I am a fan of Clint Eastwood, but I am more of a fan of #TonyBates , mostly because of his comprehensive textbook, Teaching in a Digital Age #teachinginadigitalage . I wondered if there were negatives to sharing (other than the ones I identified in my blog: http://macselearn.weebly.com/blog/the-openness-of-sharing-traditional-knowledge ) and to OERs, and Tony Bates has something to say about it in a 2011 blog post. Bates is a great supporter of the value of sharing and agrees that sharing and openness are parts of the definition of education and that the best educators authentically share the most of themselves with the most numbers of students (and I would add colleagues). However, he offers cautions about open content that's being shared. He doesn't use the word "crap" to describe some of resources, courses and programs, but he is critical of some of the quality. Even MIT is criticized for providing Opencourseware to African countries without culturally contextualizing. What I've noticed about the OER sharing and reviews in #oltd as a whole and #oltd505 is attention to the quality of the resources. Thank you for that, everyone! Free is free, but it's not necessarily good (I learned this early in my life, because my aunt gave me a few free haircuts). Free crap has a cost, and it's usually the cost of wasted valuable time. There are some excellent links to other resources in Bates' blog as well.
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I've been trying to figure why I don't care about Twitter ... why I created a profile, followed a bunch of people and "things" and then barely engaged with it ... why I view it as one of many available time sinkholes (of which I need zero more in my life) ... why it's fine for me that I heard about Obama's tweet to Letterman on CBC radio rather than on Twitter. Why do I lack the motivation to work with Twitter? I am motivated to reflect in my e-portfolio because I believe it deepens my learning. I am motivated to learn to use open resources and apps (even though I'm a slow learner in this) because that learning will enhance my practice. I am motivated to learn to attribute sources of info correctly because it's the right thing to do. Although I'm a pauper in terms of my knowledge and practice of edtech and online learning, I am motivated to share the bits I do have with my #oltd colleagues because I value reciprocity. And, while I am not performing brilliantly in #oltd505 , I am motivated to pass the course, because I want to pass the program. This post was prompted by +Alec Couros message about very engaged students in 505 and not so very engaged students in 505. OLTD 505 is a different sort of course than what we've had to date. Its structure is more open (apropos). Critical thinking is at its core; however, there are a lot of little "tricks" to linking and enhancing your messages effectively, so that others actually see them. The course also seems to be based in #connectivist theory. So the more we connect, the more we learn, and the connections themselves are also the learning Since it's a pass/no pass evaluation on the course, I don't need to strive for an A; therefore, intrinsic motivation is more prevalent. So, how do I become intrinsically motivated to tweet? "Thanks a ton! I have appreciated your empathy all semester."
This was a Blackboard Learn email I received from my English 115 student "O." yesterday. I began OLTD 505 with the post that stated that I was starting to teach my first online course - a 7 week compacted version of first year English essay writing. It's been intense, as anything that's complex that you do for the first time always is. Five of the 20 students who began disappeared in the first week, each with a unique explanation, but the other 15 are consistently and continually doing well. I will tweak this course in future online offerings by adding open resources into the mix with the Blackboard Learn LMS. But what's been most confirming about this experience is how crucial quick and effective responsiveness is. When you're teaching an online course in a condensed format, you've got to know that your students (who likely have jobs, practicums, other courses and often families) will be studying and completing assignments late at night and early in the morning. Although I will not be checking for student messages at midnight, it's crucial to check first thing in the morning. The way to allow students to get discouraged and to lose motivation is to be slow in responding. O's circumstances are unique among the group. First, she's a dual credit student, meaning that she's completing grade 12 as well as taking some university courses. And, she's couch-surfing. In a way, she told me, the couch-surfing has been conducive to online learning. "As long as I've got my friends' couches and my laptop, I can complete the course," she said. O is more than just completing the course, she's excelling. A few days into the course, she messaged to say that she was leaving the home she shared with her mother, who is an alcoholic. The circumstances and relationship were too difficult for her there. She had the offer of a couch - several, in fact - and she'd be okay. I suggested that she talk with her local campus counselor, though, and she did. My own parents were alcoholics. During my high school years I had my own share of crappiness and couch-surfing and testing of my resilience. Our students are often more resilient than we think they'll be when they meet crisis, but it's important to check in with them when they mention some outside influence that's impacting learning and to follow up as well, without being intrusive. Online communication has allowed me to do that with O in a discreet and supportive way, and online learning has made it feasible for O to continue in the course. I was thinking yesterday, as I listened on CBC radio to the gut-wrenching stories of survivors of residential schools, that the children and adults who are our students are the consummation of so many parts of their lives, and they are a part of a whole that includes their families, and culture, and ancestors, and experiences. It's complex, but the gift of this perspective is it's openness to the enrichment of the teaching and learning relationship. |
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