A Manifesto for Community Colleges, Lifelong Learning, and Autodidacts
May 15, 2013 |
by Sean Michael Morris
As some are raised a Catholic or an atheist or a vegetarian, I was raised an academic. The university always had about it a mystique, a cloud of mystery and veneration. Lauded in my household were the values of objectivity, critical thinking, close reading. As early as the fourth grade, my mother took me to her college Shakespeare classes, introduced me to her professors, and indulged me with lunch at the student union. I attended classes with her throughout her undergraduate study; and for years after, I’d walk through campus simply to absorb the essence of the place. Today, I am as much in love with the endeavor of higher education as I am disappointed by its outcomes.
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As some are raised a Catholic or an atheist or a vegetarian, I was raised an academic. The university always had about it a mystique, a cloud of mystery and veneration. Lauded in my household were the values of objectivity, critical thinking, close reading. As early as the fourth grade, my mother took me to her college Shakespeare classes, introduced me to her professors, and indulged me with lunch at the student union. I attended classes with her throughout her undergraduate study; and for years after, I’d walk through campus simply to absorb the essence of the place. Today, I am as much in love with the endeavor of higher education as I am disappointed by its outcomes.
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Of Machine Guns and MOOCs: 21st Century Engineering Disasters
April 24, 2013 |
by Pat Lockley
Victorian hubris opined, “All that can be invented has been invented,” and so we entered the 20th century emboldened with a Titanic which was unsinkable, and a hydrogen-packed Hindenburg. The invention eureka moment is chance, perseverance, sweat -- but also danger. Gone is the slow iteration of change; upon us, the sudden rupture-rapture of the new. No one expects thousands will die in the North Atlantic; no one expects academics to throw themselves on gangways as luddite voices of restraint. If teaching is what we do, do we not owe those seeking to learn a reassurance they are at least on a seaworthy ship? How much of the good ship MOOC is built on the same blueprints as many noble vessels whose buoyancy has long since proved questionable? Somewhere Leonardo di Caprio stands on the bow of Google Reader.
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Victorian hubris opined, “All that can be invented has been invented,” and so we entered the 20th century emboldened with a Titanic which was unsinkable, and a hydrogen-packed Hindenburg. The invention eureka moment is chance, perseverance, sweat -- but also danger. Gone is the slow iteration of change; upon us, the sudden rupture-rapture of the new. No one expects thousands will die in the North Atlantic; no one expects academics to throw themselves on gangways as luddite voices of restraint. If teaching is what we do, do we not owe those seeking to learn a reassurance they are at least on a seaworthy ship? How much of the good ship MOOC is built on the same blueprints as many noble vessels whose buoyancy has long since proved questionable? Somewhere Leonardo di Caprio stands on the bow of Google Reader.
Read More...Learning Beyond Limits: Open Source Collaboration in the Classroom
April 22, 2013 |
by Adam Heidebrink
What happens to a student paper or project after the individual turns it in or presents it in class? Where does it go? What, ultimately, is at stake for the student when s/he sits down to apply his or her thoughts to paper? What mediums do these thoughts and ideas travel through and whom they reach? What impact does their effort make beyond the classroom? These are questions of vital importance to every educator and pedagogue practicing today. Yet, in many cases, the answers to these questions are not particularly noteworthy. Students’ efforts in the classroom ultimately solidify into one definitive mark or grade, which too often denotes the end of the assignment’s life. There is, of course, a small percentage of student projects and papers that make their way into a conference or journal; but more often than not, they will end up archived on a hard-drive, somewhere, for a little while, and then deleted.
