| ...my MOOC experiences |
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Open Online Experience from September 2013 to June 2014
Teaching with Moodle September 2013 Change, Innovation, and Creativity September - October 2013 Understanding Media by Understanding Google September - October 2013
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I have no idea when I first experienced MOOCs. I did take a class from George Siemens and Dave Cormier was part of it, too...way back. It was through Athabasca University in Canada. OH MY GOD! Total chaos for me. I loved the freedom aspect of how to participate since we all sorts of choices. But keeping up with everything even though both George and Dave said it wasn't necessary truly went against what I was used to at that point. This was years before MOOCs, I think, but I could see the start here.
Since then I was in the first MOOCs with George, Dave and Stephen Downes. Interesting and still chaotic for me. I simply couldn't figure out where I belonged or how to do a MOOC. No clear cut instructions on how to do it! You could do a little here and a little there. Nice. I was still totally lost. I kept trying. I didn't know how and where to do a blog, to create and post artifacts, to create a PLN, to share ideas and not react when my posts were totally lost in the sea of gzillion other posts. What the hell?! I knew it was for my learning. Learning is social, right? We here that all the time. What exactly does that mean. Social = other people Social = me + other people Social = interacting with other people Social = other people interacting with me Even though I can be early adopter in that I'm at the front of the line to check things out, it does not mean that I will jump in, drink the koolaid and talk it up. Nope.That is not what I do. I sit back and observe. I participate to find out how it would work for me. I like to follow from a distance and see what happens. MOOCs were innovative and were out there for a few years. Then big money came in and things have changed. We will see how this evolves. For me, the summer of 2013 introduced me to Weebly and that will make a difference to me on many levels. I started this blog as part of a MOOC offered by the University of Hawaii, How to Teach Online. I earned a Master Online Teacher certificate years ago from the University of Illinois. I wanted to check this out. I registered. Followed the instructions to create a blog and uploaded all the that was required. This was all done through Google Docs. Somehow I apparently fell through the cracks of that MOOC. BUT, I decided to continue the blog with a name change to document my experience in MOOCS. In the past I have picked through what I wanted in MOOCS. I never really finished one. I don't know why. There are probably a million reasons or excuses but for me my main interest is learning. I am not interested in certificates or connections. I am ABD because finishing that doctorate would lead me to nothing but being able to say I finished a dissertation. I would not have seen an increase in pay. The high school district where I work doesn't recognize continuing education accomplishments for staff. The only ones rewarded are teachers. I finished the program. I presented my research in several public forums. I created four continuing education classes that I used or 10 years. All good. I was part of a master's cohort program in an online adult education program. It was a long, long time ago, the late 90s.
One class was taught by two professors. One weekend neither one checked in online. This was highly unusual. Neither one had told us that they'd be gone. As a group we felt a bit abandoned and lost. Here we were all adults in an online program wondering where our professors were. In a regular face-to-face program we'd see our professors one a week and never think of them the rest of the week. It's different online. We may not see our fellow students or professors but we know they are out there. Yet, when there is a change in behavior we all react, online or face-to-face it doesn't matter.  I've decided that I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert. Oh, yes, I've been told I'm loud. At times. But overall I'm quiet.
I'm sure we all are a mixture of both introvert or extrovert tendencies. I've just downloaded the book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking We'll see what nuggets of wisdom I will find in that book. It was recommended in the Call Introverts to study "Creativity, Innovation and Change" Study Room at getstudyroom.com. Yep, it's a MOOC from Coursera. Even though I did earn a masters via on online program many years ago, I still believe that in order to teach online you must experience learning online. So, to teach online teachers really should take classes online. They don't have to be only academic classes. You can lean all sorts of fascinating strategies from online teachers not involved in formal education environments! There is a scene in the movie, Amedeus, that has always stayed with me and fits this post.
