Create a Visitors and Residents map for yourself, considering the technologies you use (e.g. email, VLE, blog, Facebook, Skype, Google, etc.), using the personal/institutional axis as well as the visitors/resident one. There is not a definitive list of technologies, you should include any technologies you use regularly (for example, if you are a keen user of Flickr, add that). You can use a tool such as Word, or Powerpoint to create the grid, or a drawing package if you have…

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Write a short blog post suggesting one additional technology that is important for open education, either from the role of a learner or a provider. The technology can be one that has been significant, or one that you feel is going to become increasingly relevant. Internet Streaming for Open Education One additional technology I think will become increasingly important for open education is Internet streaming. I realise that the ability to and technology for streaming live on the internet is…

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1. Were you convinced by rhizomatic learning as an approach? I found rhizomatic learning an interesting concept. The growth of Bamboo is a useful visual metaphor for the learning experience. This approach seems to be designed more to prepare learners for dealing with uncertainty than would be the case with rote instruction. There is an emphasis on learners deciding/discovering what they need to know then researching this within a community. As Cormier (2012) alludes to when describing his early work…

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Take the description of the short course on digital skills that you developed in Week 8 and recast it, so that it adopts a highly connectivist approach. Staff Digital Induction In this course the participants receive an introduction to computing services in our context. The cohort will share their corporate blogs (if they wish to do so) where they will post their contributions.  Some blogs posted by experienced members of staff will be linked in week 2. Week Topic Activities…

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In this activity we are asked to read a blog post by Robin DeRosa then consider how a course we have studied (maybe this one) could use such an approach. What might be the drawbacks and benefits? DeRosa (2016) describes the process of creating two OERs (textbooks). The initial motivation was to save students some money from their reading list. The result of the student’s participation in the project has had much greater consequences than saving money. Textbook 1: Consolidate…

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In this activity we are asked to create a visual representation of the tools, resources and people in our PLNs. I have chosen to use H5P to highlight some of the connections I make. At the top are the various external organisations and people I interact with. This is not only in educational settings but those who provide learning opportunities for me as I do for them. In the middle section my workplace context and at the bottom some of…

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For activity 14 I have chosen to compare the technological, pedagogical and general philosophical approach of the Digital Storytelling (DS106) course to “How To Teach Online: Providing Continuity for Students” (HTTO) provided by FutureLearn (2020). Technology DS106: The Digital Storytelling course DS106 provided by UMW (2020). This is a for-credit course running alongside a MOOC allowing open participation in the course. The MOOC website is constructed as a ‘hub’ type of website. There is a lot of information on the…

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“Before we examine MOOCs in more detail, briefly consider if the MOOC approach could be adopted in your own area of education or training.” Having reviewed the referenced material this week, I am sure that MOOCs could be adopted in my context of a Further Education College. Indeed, we have hosted open, online courses before. They were small taster courses so therefore could not be described as massive! The common issues surrounding MOOCs will need to be addressed. These include…

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In activity 11 we are asked to compare the advantages and disadvantages of ‘big OER’ and ‘little OER’ approaches. Weller (2010) describes traditional (big) OER as education providers producing high quality outputs tied to budgets, timescales and project constraints. Weller (2012) goes on to describe ‘Frictionless’ sharing. This approach refers to the low barrier of entry for scholars to create educational content then distribute at will through, for example, social networking. Big OER producers include: • Universities such as Open…

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