This document discusses embracing uncertainty through collaboration. It identifies 4 types of uncertainty - simple, complicated, chaotic, and complex - and suggests better and worse ways to approach each. It also discusses trends in online courses, internationalization, analytics, and communities as curriculum. The key message is that collaboration across boundaries and iterating experiments is better than relying on experts or past practices when facing complex problems with uncertain solutions.

1. Embracing Uncertainty:
Collaboration as learning
Dave Cormier

2. http://xkcd.com/1021/

3. 4 Kinds of Uncertainty

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tojosan/176759844

5. Simple Challenges
(Audience response eg.)
1.How do I get a study permit? - one page
reply and attach the document
2.Where to find work on campus?
3.Students not checking their email
4.How many courses am I allowed to take?

6. Bad Good
Email Google docs
Invent new ways of Establish best
doing things every practices
time
Collaborate with no Collaborate across
one campus

7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gautamdogra/6024700408

8. Complicated
(Audience response)
1. Email
2. Working with parents and
guardians
3. Collaborate on university wide
initiatives
4. Financials

9. Bad Good
Consultant’s report Project plan
Do what another Follow good
university did research practices
Make it a student Collaborate with
project experts

11. Chaotic
(Audience response)
1. Disgruntled student/parent
2. Flu outbreak
3. Violent crime

12. Bad Good
Wait Act
Ignore the results Follow up with
another response
Do this often Use it as a last resort

14. Complex
(Audience response)
1. Social media and student services
2. Special Needs students
3. Organizational culture

15. Bad Good
Look for ‘the answer’ Experiment
Try only one thing Iterate
Follow an expert Collaborate with
peers.

17. 3 key trends

18. Massive Open Online Courses

22. Internationalization

23. • Last year in the Atlantic provinces…
International students – 9,692 (+1,204)
• Vietnamese Students Earn Online High
School Diplomas Through The University of
Texas at Austin
• Racial Politics
• EAL (English as an additional language)

24. India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Railw
ays_Network_Connectivity_Map_with_cities_a
nd_population_density.png

25. Analytics

28. http://www.slideshare.net/sbs/learning-analytics-dream-nightmare-or-fairydust

29. Albany Technical College: The Student Tracking
and Retention Services (STARS) Program is
designed to serve high‐risk students by personally
connecting them with counselors… The STARS
program has increased the retention rate to 87%
compared with rates prior to this intervention
(68.3%), and STARS has also increased Academic
Affairs and Student Affairs collaboration while
generating new ideas and ways of helping
students.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NGLC003.p
df

30. Ok Dave… so what?

31. Community as curriculum

32. Rhizomatic learning:
Learning the things you can’t be told

33. ”Successful health services in the 21st
century must aim not merely for change,
improvement, and response, but for
changeability, improvability, and
responsiveness.”
Coping with complexity: educating for capability
Sarah W Fraser, Trisha Greenhalgh. 2001

34. “When you finally come to grips you can't
solve today's problems using present
methods, you take the lead to venture to
the Complex Domain. As leader, you initiate
a search and rally followers to find a new
solution that will change the paradigm.”
Change Management or Change Leadership?
Gary Wong, Cognitive Edge Network 2010

35. 2 Communities
One that didn’t work and
one that did

36. Emerge project – a
support program
designed to help
people collaborate

37. Prize oriented – “the problem
was, after the money was
awarded we had the community,
we had the place, but they had no
reason to communicate.”
Lawrie Phipps - interview

38. “the culture rewards
individual work”
Lawrie Phipps - interview

39. Edtechtalk:
Collection of
weekly webcasts
from educators.
For educators.

40. So how do
we do it
well?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/

41. Make the right kind of decision

42. Be responsible for your own learning

43. Share

44. 1 Final Point

45. When the community is your
curriculum, you become the expert
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkn/3526522573

46. Embrace uncertainty
@davecormier