JOSEPH: Well, Herr Mozart! A good effort. Decidedly that. An excellent effort! You've shown us something quite new today. MOZART: It is new, it is, isn't it, Sire? JOSEPH: Yes, indeed. MOZART: And German? JOSEPH: Oh, yes. Absolutely. German. Unquestionably! MOZART: So then you like it? You really like it, Your Majesty? JOSEPH: Of course I do. It's very good. Of course now and then - just now and then - it gets a touch elaborate. MOZART: What do you mean, Sire? JOSEPH: Well, I mean occasionally it seems to have, how shall one say (he stops in difficulty; to Orsini- Ronberg) How shall one say, Director? ORSINI-ROSENBERG: Too many notes, Your Majesty? JOSEPH: Exactly. Very well put. Too many notes. MOZART: I don't understand. There are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required. Neither more nor less. JOSEPH: My dear fellow, there are in fact only so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening. I think I'm right in saying that, aren't I, Court Composer? SALIERI: Yes! yes! er, on the whole, yes, Majesty MOZART: (to Salieri) But this is absurd! JOSEPH: My dear, young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Cut a few and it will be perfect. MOZART: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? =============== Too many notes...when I first heard this I knew I would never forget it and I haven't! During my doctorate program I was amazed by my fellow cohort members who could write in the academic style. The style that had a zillion words per sentence. The style that had terminology sprinkled throughout that made me have to reread a sentence many times to try to figure it out. I always wondered why academic writing was so dense. I guess it's part of the hoops you have to jump to get that degree. I am ABD. I didn't jump through that hoop. I loved all the other hoops, though. Today I came across this article, "Cut the Clutter" at insidehighered.com. Too many words. Well, we do know that people simple will not read anything that has too many words. It just has to look like too many words and it will be ignored. Emails Get to the point. Use bullets. If people even think it's going to be too many words, they will either decide to read it later, which means never, or they delete it immediately. Online anything Add white space. Add pictures. Write in chunks. And be succinct. I believe there is more skill needed to write simply. Writing long sentences with "too many words" is not impressive. There are generational and professional aspects to academic writing. It depends on professors as to what constitutes rigor. I think that people remember simple, easy writing that makes sense to them. Some remember all that other dense academic stuff and I think that's great for them. It's just not my style. Many teachers today teach online in some capacity. It does not mean that the class is taught totally online or in a blended situation.
Do they use email? Do they use web based resources or applications? Well, to me that's teaching online. No, it's not teaching online in that pure academic definition or arena. No, it's not teaching online where all students have to have a computer or access to one. As long as students have access to the internet via any kind of device, things can work! It's simply teaching. The students are simply learning. Do we really need to make that distinction of online vs face-to-face vs blended vs MOOC vs who know what else will pop up? For now, yes, so that we understand the distinction, I think, between the various teaching environments. Long ago at a conference dedicated to teaching online in Springfield, IL for community college educators I had one of those AHA moments. Teaching and online was fabulous for those students who can read, comprehend and write well. Without top notch reading and writing skills, a student could run into problems. It didn't take me very long to discover which students would have problems. I often suspected it from the very first email they sent to me. My master's program was online way back when in the late 90's. At that time it was all about reading and writing. Reading articles and books. Writing papers and posts. I loved it. It worked perfectly for me. I could never have been in a master's program because of my teaching schedule. I told myself that I would start this blog right away even before the class started so that I could develope the habit. There is no question in my mind that documenting my teaching and learning observations will make a difference to me, and maybe others.
I am a technology integration specialist in a high school on the northshore of Chicago. Yesterday I was in several freshmen physics classes in a tech lab. Our main purpose was to have the students setup their WebAssign account. This online resource will supplement their book. This will be our second year Last year was the first year for WebAssign and getting the students to create their accounts was challenging. Each student has a WebAssign code and there were several steps to setting up their accounts. Freshmen. They have been in high school for three days. Unfortunately, we do not have any tech training for freshmen or other students for that matter. It's not that we haven't tried to get this set up but it's a matter of time. My observation in these classes was that the teacher had all the necessary information for the students. Great. Many student had no idea what their user names or passwords were for our network. Understandable since they were only here three days and we never know what other teachers have covered in their classes. Thought #1 Make no assumptions that students know how to log on to the network. Take a few minutes to go over their user account. What it is and where they will be using it. For example, here it's to log on to school computers, Infinite Campus for schedules and grades, Moodle and Google Apps. And for this class, their WebAssign accounts. Thought #2 All student accounts in webbased programs used by teachers and students should use the school user name and password. This way the students only need to remember their school user name and password. This summer I discovered a new and improved Weebly!
I've been thinking about a website for many years. I'm impressed with Weebly. I liked the drag & drop aspect on how to add elements to a page. Now I'm participating in a number of Moocs and will use Weebly as my blog platform. I'm using Weebly because it offers more than a simple blog platform and it's easy for me. I'm not upgrading to the Pro just yet. This will be a dedicated site & blog for the MOOC How To Teach Online. I will be posting my thoughts & notes to this site. Weebly allows password protection on pages so that will be fun. Here is the link and a bit of info about this MOOC which begins September 2.
Now I have to figure out if I can indent a paragraph without using bullets or numbering. There has to be a way and it might be via HTML. | Bruna OriDreaming, planning and learning for the rest of my life in all sorts of ways. This blog is dedicated to my MOOC experiences. ArchivesCategories |
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