Dr. Alec Couros gave a presentation on teaching and learning in a networked era. He discussed how Web 2.0 tools can transform research, teaching and service if academics choose to build serious academic lives online. He also talked about the shift from formal to informal learning and how access to free and open content through mobile computing and digital networks is changing education. Couros believes that understanding networks is a key literacy and that educators should explore open teaching practices like massive open online courses to connect learners worldwide.
13. “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)
27. David Wiley
Then vs Now
Analog Digital
Tethered Mobile
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consumption Creating
@opencontent
Closed Open
28. David Wiley
Education vs Everyday
Analog Digital
Tethered Mobile
Isolated Connected
Generic Personal
Consumption Creating
@opencontent
Closed Open
29. Why Do Students Go to University?
Content Degrees
Social Life Support Services
(Wiley, 2010)
30. Why Do Students Go to University?
PLoS
GCT
Wikipedia MCSE
Google Scholar ACT
OCW
Content Degrees
Flatworld K arXiv.org CNE
CCNA
Open Courses
Facebook Twitter
Skype
Social Life Support Services
MySpace Yahoo! Answers
MMOGs
Quora
ChaCha
(Wiley, 2010)
31. 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
41. Participatory
Media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosauraochoa/3256859352/sizes/z/in/photostream/
42. The greatest digital divide is
between those who can read
and write with media, and
those who can't.
Elizabeth Daly
cc licensed flickr photo by jayRaz: http://flickr.com/photos/shnakepup/2935979173/ 42
47. media stats (2009)
• 90 trillion emails sent annually from 1.4 billion email
users
• 234 million websites
• 1.73 billion Internet users
• 126 millions blogs
• 350 million Facebook users
• 4 billion images on Flickr
• 2.5 billion photos uploaded every month on Facebook
Stats as of Jan 22/10 via Royal Pingdom
57. Owing a domain name is
about claiming your piece
of the internet. You’re no
longer renting, you’re a
home owner.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35723943@N00/2379057597/
61. On Digital Video
• “Ten years ago, not one
student in a hundred, nay, one
in a thousand, could have
produced videos like this. Itʼs a
whole new skill, a vital and
important skill, and one utterly
necessary not simply from the
perspective of creating but also
Stephen Downes of comprehending video
communication today.
70. So Why Not
Education?
Personal Learning Network
71. “networked learning is a process of
developing and maintaining connections
with people and information, and
communicating in such a way as to
support one anotherʼs
learning.” (Wikipedia)
79. mindset changes
• sharing by default
• publish, then filter
• ʻlooseʼ trust & networks
• rethinking privacy/publics
• educators as learners
• relevance of remix/mashup & multimedia
• expertise/knowledge found in networks
• minutia and presence as social bonding
92. What We Learned & Why It
Matters to YOUR Courses
• Open access, low-cost, high impact.
• Courses become shared, non-local, learning events.
• Students immersed in a greater learning community.
• Rethinking of space/interaction (walled gardens, open spaces)
• Learning spaces controlled and/or owned by students.
• Development of emerging literacies, relevant for other courses.
• Pedagogy focused more on connecting & interactions; content
important, but secondary.
• Development of sustainable, long-term, learning connections.
93. “I was able to go out and learn
throughout the entire week,
the entire year, and Iʼm still
learning with everyone.”
“The best part of the course is
that itʼs not ending. With the
connections weʼve built, it
never has to end.”
94. “The course ... has been the most profound pd
experience Iʼve ever had. It forced me to critique & review
my practice. I never knew how important social networks
were. Now, I couldnʼt be a teacher without being
connected. Itʼs drastically changed my view of education.”