TechTicker
educational technology, eLearning & emerging technology

Consider this a mental brain dump. I want to come back to this and compose a more coherent blog post when time permits, but in lieu of this I’d like to present the following thoughts for discussion.

Developing Learning Networks - Significance and PracticeConsider this a mental braindump that I hope to translate into a proper blog post later. I’m very interested in hearing the thoughts of others on this - so please let me know what you think.

In the wake of my preliminary thoughts as expressed in the above clip, I’ve begun to explore the following ideas:

Establishing your personal networks
One of the key tasks to tackle during the initial days of a course like this is establishing your own personal network. In the case of the CCK08 course, some people began doing this several months before the start of session - with language-cohorts developing, as well as SecondLife user groups.

In my case my approach will be slightly different. As I posted earlier, the first task we’ve been asked to undertake is to discuss our background, location, motives for taking the course, and measures of success. Many have posted their contributions to the Moodle forum, which I’ve found to be particularly useful.

As a result of establishing my own personal goals, I will now be able to go through the forums in search of others with similar personal backgrounds and/or objectives. This can in turn lead to the early inception of personal learning communities that help to tackle the deluge of upcoming information that we’re all sure to face as the course progresses.

In terms of my initial thoughts from the Seesmic clip, this process has continued to empower the learner by enabling me to establish my own learning networks based upon my own needs, values, and personal goals. This has lead to a far greater sense of vested interest in the network than activities I’ve participated in historically where groups have been established by a third party. Effectively, this preserves the learner-centred control of the learning experience.

In terms of the facilitating technical framework, Moodle has been quite helpful. Unlike Google Groups instances that I’ve seen used elsewhere I’ve personally found it much easier to browse and keep track of specific threads. This has made the network establishing process very easy.

What do I mean by network?
At this point I’ve realised I’ve made several references to network but haven’t provided much indication of what I mean by that. When I say network I refer to a collection of people whose activities, insights, and reflections I pay close attention to, and whom I make a great effort to keep in regular contact with - either via asynchronous discussion (forums, email, Seesmic, Twitter, blog commenting), synchronous discussion (IM, Skype, webconference), or perhaps SecondLife.

My network is composed of people who’s opinions and judgment I value and trust, and who contribute to my learning experience in a very positive way.

Network filtering of information
The “filtering of information” I spoke of earlier directly involves the contributions of and interaction with the members of my network. I’m not able to track all the information or news that flows down the ongoing river of data, and neither can they. By working together, and remaining in close contact with one another, we are collectively able to cover far more territory as a connective than we could as individuals. This serves to empower and contribute to the learning experiences of all parties involved.

I’ll add more to this post as this process continues.

As part of the preparations for the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course I’m taking this session, students are asked to post their responses to four questions:

• Where you’re from
• Why you’re interested in this course
• What has to happen in order for you to consider this course a success
• Random information about yourself - your work, your experience with networked technologies, etc.

I’ve responded on the Moodle Forum, but given my preference for blogging and dislike of communicating by forums it’s likely my contributions to this course will take place largely outside of the Moodle installation. As such re-posting my thoughts here makes sense:

Introduction time! My name is Mike Bogle, and I am an eLearning Researcher from the University of New South Wales. My primary role in my unit, Learning & Teaching @ UNSW, is to research innovative technologies and evaluate how they can support learning and teaching, pilot new services, and provide consultative support for local academic staff interested in incorporating emerging technology into their curriculum.

Why you’re interested in this course
The subject matter slated for discussion in this course ties in quite closely with what I do at UNSW - either presently or areas I’d like to explore further. It’s also a phenomenal use case for devolved online learning. The massive nature of the student cohort in particular makes it even more fascinating. So my interest in this course is both as a student and researcher in the same field.

What has to happen in order for you to consider this course a success
I’m quite open minded about the course in terms of the aims and objectives, because I believe the ultimate responsibility for nurturing and maximising the learning experience lay with the entire community and with each of us as individual - as such this is yet to be written.

What I’d really like to see happen is a sustained level of engagement and interactivity throughout the duration of the course, and in particular after it has drawn to a close. I don’t see this as being Stephen and George’s sole responsibilities, but ours to a far greater degree.

Success to me will be characterised by vibrant interaction, sustained discussion and importantly the preservation of networks long after the course is completed. The latter in particular is quite in keeping with the central theme of the course and more than anything, will testify to the degree of its success.

Random information about yourself - your work, your experience with networked technologies, etc.

I expand on this quite a bit on my blog, so please see that post for an extended version.

The abbreviated version is that I’m a passionate user of new media in all of its forms - both professionally and personally - and have the tremendous pleasure of being (almost completely) devoted to its exploration at UNSW.

In closing I should also add that I don’t personally like communicating via discussion forums, so you’re not likely to see me post much here. My favourite modes of discussion are via blogs, and to a lesser degree tools like Twitter, Seesmic. I also like to contribute presentations and screencaptures on YouTube and Blip.TV. See my blog for more on this.