Choconancy's mindmaps
Have just come across Nancy White's
mindmap on 'A blog conversation survival guide' Flickr enhanced and via the
Full Circle Blog. This makes interesting reading and has some good advice for would be collaborative bloggers.
Life through a lens
I promised my H806 tutor group that I would set up a
lens when I had finished my assignment. I am also considering setting up another to bring together the various other sites I have started to visit regularly and which feed my interest in CoPs.
I am not convinced that a lens serves any purpose than that of collecting blogs for easy access; can anyone advise me to the contrary? I think a team blog is likely to be more effective. Hmmm.......
Life after assignments ...
I've posted my TMA and life goes on .......
I am going to have a look at the learning object 'on-line constructivism' next; I have a happy feeling that this will link with the themes I've been devloping to date and CoPs in particular.
Blogging and Work based learning
Decided that my final learning object (LO) would be on Work Based Learning (WBL); the Foundation Degree concept that was my original topic was insufficiently standalone to introduce in the size of LO required.
This has more 'me' and fewer reference points than the other two LOs; a different style. Will it be equally valid?
Had a real boost today. I had asked a friend and colleague to time-check my first two LOs and was given some great feedback today - not in terms of timeliness ( a few issues there methinks) but that the activities were interesting and informative. When you are in a 'classroom situation you get that buzz when students enjoy the learning experience - and I had that same sense of excitement that someone whose opinion I respect could find the planned activities positive.
Just goes to show the value of feedback ....
Some CoP links
The
Knowledge Lab site provides, through video streaming, both an interview with Etienne Wenger and access to his full conference speech (or parts thereof) and his accompanying and somewhat unconventional presentation.
This
visual presentation summarises CoP concepts nicely.
Technology for Communities by Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, John D. Smith, and Kim Rowe (2005) is worth a visit. This provides a critique on the use of technology to support the development of virtually mediated CoPs and provides an insight into the use of blogs within this context.
...and on towards Communities of Practice ...
I have just (yes, really) finished writing my learning object (LO) on Blogging and Culture and suspect it would take a serious student a good couple of hours to complete ... ... which means that I have but a couple of hours learner activity to use for my other two LOs.
My next piece of development will introduce the concept of CoPs and will consider the ways in which a collaborative blog could support or enhance community activity. I feel as though I spent more time considering culture than blogging activity in my first LO and want to reverse the trend this time.
I am also intending to provide information through a range of different media (visual and audio) inaddition to a little textual reference. I would like to make this into a collaborative activity. It would seem highly appropriate - an activity in context!
Considering culture ...
I have spent the last few hours considering how I am going to put together a learning object (LO) on Blogging and Culture.
The first conclusion I have come to - and, to be honest, of which I have been increasingly aware over the past few weeks - is that the subject is far too big, enormous even, to have anything like justice done to it in a learning object externally constrained to take a maximum of 2 hours study. So, then, an overview it will need to be ...
I find that if I am asked to reflect, however briefly, upon my own experience the generated response is likely to then have more meaningful impact as I consider more objective stances. (Note: I deliberately use the term objective relatively since there I consider there being little chance of objectivity being complete within the context of educational theory).
A simple definition of culture - such as that posted by Queensland's Department of Education and Arts - supports initial thinking. Accessing said
definition, together with that of cultural diversity, provides a starting point for such personal reflection.
If you have checked out this link, you might care to throw in your own perspectives .... any constructive responses posted may become part of a learning activity (please do not respond if this would concern you in any way).
Do you agree with the definition provided? How could you supplement the description given?
Which actors, social networks, artifacts or tools have influenced your cultural perspective? Have they altered your outlook and expectations?
A sense of continuity
Themes of purpose and continuity juxtaposed against a need to compose three learning objects for my looming assessment have actually led me to consider using this blog as a (rather public) rough notepad for that assessment.
I have been mulling over the development of three learning objects on topics such as 'Blogging and Culture', 'Blogging and Communities of Practice' and 'Blogging and Foundation Degrees' all of which would address the 'Blogging as an Educational Tool' assignment choice. These choices are all highly relevant for me (well you've possibly seen my original posting and my profile) and I shall design them such that they could be incorporated into the CPD series we are developing for staff at the College.
But back to continuity ..........
The themes that have interested me throughout my posting have also related to these topics and, indeed, if I look at my last posting I can almost consider each question in the context of one or more of the titles of my LOs.
Culture:
What will motivate the author (intrinsic/goal oriented)?
How can the author retain an awareness of the way in which their own cultural approach may influence/bias their approach to their posting?
