1.
Open And Connected Learning
Leveraging Networks for Learning
Dr. Alec Couros
At Michigan State University
October 27, 2012

2.
#coetc12

3.
me

4.
Last Updated 2006

5.
Personal Open Spaces

6.
Open Teaching

7.
Open Tenure/Promotion App

8.
“The Open Scholar is someone who makes their
intellectual processes digitally visible and who invites and
encourages ongoing criticism of their work and secondary
uses of any or all parts of it -- at any stage of its
development.” (Burton, G., 2009)

9.
Open Doctrine

10.
changes

11.
“in 2007 YouTube consumed as much
bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000”
“72 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one
hour of video is uploaded to Youtube every second.”
“More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month
that the 3 major US networks created in 60 years.”

12.
significant shifts
atoms <---> bits
scarcity <---> abundance
consuming <---> creating
individuals <---> networks
control <---> freedom

13.
current context - new affordances
tools, content, networks

14.
tools

15.
Toward a Mobile Reality
Early Days of PCs in Schools Today’s Social/Mobile Reality

16.
Convergence

17.
NY Subway

18.
JB Concert
photographed by
George Couros

19.
Source: google.com/think/insights

20.
shifts in edtech Group growth
Individual growth
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
(Leinonen) (Schwier) Social Learning

21.
content

22.
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

23.
“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

24.
networks

25.
Social Networking Services

26.
Six Degrees of Separation
“the idea that everyone is on average six
steps away, by way of introduction, from
another person in the world.”

27.
“Chance favors the connected mind”
~ Stephen Johnson
@npyrini
@elenelli

28.
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)

29.
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)

30.
networks
1. mechanism: enable communication &
collaboration in ways that were once impossible.
2. inspiration: connect us to new ideas & expand
our thinking & potential for innovation.
* ‘us’ meaning those who are increasingly literate

31.
inspirations & possibilities
value of free, weak ties, visible learning

32.
value of free

33.
“Gift cultures are adaptations not
to scarcity but to abundance ....
In gift cultures, social status is
determined not by what you
control, but by what you give
away. (1997)
@esrtweet

34.
“For Unleashing the Ideavirus, Godin
released the entire eBook on the Internet for
free, which led to eventual publishing deals in
41 countries and a public speaking career.”

35.
“the song intentionally lacked a
copyright so that people would
be encouraged to create their
own online parodies, in essence
their own "XYZ Style"”

36.
21st Century Learning Networks

37.
21st Century Learning Networks

38.
strength of weak ties

39.
Network Literacies
• “Understanding how
networks work is one of
the most important
literacies of the 21st
century.” (2010)
Howard Rheingold

40.
@dlnorman

41.
@giuliaforsythe

42.
@noiseprofessor
@noiseprofessor

43.
@noiseprofessor

44.
@timlauer

45.
memes
“The gene has it’s cultural analog too: the
meme. In cultural evolution, a meme is a
replicator and propagator - an idea, a
fashion, a chain letter, or a conspiracy
theory. On a bad day, a meme is a virus”
Lowenstein, 1999

46.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3601144842/sizes/l/in/photostream/

47.
“To run for president in the age of the Internet is
to risk your words, your image and - most
importantly - your mistakes, will be
photoshopped clipped, edited, remixed and
remastered online in the form of a viral meme.”

48.
“...for all the money, tax revenue and intelligence that Western
governments have at their disposal (they) seemingly cannot get
their heads around a simple enough concept that wherever one
is, someone is watching and recording.”
Zack Whitaker

49.
making learning visible

50.
“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.”

51.
Matt
Kirk
Nick

52.
how are you making learning visible?

53.
how are you contributing to
the learning of others?

54.
#eci831

55.
cMOOC pedagogy relies heavily on gift
economies, weak ties, participatory
culture & making learning visible

56.
network mentors

57.
non-credit students

58.
course trailer

59.
student-controlled spaces

60.
co-created & shared resources

61.
“I was able to go out and learn
throughout the entire week,
the entire year, and I’m still
learning with everyone.”
“The best part of the course is
that it’s not ending. With the
connections we’ve built, it
never has to end.”

62.
@jonmott

63.
concluding thoughts

64.
(Joichi Ito)

65.
“Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time.” ~Tagore
http://couros.ca
couros@gmail.com
@courosa