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What happens to a student paper or project after the individual turns it in or presents it in class? Where does it go? What, ultimately, is at stake for the student when s/he sits down to apply his or her thoughts to paper? What mediums do these thoughts and ideas travel through and whom they reach? What impact does their effort make beyond the classroom? These are questions of vital importance to every educator and pedagogue practicing today. Yet, in many cases, the answers to these questions are not particularly noteworthy. Students’ efforts in the classroom ultimately solidify into one definitive mark or grade, which too often denotes the end of the assignment’s life. There is, of course, a small percentage of student projects and papers that make their way into a conference or journal; but more often than not, they will end up archived on a hard-drive, somewhere, for a little while, and then deleted.
Read More...Learning in the Collective
April 17, 2013 |
by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown
In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of shared interests and opportunity. In this environment, the participants all stand on equal ground -- no one is assigned to the traditional role of teacher or student. Instead, anyone who has particular knowledge of, or experience with, a given subject may take on the role of mentor at any time. Mentors provide a sense of structure to guide learning, which they may do by listening empathically and by reinforcing intrinsic motivation to help the student discover a voice, a calling, or a passion. Once a particular passion or interest is unleashed, constant interaction among group members, with their varying skills and talents, functions as a kind of peer amplifier, providing numerous outlets, resources, and aids to further an individual’s learning.
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In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of shared interests and opportunity. In this environment, the participants all stand on equal ground -- no one is assigned to the traditional role of teacher or student. Instead, anyone who has particular knowledge of, or experience with, a given subject may take on the role of mentor at any time. Mentors provide a sense of structure to guide learning, which they may do by listening empathically and by reinforcing intrinsic motivation to help the student discover a voice, a calling, or a passion. Once a particular passion or interest is unleashed, constant interaction among group members, with their varying skills and talents, functions as a kind of peer amplifier, providing numerous outlets, resources, and aids to further an individual’s learning.
Read More...Failure, Part of the Creative Process: Anya Kamenetz Twinterview
March 18, 2013 |
by Pete Rorabaugh
On Friday, March 8, I interviewed Anya Kamenetz, author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Change in Higher Education (2010). Kamenetz's writing investigates systemic problems associated with funding, institutional inflexibility, and explores homegrown alternatives. DIY U was one of the first books published in the U.S. to discuss the incipient cMOOC community and also touches on the work of Jim Groom at the University of Mary Washington. In the wake of a year's worth of media-MOOC-craziness, I asked about Kamenetz's reflections since the publication of DIY U, specifically related to innovations within and alternatives to the structure of higher education.
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On Friday, March 8, I interviewed Anya Kamenetz, author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Change in Higher Education (2010). Kamenetz's writing investigates systemic problems associated with funding, institutional inflexibility, and explores homegrown alternatives. DIY U was one of the first books published in the U.S. to discuss the incipient cMOOC community and also touches on the work of Jim Groom at the University of Mary Washington. In the wake of a year's worth of media-MOOC-craziness, I asked about Kamenetz's reflections since the publication of DIY U, specifically related to innovations within and alternatives to the structure of higher education.
Read More...Of Icebergs and Ownership: A Common-Sense Approach to Intellectual Property
February 18, 2013 |
by Robin Wharton
Instead of taking decisions out of the hands of students by establishing bright lines about what they may and may not do with their own and others' work, we should instead concentrate on the pedagogical goal of helping them hone their rhetorical awareness. As a general rule, addressing intellectual property issues as part of the rhetorical context within which students are working can help them cultivate a better understanding of discipline-specific attitudes towards ownership, sharing, and attribution. Rather than focusing on regulatory compliance, classroom discussions of copyright and intellectual property should center around ethos and the implicit and explicit obligations professional communities impose upon their members and “outsiders” who wish to communicate effectively within them.
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Instead of taking decisions out of the hands of students by establishing bright lines about what they may and may not do with their own and others' work, we should instead concentrate on the pedagogical goal of helping them hone their rhetorical awareness. As a general rule, addressing intellectual property issues as part of the rhetorical context within which students are working can help them cultivate a better understanding of discipline-specific attitudes towards ownership, sharing, and attribution. Rather than focusing on regulatory compliance, classroom discussions of copyright and intellectual property should center around ethos and the implicit and explicit obligations professional communities impose upon their members and “outsiders” who wish to communicate effectively within them.
