A recipe for organising MOOC study groups - based on the experience of organising a study group in Düsseldorf for the Coursera MOOC Beyond Silicon Valley Study Group, Arjan Tupan shares his experience and gives tips.
The English Majors' Weblog started as a project to encourage my university (Western Kentucky University) to develop a WordPress blog server on campus for anyone who needed the platform to create academic resources for our community.
Encouraged by this initial effort I was able to convince my department head to create an internship to expand the work of the blog beyond what my limited time could manage.
After two years I convinced my new department head to help create a collective internship with five undergraduates in major specializations ranging from creative writing to professional writing to secondary teaching. This is the first semester of collective blogging.
Our efforts can be described in much the same way that David Weinberger did in his book Small Pieces Loosely Joined--a Protean attempt to bring meaning to the complex identity creation that is at the core of becoming an English major. We have tried to do that by mashing up, remixing, and connecting numerous free (if not entirely open) tools. The slides that follow try to describe them.
The future of organizational learning is discursive & self-organizedNiels Pflaeging
by Silke Herman and Niels Pflaeging.
Workplace learning is not a particularly thrilling adventure these days: Learning in organizations overwhelmingly relies on aged and worn-out formats that produce little learning or impact. The tools in use are often not fit for our time – in terms of content, or learning method, or technology – or all three combined. One cannot help but notice that in the reality of organizations, by and large, Learning & Development (L&D) is a pretty dull affair, clearly lacking innovation. In this paper, we will discuss how that is bound to change. We believe that workplace learning can be as engaging as Maria Montessori envisioned child learning to be, over 100 years ago and as humane, effective and conducive as Ken Robinson demanded in his world-famous TED talks a few years back. Sure, the current reality of corporate learning may look bleak, but there are now signs of a way out of the L&D misery in which most companies find themselves. One of these signs is the platform created by EdTech start-up disqourse.
Using lego serious play and multimedia blogs to stimulate effective reflectiv...Sue Beckingham
An innovative approach has been taken in the design of the foundation year for a new Extended Degree in Computing, whereby assessment is by competencies in a 120 credit module. The students need to pass 40 competencies to pass. In order to pass a competency they may have to demonstrate this first in class to the tutor where there is a practical element, and in addition the students are required to write a reflective blog post about each competency.
This paper will discuss how the use of Lego Serious Play was used first of all as a means to develop the students' communication skills and to explore effective teamwork and personal skills. The students are encouraged to draw, mind map, take photos or video of any aspect of their learning, and to use these within their reflective multimedia blog posts.
An introduction to reflective practice used the 'what - so what - now what' as a starting point; considered how reflective practice is used by the military who routinely conduct after-action reviews; and then how Gibbs six point reflection cycle can provide trigger points for reflective writing. This provided a pedagogical foundation for why reflection was used, but more importantly for the students it provided why it was beneficial to them both in academia and in preparation for placement or graduate employment.
An abundance of research has highlighted that communication is a skill that all graduates need to demonstrate, and is one our Computing graduates most often need to develop. The outcomes of the blogs to date have demonstrated that allowing students to take a more creative approach to expressing themselves has helped them to become more confident in reflective practice and articulation of their learning.
Fall 2016 reports highlights the accomplishments of the USC Annenberg Digital Lounge makerspace and the creative media team, including programming and rigorous national conference tour.
The English Majors' Weblog started as a project to encourage my university (Western Kentucky University) to develop a WordPress blog server on campus for anyone who needed the platform to create academic resources for our community.
Encouraged by this initial effort I was able to convince my department head to create an internship to expand the work of the blog beyond what my limited time could manage.
After two years I convinced my new department head to help create a collective internship with five undergraduates in major specializations ranging from creative writing to professional writing to secondary teaching. This is the first semester of collective blogging.
Our efforts can be described in much the same way that David Weinberger did in his book Small Pieces Loosely Joined--a Protean attempt to bring meaning to the complex identity creation that is at the core of becoming an English major. We have tried to do that by mashing up, remixing, and connecting numerous free (if not entirely open) tools. The slides that follow try to describe them.
