The document discusses the evolution and significance of the 'Webheads' community in the context of online learning and professional development, highlighting the importance of social media in fostering lifelong learning. It includes references to various online resources, articles, and past events related to MOOCs and connectivist learning theories. The author, Vance Stevens, emphasizes the collaborative nature of learning and the role of technology in building community among educators.

1. http://webheads.info/
Once a Webhead
Always a Webhead
Social Media-Assisted
Lifelong Learning
Vance Stevens
February 11, 2014
http://ict4elt2014.pbworks.com/

2. Connectivist learning
and professional development
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•
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•
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Overcoming isolation
Thinking SMALL
Why do people learn online http://tinyurl.com/small2014
Writing for Webheads
Webheads in Action
Learning via CoPs and PLNs (ineffable)
WiAOC and Learning2gether
EVO: Becoming a Webhead
MultiliMOOC and ICT4ELT
• cMOOCs and xMOOCs

3. Overcoming isolation
• Scarcity
• Abundance

4. Once upon a time (a digital story)
Sean Wilden yesterday at http://ltsig.org.uk/events/13-future-events/318121013-special-event-using-technology-in-teaching-principles-in-practice.html
Vance Stevens RSCON4 Oct 13, 2013
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5. Why do people want to study online?
• Teachers instinctively prepared syllabuses
http://www.internettime.com/Learning/The%20Other%2080%25.htm
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6. Not to ‘work’ but to socialize
Writing for
Webheads
participants
rejected the
‘work’ but in
1997-1998
were attracted
like moths to
flame to …
http://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/webheads.htm
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7. Webheads in Action
http://www.vancestevens.com/paper
s/evonline2002/webheads_evo.htm
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8. Learning the ineffable
• Groups
• Communities - CoPs
• Networks - PLNs
Stevens, Vance. (2009). Modeling Social Media in Groups, Communities, and Networks. TESLEJ, Volume 13, Number 3: http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/pastissues/volume13/ej51/ej51int/

9. Webheads: Community
Attribution: http://flickr.com/photos/94794165@N00/410359410/
From Slide 30 at http://www.slideshare.net/vances/modeling-social-media-in-groups-communities-andnetworks-socialnetworking-2009-online-conference
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10. WiAOC 2005, 2007, 2009
From Stephen Downes, Learning the Web 2.0 Way, 2007
http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/personal-learning-the-web-20-way
From Slide 3 at http://www.slideshare.net/vances/modeling-social-media-in-groups-communities-andnetworks-socialnetworking-2009-online-conference
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11. WiAOC and Learning2gether
http://learning2gether.net/about/
http://vancestevens.com/papers/evonline2002/wiaoc_index.htm

12. Here a MOOC there a MOOC
From Karen Head: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/here-a-mooc-there-a-mooc-but-will-it-work-for-freshman-composition/41883
• http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com/w/page/62555597/moremoocs
• Http://www.connectivistmoocs.org/
Stephen Downes’s definitive archive of knowledge on MOOCs
(currently over 500 annotated references):
http://www.downes.ca/mooc_posts.htm.
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13. What is a cMOOC (2008)
• Massive Open Online Course
• First one in 2008 CCK
https://sites.google.com/site/themoocguide/3-cck08---the-distributed-course
• The term MOOC was coined
in 2008 by Dave Cormier
• You should be familiar with
– George Siemens, connectivism
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the
digital age. Elearningspace. Retrieved from
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
– Stephen Downes on CCK
http://www.downes.ca/me/mybooks.htm
– Dave Cormier, rhizomatic learning
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2011/11/05/rhizomatic-learning-why-learn/
Vance Stevens Education2020 Jan 2014

14. xMOOCs
https://www.edx.org/course-list
https://www.udacity.com/courses#!/All
Vance Stevens Education2020 Jan 2014