Read More...Somewhere Between a Course and a Community: Alec Couros Twinterview
January 17, 2013 |
by Pete Rorabaugh
Last Friday, January 11, 2013, I asked Alec Couros to join me for an hour-long Twinterview. It was the weekend before the launch of #ETMOOC, his brainchild, and I wanted to get some context and history for his digital work before he began another connectivist adventure. Our conversation roamed from his first experiences in the cMOOC (even pre-MOOC) community, academic influences on his "open thinking" philosophy, reflections on publication and tenure, and his motivation to organize #ETMOOC.
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Last Friday, January 11, 2013, I asked Alec Couros to join me for an hour-long Twinterview. It was the weekend before the launch of #ETMOOC, his brainchild, and I wanted to get some context and history for his digital work before he began another connectivist adventure. Our conversation roamed from his first experiences in the cMOOC (even pre-MOOC) community, academic influences on his "open thinking" philosophy, reflections on publication and tenure, and his motivation to organize #ETMOOC.
Read More...Learn Like an Arachnid: Why I’m MOOCifying
January 15, 2013 |
by Janine DeBaise
Every fall when I ask my first year students, “Why did you choose the College of Environmental Science and Forestry?” at least one will answer, “I want to save the world.” By the time they are sophomores, my students have taken rigorous science courses that focus on environmental issues. When they do group projects in the research/composition course I teach, I’m impressed with their topics, the depth of their knowledge, and their passion. What seems wrong is that their presentations are only to each other. Sure, they invite their friends, but at a small college where everyone takes a whole bunch of the same courses, that’s not a very satisfying audience. The students teach me and have changed me -- dramatically -- but I shouldn’t be the only person to benefit from their knowledge and fresh ideas.
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Every fall when I ask my first year students, “Why did you choose the College of Environmental Science and Forestry?” at least one will answer, “I want to save the world.” By the time they are sophomores, my students have taken rigorous science courses that focus on environmental issues. When they do group projects in the research/composition course I teach, I’m impressed with their topics, the depth of their knowledge, and their passion. What seems wrong is that their presentations are only to each other. Sure, they invite their friends, but at a small college where everyone takes a whole bunch of the same courses, that’s not a very satisfying audience. The students teach me and have changed me -- dramatically -- but I shouldn’t be the only person to benefit from their knowledge and fresh ideas.
Read More...Personal Learning Networks: Knowledge Sharing as Democracy
January 03, 2013 |
by Alison Seaman
Sherry Turkle famously argues technology has begun to overtake our attention and time, which has led to increased physical isolation and shallow online interaction. She contends, in a community-starved world, we need to disconnect from our smartphones and other Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabling devices in order to create greater balance: “We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true ... If we don’t teach our children to be alone, they will know only how to be lonely”. Detractors such as David Banks, Nathan Jurgenson and others counter that Turkle’s assessment of alienation creates a digital dualism. As David Banks at Cyborgology suggests, it may be more appropriate instead to consider our technique—how we use technology.
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Sherry Turkle famously argues technology has begun to overtake our attention and time, which has led to increased physical isolation and shallow online interaction. She contends, in a community-starved world, we need to disconnect from our smartphones and other Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabling devices in order to create greater balance: “We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true ... If we don’t teach our children to be alone, they will know only how to be lonely”. Detractors such as David Banks, Nathan Jurgenson and others counter that Turkle’s assessment of alienation creates a digital dualism. As David Banks at Cyborgology suggests, it may be more appropriate instead to consider our technique—how we use technology.