The future of organizational learning is discursive & self-organizedNiels Pflaeging
by Silke Herman and Niels Pflaeging.
Workplace learning is not a particularly thrilling adventure these days: Learning in organizations overwhelmingly relies on aged and worn-out formats that produce little learning or impact. The tools in use are often not fit for our time – in terms of content, or learning method, or technology – or all three combined. One cannot help but notice that in the reality of organizations, by and large, Learning & Development (L&D) is a pretty dull affair, clearly lacking innovation. In this paper, we will discuss how that is bound to change. We believe that workplace learning can be as engaging as Maria Montessori envisioned child learning to be, over 100 years ago and as humane, effective and conducive as Ken Robinson demanded in his world-famous TED talks a few years back. Sure, the current reality of corporate learning may look bleak, but there are now signs of a way out of the L&D misery in which most companies find themselves. One of these signs is the platform created by EdTech start-up disqourse.
Using lego serious play and multimedia blogs to stimulate effective reflectiv...Sue Beckingham
An innovative approach has been taken in the design of the foundation year for a new Extended Degree in Computing, whereby assessment is by competencies in a 120 credit module. The students need to pass 40 competencies to pass. In order to pass a competency they may have to demonstrate this first in class to the tutor where there is a practical element, and in addition the students are required to write a reflective blog post about each competency.
This paper will discuss how the use of Lego Serious Play was used first of all as a means to develop the students' communication skills and to explore effective teamwork and personal skills. The students are encouraged to draw, mind map, take photos or video of any aspect of their learning, and to use these within their reflective multimedia blog posts.
An introduction to reflective practice used the 'what - so what - now what' as a starting point; considered how reflective practice is used by the military who routinely conduct after-action reviews; and then how Gibbs six point reflection cycle can provide trigger points for reflective writing. This provided a pedagogical foundation for why reflection was used, but more importantly for the students it provided why it was beneficial to them both in academia and in preparation for placement or graduate employment.
An abundance of research has highlighted that communication is a skill that all graduates need to demonstrate, and is one our Computing graduates most often need to develop. The outcomes of the blogs to date have demonstrated that allowing students to take a more creative approach to expressing themselves has helped them to become more confident in reflective practice and articulation of their learning.
Fall 2016 reports highlights the accomplishments of the USC Annenberg Digital Lounge makerspace and the creative media team, including programming and rigorous national conference tour.
conVerge 11: Connecting for Learning: Left and right, up and down (annotated)Nancy Wright White
My annotated slides from ConVerge11 in Melbourne, Australia, November 24th 2011. I'll put a pdf with annotations on my website, http://www.fullcirc.com
OER14 3M/DS106 NOT The Presentation DeckAlan Levine
A faux badly designed presentation that still includes all the content for our presentation at OER14 "A DS106 thing happened on the way to the 3M Tech Forum" by Rochelle Lockridge, Mariana Funes, and Alan Levine (http://www.medev.ac.uk/oer14/109/view/)
31. Nov - 2. Dez
GiveCamp braucht dich!
Helfen und Spenden haben eine lange Geschichte und sind heute wichtiger denn je. Viele Organisationen sind auf die Hilfe Freiwilliger angewiesen.
Doch was hast Du von Deinem Beitrag zum GiveCamp?
Du hilfst dabei diese Welt zu einem besseren Ort für uns alle zu machen. Dafür ist Dir sowohl unsere Dankbarkeit, als auch die Dankbarkeit der Organisationen, denen Du hilfst, sicher. Doch denk auch an die Menschen, die durch die Organisationen unterstützt werden. Ohne Dein Zutun würden viele dieser Menschen ohne die benötigte Hilfe auskommen müssen.
