Over the last few weeks I’ve been particularly bad about posting my reflections for CCK08. In fact this post may represent the very first one I’ve done so far. I’m beginning to realise the grasp I have on reflective writing may not be nearly as firm as I previously thought; and what I had been considering “reflective” wasn’t, it was topical. This post, therefore, is my attempt to start rectifying the vacuum.
Background
Last week’s reflection topic asked us to consider the following:
“Have you begun to see the rudiments of a learning network forming? Has some of the conceptual uncertainty settled?”
I’ve had a solid comprehension of the practical aspects of learning networks for some time now, with much of the interaction between me and my PLN occurring via Twitter, this blog, and the posts of others. However the development of that network has been a long time in the making – perhaps a year or more in fact. It’s spanned a variety of platforms and online tools, at times linking fairly disparate activities and people together. So the prospect of applying such an organic, wide reaching model to a clearly defined, less diverse – albeit large – group of educator-students is a bit of a different scenario.
Adding to this an established (albeit lose and accommodating) curriculum, pronounced social roles (instructors, students), and for some the prospect of grades and marks has meant that the focal point is far more external and specific than my non-CCK08 learning activities, which by nature are very broad and self-directed. Perhaps not surprisingly I find myself focusing here more on “what I am supposed to be writing and reading about” than “what do I want to be writing and reading about.”
The result has been a much different – and at times frustrating and discouraging – experience than I had initially anticipated. By and large though I’ve found the subject matter very interesting, and have enjoyed the opportunity to interact with so many educators – especially those in similar professional roles.
Rudiments of a Learning Network
Due largely to the factors mentioned above, the formation of a learning network has taken far longer to occur that I had initially expected; however it is growing slowly. I’ve found myself returning to certain blogs far more than others and have begun to pay close attention and/or reply to the Twitters of a select group of people. Interestingly too, I’m starting to see the same names popping up again and again, which suggests that mutual, shared linkages are beginning to develop. Some of these take the form of blog trackbacks or blogroll listings, but more commonly they appear as blog comments.
In the case of the latter, there are times where discussion threads emerge in the wake of a thought-provoking post, or indeed develop into something tangential. Both are welcome opportunities, since I am becoming increasingly disillusioned by the tone and discord in the centralised spaces such as the Moodle forum, and more recently the Elluminate meetings. In some cases it’s reached the point where personalities and perhaps even personal agendas are taking precedence over the pursuit and empowering of the learning experience.
This seems to be a common theme amongst the people I’m increasingly interacting with, who for one reason or another are uncomfortable contributing to the central discussions and have instead turned to the blog spaces.
Conceptual Uncertainty
An unfortunate effect of the discord for me has been the emergence of an environment that is not conducive to learning in the way I find beneficial and am therefore the most comfortable with. Consequently I’m now reluctant to ask questions and contribute to central discussions. This has lead to gaps in my understanding of certain concepts and ideas, and in turn to conceptual uncertainty.
Compounding this, as I said, is the fact that many people in my PLN have the same aversions to argument and debate. I do see us as trying to work through the concepts together, but the learning process appears to have slowed as a result.
In some ways this is a valuable scenario to face, because it highlights a potential obstacle or adversity in the practical implementation of this sort of learning that needs to be carefully considered before it should be used in more formal circumstances. From the perspective of a student in the model, there are times when frustration and disillusionment leads to despondency and lack of interest.
If a key objective of a course is to empower learners to seize hold of their own destiny, there need to be mechanisms in place to ensure they are capable of maintaining their interest and enthusiasm through periods of disillusionment.
The trouble I have found is that I am very much out of my depth, theoretically. I have no education background, and I find a lot of the discussion in Moodle and the live sessions beyond me. I don’t like to interact in those particular forums because I don’t want to ‘show myself up’ so to speak. So, to be honest, I am picking and choosing to communicate with like-minded people who will challenge me, but in a ‘safe’ way.
