Monday, January 17, 2011

A first foray into a MOOC

Instead of standing on the sidelines and watching, or attempting to absorb things vicariously, I've plunged in and registered for George Siemens' and Stephen Downes' MOOC, Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011.
Perhaps it is an insecurity in me, but I often view academic discussions in my own field with a sense of awe, as if it is on a higher plane than the one I inhabit, but then surprise myself, when drawn into discussions with colleagues, with just how much I know and can contribute to the collective knowledge. Hence the decision to register for CCK11 and put my knowledge to the test AND learn more, more and more! This blog is going to chart my learning journey over the next 12 weeks, and hopefully become a repository for (regular) musings on learning technologies in higher ed.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Leitha,
    Just thought I'd leave a comment so you know I dropped by (time to get yourself a Clustr map or similar so you can tell when people have been lurking around your blog!).
    Have signed up for #CCK11 too but haven't had a chance to read much yet (school holidays means son at home so no time... school time means full-time work so no time... I'm sure you understand!). So I figure I will drop by your blog occasionally and see how you are channelling your learning so you can fill in some gaps for me!
    On a completely other note - I'm in Sydney and we have seen vision of fires in Perth... I hope all is ok where you are. Meanwhile, over here on the dark side... unbelievable vision out of Qld and northern NSW - and now Vic! 2011 is shaping up to be a major fundraising year for us in schools! Regards, Deb

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  2. Hi Deb,

    Took your advice, and added a clustrmap. I hope my reflections on the learning journey occasionally turn up something useful to you!

    Fires are a long way from me, thankfully (I live inner-city), and so far no lives lost but it pales in comparison to the devastation of those floods. The climate is going crazy!

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  3. I certainly share your anxieties regarding the 'higher plane' of academic discourse. I'm sure we'll soon get to grips with the lingo and won't feel so lost with it all !
    Ruth - fellow CCK11er

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  4. I feel exactly the same. Have just read Ruths blog - http://ruthsexstone.wordpress.com/ - and having indentified myself as a Social Constructivist also, was struggling with some of the ideas. I did find George Siemens presentation - http://elearnspace.org/media/WhatIsConnectivism/player.html most helpful, probably more so than the academic papers. No doubt more will be revealed as time progresses - Steph

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  5. Hello Leitha
    I also registered for this MOOC but unfortunately I haven't really participated. I attended an online session that Jan Herrington presented in November and I occasionally look at some of the blog posts that take my interest in Stephen's daily summary.

    However, I did participate in a MOOC that George & Steohen ran a couple of years back (2010 I think). I also found it very daunting to contribute to discussions as everyone seemed much more intellectual than me :)

    I am wondering how you are finding the course?

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    1. Embarrassingly, this was 12 months ago and I never completed the course. Aside from the time I needed to find to both complete all the readings, blog about them, and read other people's blogs, I found this style of learning a little too chaotic for my order-hungry mind.

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