The ds106 Files: Outbreaks of Infectious and Open Acts of CreativityAlan Levine
Keynote presentation for TechFest 2013, University of Alaska-Fairbanks http://www.alaska.edu/oit/techfest/
While much of higher education seems hunkered down in crises of a broken system or MOOC takeover, reports are filtering in from the distal portions of the internet where open, spontaneous, volunteered acts of creative expression seem to be spreading at alarming rates. These reports have been traced to a loose federation of registered students, teachers, and openly participating individuals of all ages in something known as ds106, an open course in digital storytelling. Patient Zero has been traced to students at the University of Mary Washington, but activity has spread to multiple institutions, K-12 schools, retirees, artists, and people of various affiliations across North America, Europe, Africa, and Australasia. The report highlights the manifestations of this creativity in individually managed internet domains and self-hosted blogs, demonstrated in visual, audio, video, and remixed media, extensively reflected upon. Intense activity has been spotted in blog comments, twitter, Google Plus, and social media platforms, including the current incarnation as a "headless" course. The most intense focus areas are around atypical course constructs of daily creative challenges, a web-based radio station, and an open assignment bank.
It is likely some of you will be affected by contact with this information and may end up devoting time to creating animated GIFs, remixed movie trailers, and radio shows.
Where to focus event innovation? - An audience led approachLive Union
Presented by Live Union at Tech Fest in July 2013. In the face of so much new event technology and format deign, this presentation is designed to help event professionals identify where to focus their innovation.
A group of 7 people who attended the Service Design Network Global Conference 2014 in Stockholm on October 6,7,8 2014, have shared their experiences, take-aways and ideas in a Whatsapp group, during and after the conference.
This deck shares their findings with a wider audience, hoping to initiate a healthy debate in the service design community, on where we ant to go with our conferences. We hope to see you all next year, to share an even better experience together!
A general intro to L*unchBox Workshop, Mines Saint-Etienne's own brand of international design thinking, and design-led innovation workshops, since 2008.
https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/en/
with
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/design#
http://www.design.polimi.it/en/
http://cadc.auburn.edu/design
Web 2.0 infomral online learning professional development program conducted as a trial at TNQIT - this presentation nwas made to the Ve-Mentoring netywork of TAFE Qld Australia
A Creative Approach to Communicating at a Creative Companyk_draper
Karen Draper and Emily Shem-Tov presented at Internet Librarian 2008 on marketing and communications methods used to spread knowledge of the Information Resource Group\'s services at Adobe.
After a successful first startup community year with some very promising projects by end of 2014 we analyze the needs and found some projects we think of and for StartupDorf in 2015. These slides were presented on our 1st meeting in 07. Jan 15 @ "16. Gründerstammtisch" in front of 50 Entrepreneurs, Devs, VCs, Consultants, Movers and Shakers from and around Düsseldorf. We got a lot of feedback and of course some new project ideas.
Ideas are cheap execution is everything. StartupDorf stands for more execution, from entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.
Join the StartupDorf! http://www.startupdorf.de
The art of letting go: Supporting informal and social learningBrightwave Group
Including social and informal learning in your digital technology strategy is now a common theme - but how can you go from the ideas to action - and success? This presentation discusses the latest approaches adopted by forward-thinking organisations, together with practical tips and suggestions on how to plan, execute and sustain informal learning initiatives.
This presentation was first delivered at the eLearning Network's conference "Beyond 'click next'…digital learning solutions come of age" event on Wednesday, 11th November 2015. Brightwave sponsored the event and contributed to the programme.
conVerge 11: Connecting for Learning: Left and right, up and down (annotated)Nancy Wright White
My annotated slides from ConVerge11 in Melbourne, Australia, November 24th 2011. I'll put a pdf with annotations on my website, http://www.fullcirc.com
OER14 3M/DS106 NOT The Presentation DeckAlan Levine
A faux badly designed presentation that still includes all the content for our presentation at OER14 "A DS106 thing happened on the way to the 3M Tech Forum" by Rochelle Lockridge, Mariana Funes, and Alan Levine (http://www.medev.ac.uk/oer14/109/view/)
31. Nov - 2. Dez
GiveCamp braucht dich!