Read More...A MOOC is not a Thing: Emergence, Disruption, and Higher Education
November 19, 2012 |
by Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stommel
A MOOC is not a thing. A MOOC is a strategy. What we say about MOOCs cannot possibly contain their drama, banality, incessance, and proliferation. The MOOC is a variant beast -- placental, emergent, alienating, enveloping, sometimes thriving, sometimes dead, sometimes reborn. There is also nothing about a MOOC that can be contained. Try as they might, MOOC-makers like Coursera, EdX, and Udacity cannot keep their MOOCs to themselves, because when we join a MOOC, it is not to learn new content, new skills, new knowledge, it is to learn new learning. Entering a MOOC is entering Wonderland -- where modes of learning are turned sideways and on their heads -- and we walk away MOOCified.
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A MOOC is not a thing. A MOOC is a strategy. What we say about MOOCs cannot possibly contain their drama, banality, incessance, and proliferation. The MOOC is a variant beast -- placental, emergent, alienating, enveloping, sometimes thriving, sometimes dead, sometimes reborn. There is also nothing about a MOOC that can be contained. Try as they might, MOOC-makers like Coursera, EdX, and Udacity cannot keep their MOOCs to themselves, because when we join a MOOC, it is not to learn new content, new skills, new knowledge, it is to learn new learning. Entering a MOOC is entering Wonderland -- where modes of learning are turned sideways and on their heads -- and we walk away MOOCified.
Read More...Bright Lines and Golden Rules: Copyright, Fair Use, Critical Pedagogy
September 05, 2012 |
by Robin Wharton
The slippery semiotics of the word “fair” render fair use/dealing a murky and changeable concept. What is “fair” in one set of circumstances will not be “fair” in another. […] When I was a practicing attorney, I thought answering the question, “Is this fair use?,” with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” was a pretty good strategy. Because context matters in the fair use/dealing analysis, many professionals can do a quick fairness check by asking how they might respond as a copyright owner to whatever use they might be contemplating.
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The slippery semiotics of the word “fair” render fair use/dealing a murky and changeable concept. What is “fair” in one set of circumstances will not be “fair” in another. […] When I was a practicing attorney, I thought answering the question, “Is this fair use?,” with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” was a pretty good strategy. Because context matters in the fair use/dealing analysis, many professionals can do a quick fairness check by asking how they might respond as a copyright owner to whatever use they might be contemplating.
Read More...Learning as Performance: MOOC Pedagogy and On-ground Classes
August 24, 2012 |
by Chris Friend
I once heard an interesting story about my former collegiate marching-band instructor, Dr. Richard Greenwood. According to legend, Greenwood once held up the score to an extensive piece the band was working on, pointed to it, and said, to the surprise of those around him holding instruments, "This is not the music we are playing. This is not the song we are performing. This is only a map. It's a guide to get us where the composer wants us to go." He then went on to discuss the merits of interpretation, flexibility, and improvisation within a framework.
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I once heard an interesting story about my former collegiate marching-band instructor, Dr. Richard Greenwood. According to legend, Greenwood once held up the score to an extensive piece the band was working on, pointed to it, and said, to the surprise of those around him holding instruments, "This is not the music we are playing. This is not the song we are performing. This is only a map. It's a guide to get us where the composer wants us to go." He then went on to discuss the merits of interpretation, flexibility, and improvisation within a framework.
Read More...A MOOC by Any Other Name
August 13, 2012 |
by Hundreds in Google Docs
On August 13, as part of a collaborative exercise in Hybrid Pedagogy’s MOOC MOOC, nearly 500 participants worked together in seven separate documents to create essays about MOOCs. They were given specific parameters -- half a day, cite three sources, write exactly 1,000 words, and illustrate with an image. Working in sections of about 50 participants each, each group succeeding in massively co-authoring, and massively peer-reviewing their articles. The article below stood out as one ready to publish, but all the articles were noteworthy. We’ve included a short Storify at the end of the complete piece below, including links to all the Google Docs in which the essays were written.