15. What’s with the MOOCs?
How MOOC Learning Reaches
Students through TPD
Vance Stevens
Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE
AAMC / PACE / KBZAC
Title slide from: http://www.slideshare.net/vances/how-mooc-learning-reaches-students-through-tpd
Stevens, V. (2013). What's with the MOOCs? TESL-EJ, Volume 16, Number 4, pp. 1-14: http://tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej64/int.pdf
Also available at: http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume16/ej64/ej64int/

16. Some articles about Webheads
•
Yilmaz, B, and Stevens, V. (2012). Webheads in Action: A community of practice scaffolding multiliteracies skills in teacher professional development.
Writing & Pedagogy 4,1:135–146.
•
Stevens, Vance. (2010). Webheads and Distributed Communities of Practice. Global Neighbors: Newsletter of TESOL's English as a Foreign Language
Interest Section, EFLIS News March 2010 Volume 9 Number 1:http://www.tesol.org//s_tesol/sec_issue.asp?nid=2994&iid=13069&sid=1
•
Stevens, Vance. (2007). Webheads as agents of change in overlapping clouds of distributed learning networks. APACALL Newsletter 11, pp. 3-8.
Retrieved December 18, 2007 from: http://www.apacall.org/news/Newsletter11.pdf.
•
Stevens, V. (2004). Webheads communities: Writing tasks interleaved with synchronous online communication and web page development. In
Leaver, B. and Willis, J. (Eds.). Task-based instruction in foreign language education: Practices and programes. Georgetown University Press. pp. 204217.
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There is a full text of a late draft of my article here, though references are not included:
http://vancestevens.com/papers/webheads/taskbase_ch10june192003.htm
An earlier version has the references, and also images that were intended to illustrate the article:
http://vancestevens.com/papers/webheads/taskbase_full.htm
Here is a Commentary: from the Linguis list, May 2005. AUTHORS: Leaver, Betty Lou; Willis, Jane R. TITLE: Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language
Education SUBTITLE: Practices and Programs PUBLISHER: Georgetown University Press YEAR: 2004 "CHAPTER TEN: Webhead communities: Writing tasks
interleaved with synchronous online communication and web page development (Vance Stevens) Another instance of virtual classroom implementing
writing tasks is described in this chapter. The author reports activities of groups of learners and teachers involved in online writing practices. The writing
tasks were aimed at purposeful interaction and technology was a vehicle of implementing pedagogical principles not the driving force. The author's initiative
for conducting an online writing and grammar course is reported to have been the starting point of this community of online writers called Webheads. The
group interactions involved various topics including projects on which teachers interacted and themes and tasks of interest to learners. Cost, ease of use,
multicasting capability, and cross platform adaptability were the criteria in selecting the tools for computer mediated communication. Email groups, web
pages, and synchronous chat were the major modalities of interaction and implementation of tasks. After a brief discussion on evaluation and in the
conclusion section the author mentions lowering affective obstacles and promoting a sense of community as the main message from the project and
recommends that the model be applied in other situations. In an appendix some technology related issues are dealt with.
•
Stevens, V. and Altun, A. (2002). The Webheads community of language learners online. In Syed, Z. (Ed.). The process of language learning: An EFL
perspective. Abu Dhabi: The Military Language Institute. pp. 285-318. 2001mli_stevens-altun2mb.pdf. There is a pre-publication version of this paper
at http://sites.hsprofessional.com/vstevens/files/efi/papers/t2t2001/proceeds.htm
•
Stevens, Vance. 1999. Writing for Webheads: An online writing course utilizing synchronous chat and student web pages. A paper submitted for the
4th Annual Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference: Best Practices In Delivering, Supporting & Managing Online Learning, April 7-9,
1999 - http://sites.hsprofessional.com/vstevens/files/efi/hawaii99.htm
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17. Find my slides with links intact at
http://slideshare.net/vances
Some slides in this presentation appeared in recent presentations of mine:
http://www.slideshare.net/vances/education-2020-presentation-how-can-the-mooc-model-be-applied-in-the-uae
And
http://www.slideshare.net/vances/rscon4-27141110