Helfen und Spenden haben eine lange Geschichte und sind heute wichtiger denn je. Viele Organisationen sind auf die Hilfe Freiwilliger angewiesen.
Doch was hast Du von Deinem Beitrag zum GiveCamp?
Du hilfst dabei diese Welt zu einem besseren Ort für uns alle zu machen. Dafür ist Dir sowohl unsere Dankbarkeit, als auch die Dankbarkeit der Organisationen, denen Du hilfst, sicher. Doch denk auch an die Menschen, die durch die Organisationen unterstützt werden. Ohne Dein Zutun würden viele dieser Menschen ohne die benötigte Hilfe auskommen müssen.
The ds106 Files: Outbreaks of Infectious and Open Acts of CreativityAlan Levine
Keynote presentation for TechFest 2013, University of Alaska-Fairbanks http://www.alaska.edu/oit/techfest/
While much of higher education seems hunkered down in crises of a broken system or MOOC takeover, reports are filtering in from the distal portions of the internet where open, spontaneous, volunteered acts of creative expression seem to be spreading at alarming rates. These reports have been traced to a loose federation of registered students, teachers, and openly participating individuals of all ages in something known as ds106, an open course in digital storytelling. Patient Zero has been traced to students at the University of Mary Washington, but activity has spread to multiple institutions, K-12 schools, retirees, artists, and people of various affiliations across North America, Europe, Africa, and Australasia. The report highlights the manifestations of this creativity in individually managed internet domains and self-hosted blogs, demonstrated in visual, audio, video, and remixed media, extensively reflected upon. Intense activity has been spotted in blog comments, twitter, Google Plus, and social media platforms, including the current incarnation as a "headless" course. The most intense focus areas are around atypical course constructs of daily creative challenges, a web-based radio station, and an open assignment bank.
It is likely some of you will be affected by contact with this information and may end up devoting time to creating animated GIFs, remixed movie trailers, and radio shows.
Where to focus event innovation? - An audience led approachLive Union
Presented by Live Union at Tech Fest in July 2013. In the face of so much new event technology and format deign, this presentation is designed to help event professionals identify where to focus their innovation.
A group of 7 people who attended the Service Design Network Global Conference 2014 in Stockholm on October 6,7,8 2014, have shared their experiences, take-aways and ideas in a Whatsapp group, during and after the conference.
This deck shares their findings with a wider audience, hoping to initiate a healthy debate in the service design community, on where we ant to go with our conferences. We hope to see you all next year, to share an even better experience together!
A general intro to L*unchBox Workshop, Mines Saint-Etienne's own brand of international design thinking, and design-led innovation workshops, since 2008.
https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/en/
with
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/design#
http://www.design.polimi.it/en/
http://cadc.auburn.edu/design
Web 2.0 infomral online learning professional development program conducted as a trial at TNQIT - this presentation nwas made to the Ve-Mentoring netywork of TAFE Qld Australia
A Creative Approach to Communicating at a Creative Companyk_draper
Karen Draper and Emily Shem-Tov presented at Internet Librarian 2008 on marketing and communications methods used to spread knowledge of the Information Resource Group\'s services at Adobe.
After a successful first startup community year with some very promising projects by end of 2014 we analyze the needs and found some projects we think of and for StartupDorf in 2015. These slides were presented on our 1st meeting in 07. Jan 15 @ "16. Gründerstammtisch" in front of 50 Entrepreneurs, Devs, VCs, Consultants, Movers and Shakers from and around Düsseldorf. We got a lot of feedback and of course some new project ideas.
Ideas are cheap execution is everything. StartupDorf stands for more execution, from entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.
Join the StartupDorf! http://www.startupdorf.de
The art of letting go: Supporting informal and social learningBrightwave Group
Including social and informal learning in your digital technology strategy is now a common theme - but how can you go from the ideas to action - and success? This presentation discusses the latest approaches adopted by forward-thinking organisations, together with practical tips and suggestions on how to plan, execute and sustain informal learning initiatives.