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On August 13, as part of a collaborative exercise in Hybrid Pedagogy’s MOOC MOOC, nearly 500 participants worked together in seven separate documents to create essays about MOOCs. They were given specific parameters -- half a day, cite three sources, write exactly 1,000 words, and illustrate with an image. Working in sections of about 50 participants each, each group succeeding in massively co-authoring, and massively peer-reviewing their articles. The article below stood out as one ready to publish, but all the articles were noteworthy. We’ve included a short Storify at the end of the complete piece below, including links to all the Google Docs in which the essays were written.
Read More...Audrey Watters Wrestles with MOOCs
August 11, 2012 |
by Pete Rorabaugh
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as they are situated both inside and outside of traditional higher education institutions, naturally raise questions about those institutions. My recent article, "Occupy the Digital: Critical Pedagogy and New Media," began to uncover some of those questions. In that article, I assert "that academic work must be useful beyond its tower and that digital culture offers new opportunities to achieve that goal." Perhaps MOOCs are a way to take academic work beyond its traditional boundaries. Or perhaps MOOCs are so extra-institutional that they will work no real changes on higher education. I recently invited Audrey Watters to an interview over Twitter to discuss what road MOOCs might be paving for us all. Both of us will also be participating in MOOC MOOC, an experimental, investigative one-week course hosted by Hybrid Pedagogy. This interview is an invitation behind the critical lens of MOOC MOOC.
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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as they are situated both inside and outside of traditional higher education institutions, naturally raise questions about those institutions. My recent article, "Occupy the Digital: Critical Pedagogy and New Media," began to uncover some of those questions. In that article, I assert "that academic work must be useful beyond its tower and that digital culture offers new opportunities to achieve that goal." Perhaps MOOCs are a way to take academic work beyond its traditional boundaries. Or perhaps MOOCs are so extra-institutional that they will work no real changes on higher education. I recently invited Audrey Watters to an interview over Twitter to discuss what road MOOCs might be paving for us all. Both of us will also be participating in MOOC MOOC, an experimental, investigative one-week course hosted by Hybrid Pedagogy. This interview is an invitation behind the critical lens of MOOC MOOC.
Read More...Broadcast Education: a Response to Coursera
July 26, 2012 |
by Sean Michael Morris
Coursera is silly. Educational technology news has been all a-flutter over the last few months about the work that Coursera is doing to bring higher education into the open. But I tell you what: I signed up for one of their classes -- a course on Science Fiction and Fantasy from the University of Michigan -- only to discover something really startling. Really: startling.
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Coursera is silly. Educational technology news has been all a-flutter over the last few months about the work that Coursera is doing to bring higher education into the open. But I tell you what: I signed up for one of their classes -- a course on Science Fiction and Fantasy from the University of Michigan -- only to discover something really startling. Really: startling.
Read More...The March of the MOOCs: Monstrous Open Online Courses
July 23, 2012 |
by Jesse Stommel
MOOCs are a red herring. The MOOC didn’t appear last week, out of a void, vacuum-packed. The MOOC has been around for years, biding its time. Still, the recent furor about MOOCs, which some have called “hysteria,” opens important questions about higher education, digital pedagogy, and online learning. The MOOCs themselves aren’t what’s really at stake. In spite of the confused murmurs in the media, MOOCs won’t actually chomp everything in their path. And they aren’t an easy solution to higher education’s financial crisis. In fact, a MOOC isn’t anything at all, just a methodological approach, with no inherent value except insofar as it’s used.
Read More...
MOOCs are a red herring. The MOOC didn’t appear last week, out of a void, vacuum-packed. The MOOC has been around for years, biding its time. Still, the recent furor about MOOCs, which some have called “hysteria,” opens important questions about higher education, digital pedagogy, and online learning. The MOOCs themselves aren’t what’s really at stake. In spite of the confused murmurs in the media, MOOCs won’t actually chomp everything in their path. And they aren’t an easy solution to higher education’s financial crisis. In fact, a MOOC isn’t anything at all, just a methodological approach, with no inherent value except insofar as it’s used.
Read More...