I sometimes feel like I am at a turkey farm. If you have never experienced it, it is quite a site. If one turkey makes a noise, all the turkeys start making noise. Of course, I don’t speak turkey, so it all sounds like noise to me. I speak “education” but somehow the effect of this class has been the same – a lot of people “making noise” and although I have learned a few things, there seems to be too much to hear. I have shut down somewhat, but I have also learned a valuable lesson – you need some type guide to be able to learn, you can’t learn everything all at once. If you have a central idea or thread, you can focus on that as your guide.
But I don’t really have a central idea or thread or opinion, so I am just reading and reflecting and wondering if I am really learning anything!
Loved the turkey analogy
Lurkers seem to get a bad wrap in certain CCK08 circles, but I see nothing wrong with it – quite the contrary in fact. Personally I need to have a firm grasp on what my thoughts are on a topic before I’m willing to discuss it with others, and with so much potential territory to cover in this course there’s a lot I don’t ever bring up.
As far as the noise goes, I’ve found over time that my filters have gotten more and more pronounced. I initially tried to keep up with everything that was going on, but there’s just too much information to process. In that sense establishing your personal networks is critical to making sense of everything.
I’ve learned a lot so far – in fact I suspect I’ve learned more than I realise. What I mean by that is, we’re constantly barraged by stimuli and don’t always have time to stop, reflect, and synthesise. I frequently find that when I do stop to reflect I make connections that weren’t clear to me before then, when I was too busy trying to take everything in.
That’s where the importance of this blog comes in to play. As important as discussion and externalising around knowledge is, in order to make conceptual connections you need that reflective time to just sit and think.
George makes some important observations and recommendations in his comment on this post on the Daily that I think are worth a read.
To a fair degree I think we’re dealing with two distinct, parallel learning experiences during this course: one covering the subject matter of connectivism and connective knowledge, and a second regarding how to learn in a new paradigm.
In the case of the latter I think the complexities and difficulties lay in the fact most of us have been conditioned – via the traditional schooling method – to look to an outside source for direction and instruction. When we don’t find one we grow confused and frustrated, but to a large degree I think this is a natural result of being placed outside our zone of familiarity.
What happens next is the critical part. At least for me it’s important to cast off preconceptions of what learning is before trying to go any further. If we try to proceed as though this is a traditional course we will continue to flounder.
Alternatively if we see it as something distinctly different to that, in which there are no clear outcomes, the objectives are dictated by us and at most influenced by others, and sources of informational input do not follow traditional expert-to-novice channels, we can start to see the reality of the CCK08 activities as something much broader.
There’s more to add to this, but I’m late for work
Cheers,
Mike
Re: “… becoming increasingly disillusioned by the tone and discord in the centralised spaces such as the Moodle forum, and more recently the Elluminate meetings. In some cases it’s reached the point where personalities and perhaps even personal agendas are taking precedence over the pursuit and empowering of the learning experience”.
When the the course first began I couldn’t wait to get online and post a comment. I was eager and keen to learn and to investigate how I could incorporate this new learning theory into my classroom.
However, the personal agendas in Moodle have really taken the shine off the forum. Totally agree, that it now seems more about individuals and their ‘rights’ rather than a learning experience about the application of connectivism for better learning outcomes for our students.
Thank you for pointing out the other avenues where I can engage in the learning experience rather than opting out of the course all together.
Hi Ruth,
Nice to meet you first of all.
There are certainly alternatives available to those of us who prefer to avoid the gladiator pit that is the Moodle Forums. In fact just off the top of my head, people are using SecondLife, NING, Google Groups and Diigo to house their discussions; and if none of those work for you, you can always start your own space and invite others to join.
This seems to be another aim of the course really. To not just explore the theoretical ideas behind networked individualism and connectivism, but to actually interact and learn that way as well.
For me the next week or so will be devoted to really fleshing out my personal learning network, because I think that’s where the power lay. With 2,200 students there will inevitably be a lot of people who share similar ideals on the learning experience they want to have and will undoubtedly be just as interested in forming linkages as we are. It’s just a matter of locating them in the ether
If you have a blog you’re using for the course I’d love to get my hands on the link and start to read your thoughts on all this.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Mike
Nice to meet you too.
Afraid I’ve been a bit slack on the blog side of things but once I have it up and running I’ll send you the link.