This presentation was first delivered at the eLearning Network's conference "Beyond 'click next'…digital learning solutions come of age" event on Wednesday, 11th November 2015. Brightwave sponsored the event and contributed to the programme.
Tools for facilitating participatory events onlineMira Bangel
When developing an online event, we ask ourselves:
How can we create amazing participatory experiences that allow people to completely forget they are not in a physical environment? How can we turn the online challenge into an opportunity?
Much of what makes an event special is the time we spend together with our clients sensing into the deeper purpose, building a strong design with clear roles in the team and of course the participatory mindset and practices we apply when we facilitate.
However technology does play a key role and technology should be an enabler rather than a disabler :)
What most people fail to realise, is that any technological tool needs to be selected and used, based on the specific PURPOSE that has to be addressed.
So how can we understand the different expectations/needs that we have to address? And how can we select the right tools, based on these specific needs?
Here is a practical guide that we've pulled together on the topic with the SenseTribe team. How was this guide developed? Laura Grassi has been the key author, Marina Roa has added her wonderful illustrations, Raffaella Toticchi has added a mental model and many other amazing SenseTribers have added their ideas and thoughts, thank you. To find out more about us, our work and how we create magical participatory events, check out our website: www.sensetribe.com
Practical ways to navigate and use the VLN social network community as a prof...tessagray
Slideshow to support second LIVE ICT PD event held in Elluminate 6th July 2011 titled, "Practical ways to navigate and use the VLN social network community as a professional learning tool"
How do you use social media not only to market your upcoming event, but also to manage your event as it happens? This white paper walks you through social media and event management procedures and best practices as an event producer as well as an attendee.
Using Social Media to Manage Your Conference Rachel Yeomans
How do you use social media to manage a conference? Read this white paper to learn how you can use social media at your next conference (for both conference managers and attendees) to boost your social presence and improve your business prospects.
Cambridge Social Innovation Presentation social innovation meetup [autosaved]Jeanette Sjoberg
+Acumen is the largest social sector online learning platform in the world. The Cambridge Social Innovation Hub was founded to create space for social entrepreneurs to learn skills that help serve themselves and people better. This presentation was given to another meetup group in Cambridge, CamCreatives, to showcase the last course we ran - "Human Centred Design for Social Innovation" - a creative and collaborative problem solving technique that promotes divergent and convergent thinking, contribution from interdisciplinary skilled people (complete strangers) and a chosen design challenge where a product or service is always developed on the back of the course. It's all about mindsets and moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, empowering people. Anyone can be a change maker and anyone can be a social entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone that creates opportunities from resources that are already available. A social entrepreneur is one that additionally aims and delivers social impact.
Hoe zorg je dat je eigen robotje automatisch interessante artikelen op je social media kanalen deelt? Nou, zo dus.
In deze presentatie komt voor: Buffer, Zapier, Pocket, Twitter en LinkedIn.
En voorzichtig: een beetje magie ook nog.
Geniet er van.
Beyond Ideas - How to strengthen the Düsseldorf Startup EcosystemArjan Tupan
To ignite a strengthening of the Düsseldorf Startup Ecosystem, I set up and executed a meetup series based on the Beyond Silicon Valley MOOC, enriched with presentations from local players. In this presentation, you will find an overview of what we have done.
Three partner organisations (The US Consulate General, EBC Hochschule and StartupDorf e.V.), were the main organizers.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Chapter 3 - Islamic Banking Products and Services.pptx
Learn more together
1. Learn More Together
Through the experience of organising a Study Group in Düsseldorf for the Beyond Silicon Valley MOOC, Arjan Tupan -
@arjantupan on Twitter - shares how you can get the most impact out of organising your own!
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple, beautiful and fun.
