  (tags: video web2.0 software tv)
• SCHOOL for TOMORROW :: ▪ About Us ▪
  School for Tomorrow (SFT) is a private, nonprofit secondary school (grades 6-12) opening in September 2009 in Montgomery County, Maryland with a one-of-a-kind, cutting edge education model designed for the 21st century.
  (tags: education learning school)
• edtechpost » PLE Diagrams
  As preparation for a workshop I am giving this fall I thought it would be interesting to collect together all the diagrams of PLEs I could find, as a compare and contrast sort of exercise. Dave Cormier.
  (tags: web2.0 education learning elearning ple)
• Learning Technologies Centre Research Blog » Systematization of Education: Room for PLEs?
  LMS’ speak the language of the current power structure in education: control, accountability, manageability. PLEs, in contrast, are concerned with individuals and personal learning – at least a partial return to ancient education models. Most discussions of PLEs address the individual learning opportunities they afford…but fail to move into a discussion of the reasons why they are still fringe tools. And will continue to be so until power relationships change.
  (tags: education learning elearning ple lms web2.0)

links for 2008-12-22

• | The Public Domain |
  James Boyle introduces readers to the idea of the public domain and describes how it is being tragically eroded by our current copyright, patent, and trademark laws. In a series of fascinating case studies, Boyle explains why gene sequences, basic business ideas and pairs of musical notes are now owned, why jazz might be illegal if it were invented today, why most of 20th century culture is legally unavailable to us, and why today’s policies would probably have smothered the World Wide Web at its inception.
  (tags: opensource creativecommons copyright)
• Prof tries to dial down greenhouse emissions from cellphone use
  A report by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative says the power it takes to send and receive signals from cellphones and other wireless electronics creates the same amount of carbon dioxide per year as that generated by the aviation industry. According the report, 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is generated worldwide each year to keep communications towers buzzing.
  (tags: technology mobile sustainability)
• The Internet Tidal Wave
  Bill Gates wrote a paper titled The Internet Tidal Wave in 1995. It’s a concept that’s been used quite extensively since then. This was the document used as prove of the real concern od Bill Gates about Netscape's browser (Navigator) on the Anti-trust process at the and of the Browser War I.
  (tags: internet software)
• ViOS – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  ViOS (Visual Internet Operating System) was a client-server software system designed by Julian Lombardi in the mid-1990s and built by a team he led at ViOS Inc. from 1999-2001 as a way of spatially organizing all Internet-deliverable resources (including web pages) into a massively-scaled multiuser 3D environment with users of the system represented as customizable avatars. The basic concept behind the "ViOS 3D Internet Viewer" was to take the virtual world of the entire Internet and adapt it to a physical representation of large virtual landscape, complete with mountains, rivers and cities. This approach was taken because of the belief that virtual landscapes resembling our physical world are more conducive to exploration and social interaction than the flat and abstracted world of the current document-based Internet.
  (tags: internet virtualworlds metaverse 3d interface)
• One in five teens engaged in 'tech sex' – web – Technology – smh.com.au
  One in five US teens has sent nude or partially-clothed images of themselves to someone by email or mobile phone and twice as many have sent sexually suggestive electronic messages, a survey shows.
  (tags: onlinesafety technology teens)
• Export your Tumblr blog to WordPress « Web 0.2 – Hao Chen
  Fresh off the press, just finished coding a tool to that will export all the posts in your Tumblr blog into an XML file. You can then import that XML file into your WordPress.com blog or self-hosted WordPress blog.
  (tags: tools wordpress)