However, I do have a del.icio.us account with mega links to interactive & informative educational sites. Account is 57chakotay.
Below is a link to one of my research papers about using visual organisers to help students with decision-making within tasks that may or may not be of interest (http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/2480/1/31520.pdf).
My interest in visual organiser is one of the reasons I am so interested in course. Because I have used computers as a teaching/learning tool in a learning support role and as classroom teacher with great outcomes for the students. I see computer use as a visual, kinesthetic, spatial, communicative, fun way for students to take ownership of their learning.
Hi Mike – I agree that ‘the formation of a learning network has taken far longer to occur that I had initially expected’ – but I think that’s because I expected more of a group than a network. I think I am beginning to see the differences between a group and network even if George does think they are the same thing! I actually think that a community is something distinct from a group or a network and includes the finer points of both, so a community would be my preference.
I think this course really does highlight that learning is a ‘messy’ business – something I always try to warn my students about, but something that has to be personally internalised to be understood.
In my own work, I am interested in what makes people feel connected, because I know from my own research and experience that those who feel unconnected find it difficult to learn – often because they feel isolated and then they withdraw from the learning environment.
I think what this course is making me realise is that networking is not the same thing as making ‘human’ connections. Whilst the network can provide you with the information you might need, it doesn’t necessarily enable you to turn this information into knowledge and understanding. I think its human connection that assists the latter process.
It has been interesting for me how hard it has been to make ‘human’ connections on this course. I have some thoughts about why this might be the case, but I am still mulling it over.
PS I loved your video made whilst rocking your baby to sleep – the ultimate in multitasking! I thought that was a skill usually assigned to women
‘Human’ Connections (CCK08) {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/cROwJuEcvT_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”‘Human’ Connections (CCK08) ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/o9ZCwOb2Mi”}}}
Hi Mike!
I resonate a lot with you and the posts you place. With you because I’ve seen your tutorials, you made them because you felt they were needed by complete strangers and even went to the length of using a translator to understand the person situation. The latest was that help you unselfishly gave at Skype, you regarded it as being something simple but you invested your time, when we are all fighting to have a 48 hours day, and reached out to help. Those actions went deep into my soul.
Regarding Moodle I am in a position very close to Sarah’s: “The trouble I have found is that I am very much out of my depth, theoretically”, I have risked my neck posting there but my heart pounds heavily while doing so and I don’t need that. I have learned there new elegant ways and words to insult people, that of course I’m not willing to use. I resonate also with Renee: “I sometimes feel like I am at a turkey farm”. I am learning a lot more from blogs.
My PLE was a kind and encouraging one: YH Groups, Google Groups, Ning, WiZiQ, Wikis, SL, Twitter and Delicious. My online life was developed under the wings of the wonderful, caring and encouraging Webheads in Action Community. From there I developed a Mexican Community at Ning where all the members are like family, I know most of them f2f and the distant ones I have known them for more than 3 years.
In the course I’ve seen personal agendas take over the learning focus point and the fun. I’ve encountered people that think my love, kisses and dears are fakes because those words have lost meaning in English and now sound sarcastic but I do mean them. I do that in my f2f environment, I kiss and hug not strangers but most of my neighbors, all my friends and patients. I do touch strangers though
If I post this in Moodle it’s out of place, not I end up my messages with :X because if you type that in YH Messenger you get a smiling face with small harts. So I still send love as I feel it but not in an open way.
“To a fair degree I think we’re dealing with two distinct, parallel learning experiences during this course: one covering the subject matter of connectivism and connective knowledge, and a second regarding how to learn in a new paradigm. ”
I see a similar pattern. I don’t know if at the end of this course I will learn about connectivism but I am definitely learning to handle myself in open spaces.
Regarding the so called “dependency” I will write a Sunday post, it’s too late now.
Besos. Maru
Re: Conceptual Uncertainty {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/GzjbDg78LJ_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Re: Conceptual Uncertainty ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/Wxww3x5twd”}}}
Arrggg sorry for the video quality. I’m uploading a massive video file at the moment and it’s eating up all my bandwith.