By undefined undefined
Photo by Department of Children and Youth Affairs page 1 of 10
2. Learn More Together
In November 2014, I organised a study group for the MOOC Beyond Silicon Valley in Düsseldorf, Germany. We had 5 sessions,
3 organising partners (the U.S. Consulate General Düsseldorf, EBC Hochschule and StartupDorf e.V.), 2 location partners
(Gewächshaus Düsseldorf and GarageBilk), 5 MOOC lecture videos, 7 local speakers, 4 ideation workshops and 35 to 40
attendees per session.
The Study Group was a big success, in terms of learning, but certainly also in terms of finding ideas to strengthen the startup
ecosystem in Düsseldorf.
Through the Study Group, we managed to have more impact from the MOOC.
More information about the #BSVDUS Study Group on http://bsvdus.startupdorf.de/
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Photo by marcjohn.de page 2 of 10
3. Learn More Together
We wanted to learn how we could strengthen the startup ecosystem in Düsseldorf. This is something one of the organising
partners, StartupDorf, had been founded for, and something the startup community had indicated it needed. We were fortunate,
because during the preparation for the study group, the newly elected mayor of Düsseldorf announced he wanted create a
startup metropole here. The MOOC Beyond Silicon Valley, which tells the story of how Cleveland, Ohio strengthened their local
economy through a focus on entrepreneurship, was a perfect fit for that.
To boost MOOC learning with study groups, it is important to find the hot topic. Something which will help you gather people to
come and learn with you. Our topic was entrepreneurship, but there are many MOOCs available, and many hot issues to
address. You could for example organise a study group for other parents in your kid's school, to learn about cooking with them,
or health and nutrition in general. You could also try to address the threatening tech-skills gap, by taking courses on
programming or computer science. Or you can gather your colleagues to learn more about design thinking, strategic
management. There are enough MOOCs, all you need to do is match the right MOOC to an educational need you see around
you.
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Photo by Vvillamon page 3 of 10
4. Learn More Together
For #BSVDUS, we had a great set of partners. The organising partners were the US Consulate General in Düsseldorf, private
business school EBC Hochschule and startup association StartupDorf. The Consulate brought us stature, which helped us in
getting great speakers and press attention. Furthermore it provided a link to the American entrepreneurial spirit, which we need
more of in Europe. On top of that they have the execution power to bring the MOOC professor Michael Goldberg to Düsseldorf
for additional events. The 2 other partners provided additional stature, the right audience, and organisational power.
In addition, we had location partners. Having a great location for your study group meetups is important. Organising partner EBC
provided the venue for the first session, in a very luxurious setting. The other four sessions were held at the premises of 2 co-
working spaces, who are at the heart of the Düsseldorfer startup ecosystem, and gave us free access.
You need to understand your needs, before you select the best location. If it's a few people sitting around a laptop watching a
lecture video, and discussing it afterwards, your needs are different than when you want, like we did, to have additional
presentations and ideation workshops. Make sure you know what you need, and then find the best locations.
Remember: you are often part of the (potential) consumer base for these locations, so you bring value to them, for instance by
introducing them to future patrons. This might help you to get space for free, or at reduced rates. Some locations (libraries, for
example), might also see it as part of their mission to provide space for learning.
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By undefined undefined
Photo by Stuck in Customs page 4 of 10
5. Learn More Together
In an earlier step, you have found a hot topic to learn more about, and a MOOC that addresses this topic.Through finding
partners you have learned more about the topic, and likely found other points of view and the different learning needs that exist
in your community. Now it's time to write the story on why you are organising this study group. Start with the needs, and explain
how you think that your study group is going to help people address it. Why should they attend? What will they learn? What can
they do with the new knowledge? How will it impact their lives, careers, ambitions?
The story will help you in attracting fellow learners, but also in explaining to potential speakers why they should make a
contribution. For us, the need was clear: we wanted to provide insight in the existing support systems for entrepreneurs, and find
opportunities to improve and strengthen the local startup ecosystem.
