1) The document discusses designing learning experiences for open and networked environments using new technologies and tools. 2) It highlights how tools like mobile devices, social media, and online networks have significantly shifted how information is accessed, shared, and learned. Knowledge is now abundant and learning is increasingly social and informal. 3) The key aspects of open and networked learning discussed include using hashtags to connect learners globally, creating open online courses and spaces for shared learning events, and developing long-term learning connections through openness and collaboration.

1. Designing for Open/Networked Learning
Dr. Alec Couros
THETA 2013
Hobart, Australia
April 9, 2013

3. #theta13

4. me

6. DO N ED
AB AN

7. The Blur

10. Personal Openness

12. Open Scholarship

13. Open Teaching

16. why open?

17. “Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reflect
and reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might
positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching,
and service responsibilities - only if scholars choose to
build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-
public selves and becoming invested in and connected
to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow,
Robelia, & Hughes, 2009)

18. changes

20. current context - new affordances
tools, content, networks, relationships

21. tools

22. Mobile
Early Days of PCs in Schools Today’s Social/Mobile Reality

24. Convergence

25. significant shifts in media
atoms <---> bits
scarcity <---> abundance
consuming <---> creating
standardization <---> personalization
individuals <---> networks

29. shifts in edtech Group growth
Individual growth
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
(Leinonen) + (Schwier) Social Learning

30. content

33. mSh ake
#H arle

38. Informal Learning
• “Informal learning is a
significant aspect of our
learning experience.
Formal education no
longer comprises the
majority of our learning.”
•
George Siemens
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

40. How long did it take to film
and edit?
I started in November, but
then I had to start from
scratch a couple months
afterwards, so I spent
months and months on it.
What’s your
background in video
editing?
I just do it for fun. I’m
self-taught.
slide by @gcouros

41. “Today knowledge is free.
It’s like air, it’s like water...
There’s no competitive
advantage in knowing
more than the person next
to you. The world doesn’t
care what you know. What
the world cares about is
what you can do with what
you know.” (2012)
@drtonywagner

42. networks

43. HAT’S
NO T W
AN T
P O RT
IM

44. Six Degrees of Separation
“the idea that everyone is on average six
steps away, by way of introduction, from
another person in the world.”

45. Strength of Weak Ties
“There is strength in weak ties. Our
acquaintances, not our friends, are potentially
our greatest source of new ideas and
information.” (paraphrased from Gladwell, 2010)

46. Where Good Ideas Come From
“The trick to having good ideas is not to sit
around in glorious isolation and try to think big
thoughts. The trick is to get more parts on the
table.” (Steven Johnson, 2010)

47. networks provide ...
1. affordances: enable communication, collaboration
& cooperation in ways that were once impossible
with people who were once unreachable.
2. inspiration: connect us to new ideas & expand
our thinking & potential for innovation.
* ‘us’ meaning those who have access.

48. relationships

50. 130,729 people like this

52. "To immortalize this
moment ... the girl seems to
forget the original pleasure."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alainbachellier/2572801898/in/photostream/

55. networked learning

56. MYOB Learning

57. 21st Century Learning Networks

58. 21st Century Learning Networks

62. “To answer your question, I did use
Youtube to learn how to dance. I
consider it my ‘main’ teacher.”
“10 years ago, street dance was very
exclusive, especially rare dances like popping
(the one I teach and do). You either had to
learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS
tapes which were hard to get. Now with
Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can
learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

66. How are you making
your learning visible?

67. How are you contributing
to the learning of others?

68. cMOOCs

70. #eci831 (open-boundary)

71. course trailer

72. network mentors

73. student-controlled spaces
@jonmott

74. power of the hashtag

75. What We Learned
• Open teaching can be low-cost, high impact.
• ‘Courses’ as shared, global, learning events.
• Openness as a way of connecting students to a greater,
authentic learning community.
• Pedagogical serendipity in open spaces vs. walled
gardens.
• Importance of student-controlled learning spaces.
• Connectivist pedagogy first focus on connecting &
interactions; content important, but secondary.
• Development of sustainable, long-term, learning
connections.

76. #etmooc

77. origins

79. ~2000 participants from
~70 countries

80. spaces

82. /hub

83. /tweets

89. random artefacts

90. introductions

92. digital stories

93. workflows

94. summaries

95. visualizations

96. vulnerability + support

97. collaboration

98. #lipdub

101. concluding thoughts

102. “Some of the comments on
Youtube make you weep for the
future of humanity, just for the
spelling alone, never mind the
obscenity and naked hatred.”
@leverus
(Lev Grossman)

114. humanize

116. (Joichi Ito)

117. Private Public
Closed Open

118. “Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time.” ~Tagore
http://couros.ca
couros@gmail.com
@courosa