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By undefined undefined
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6. Learn More Together
You and your guests will learn most from the MOOC, when you can make it 'local'. Inviting local people or organisations to
present how they address the subject, will help to translate the course content to real-life situations. This will increase the value
of learning.
Not everybody likes to come to a meeting, just to watch a video they can also view while sitting at home on the sofa. Making the
study group sessions interactive, creates added value. It starts by simply allowing room for discussion about the lecture videos.
But you could also think of letting people work on the assignments in groups. We made the #BSVDUS sessions interactive by
including short ideation sessions. In these, we divided the participants in groups, gave them a piece of paper, some post-it notes
and markers, and asked them to come up with ideas on how to strengthen the local startup scene. These workshops served
three main purposes. First of all, we wanted to generate ideas. Secondly, it allowed for the most pressing needs to surface. As
an example: in almost every session the need for more startup events was mentioned. This shows that people really have that
topic high on their agenda.
Thirdly, as we had an audience of diverse backgrounds, the workshops allowed our participants to mix and connect with people
they otherwise might not necessarily come into contact with.
The presentations, the workshops, but also a limited session duration (no longer than 2 hours), ensured that our study group
meetings were lively, and people remained interested.
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7. Learn More Together
Make sure that you communicate about your study group. It will help your fellow learners to feel part of something cool, and it will
help in getting additional participants. The first step is of course to turn to social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. Don't just
start your own group, account or hashtag, but see if there are groups active in your community for this subject, and see how you
can join those. It will give you access to those who have already shown interest in your subject. We decided for #BSVDUS, to
create our own twitter account and hashtag, but did not create an additional facebook page or group. In stead, we shared
through the pages and groups of the organising partners.
Key in our broadcasting strategy was the website, and the blog. On it, all information for participants was made available, and
local presentations were uploaded there as well. We also launched a newsletter, because email marketing is still an extremely
strong tool.
To manage attendance to our sessions, we used Eventbrite. It will help you in understanding how many people will attend, has
tools for reminding people about the events, and is free as long as your event is free. Obviously, there are other alternatives,
such as Meetup.com, who have similar tools for relatively low costs. In our case, the choice was based on costs, but an
important factor for using tools like this, is local reach. In Düsseldorf, both Eventbrite and Meetup.com are heavily used in our
target audience. So, for us it was not a factor. But if you are the first in your location to use a site, it can be a barrier for fellow
learners to join and come to your study group.
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8. Learn More Together
Don't let the previous slides hold you back, they may make organising a MOOC study group seem like a huge project. Just start.
Maybe by inviting your colleagues or friends to join you in the course, watch some videos together and see where it leads.
It can be quite a big job, but it is certainly worth it. You will learn more, intensify relations, and meet new people and opportunities.
Just start.
Learn.
Enjoy.
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9. Learn More Together
Special thanks go out to those who have made the #BSVDUS study group possible:
MOOC Maker Micheal Goldberg of Case Western Reserve University, who made the MOOC Beyond Silicon Valley, and inspired
me to start the Study Group. Please note that the MOOC runs regularly on Coursera. For more info, and to register for the next
iteration, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/entrepreneurship-development
US Consulate General Düsselodrf, EBC Hochschule and StartupDorf e.V. who were the organisation partners.
Location Partners Gewächshaus Düsseldorf and GarageBilk, who hosted our sessions, because they are passionate about
startups.
The speakers and participants in all the sessions for their input and impact.
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10. Learn More Together
As blogger and entrepreneur, I assist companies, lifelong learners and educational institutions to make sense of the emerging
phenomenon of MOOCs.
As volunteer and consultant, I help startups and founders to build their idea into a successful venture; and guide established
companies to increase their innovative and operational capabilities by using the entrepreneurial attitude and lean methodology of
startups.
Join the conversation via Twitter (@arjantupan - http://twitter.com/arjantupan ) and LinkedIn (http://de.linkedin.com/in/
arjantupan ), or learn more about me on about.me: http://about.me/arjantupan
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