How does the development of the blog parallel development of the bloggers identity (N.B. I don't mean on line persona but core being when I refer to identity) What difference would co-location make? What would be the issues should the team be from a variety of cultures (ethnicity, locale, work practice, social/political orientation)
Communities of Practice
How would the postings and comments be moderated and (indeed) should they be moderated?
Should it be the process of blogging that receives attention or the content - or both?
How could a team blog work in support of a Community of Practice? and separately ...
How could team blogs be used to support Foundation Degrees?
If I can clarify and/or refine these questions I shall also have defined the objectives of my LOs. I think .......
The rambling blog
This is the type of posting you get when your heart and mind are up on Helvellyn and your body is trying to get you to concentrate on the looming assessment deadline!!
Nonetheless, I am following on from a point I started to consider in my last posting - so I guess there is some sort of signposting for my wanderings.
If a blog is being used for educational endeavour there is likely to be a need for at least temporary focus and cohesion within consecutive postings. There then follow a number of thoughts or questions for consideration .
For an individual blog:
- What will motivate the author (intrinsic/goal oriented)?
- How can the author retain an awareness of the way in which their own cultural approach may influence/bias their approach to their posting?
- How does the development of the blog parallel development of the bloggers identity (N.B. I don't mean on line persona but core being when I refer to identity)
- Who would assess the educational relevance of the materials and through what mechanism?
- How would 'levelness' be appraised?
For a team blog:
- How would the postings and comments be moderated and (indeed) should they be moderated?
- Should it be the process of blogging that receives attention or the content - or both?
- What difference would co-location make?
- What would be the issues should the team be from a variety of cultures (ethnicity, locale, work practice, social/political orientation)
- How could a team blog work in support of a Community of Practice?
- How could team blogs be used to support Foundation Degrees?
Enough to keep me on track for a while perhaps ....
The blogging contagion ...
An encounter with a colleague before this morning's curriculum meeting led organically to the discussion of blogging activity and to subjects spotted during our various interactions with the blogs of others. Peers were clearly curious and could easily be invited into the circle; we just want to get out team blog up and running before opening the metaphorical door on this one.
This made me think .....
Blogging is highly contagious but is it sustainable? Does it encourage rambling or reflection? How can the loop be closed on a thread - should it be closed?
I am wondering whether I am encouraged to develop my theories and/or interests beyond the superficial through the development of this blog - or am I gaining more through consideration and interaction with the blogs of others outside my normal working community.
Identity and learning
Out of curiousity, I checked out Peter's blog on intercultural musings - where I found this posting:
http://icmusings.blogspot.com/2006/02/question-of-identity-in-learning-and.htmlWhilst it doesn't follow quite the flow anticipated, it nonetheless provides some interesting food for thought. Peter's posting links strongly with Etienne Wenger's discourse on Identity within his text Communities of Practice - Learning, Meaning & Identity (1998). I would agree that identity is more than the image that an individual projects - that is is the core of the learner and that which develops as a result of learning taking place.
Attitude and identity
I have been reading (and posting to) the Learning Circuits blog
http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/2006/03/blogs-as-knowledge-management.html and have, as a result, come to consider three aspects of learning.
Firstly the need to consider the impact of identity (and thus culture) on attitude or approach to participation in learning/blogging or other educational discourse; secondly the need to consider whether the worker thinks of themselves as a learner and the prejudices that abound if a worker also labels themselves a learner and thirdly the ways in which virtual communities of practice can support learning.
Etienne Wenger
www.ewenger.com and David Boud
www.davidboud.com provide good academic hooks for the latter two points.
But what of cultural influence?
Within the Learning Circuits blog Peter Isackson says :
'One thing I've always been aware of is the wide-ranging inequality of people - whatever their educational level - with regard to the written word. Having few inhibitions myself, I nevertheless fully understand those who are terrified or simply intimidated by the idea of competing with others who have developed a natural sense of written expression, irrespective of their mastery of style. This makes it very difficult to democratize blogs, especially here in Europe where there are more tacit social factors that prevent people from committing their ideas to writing. '
Any thoughts?
Plenty of attitude
It is interesting to see the development of the blogs started by my peers last Wednesday (Do follow the links to Ian, Jayne, Ben and Barry's blogs .......), the type of initial postings and tones developing.
Ben's blog
www.Praxis1.blogspot.com has really taken off now with much of the discourse on assessment and feedback, discussed prior to practical activity, developing organically through his postings and subsequent comments. It is particularly good to see that a tutor working outside the initial group has already 'got the bug'.
Comparison of the contents of the blogs (even at this early stage) brings to the fore the whole issue of 'authorial tone'. This is an area of considerable interest since adoption of a particular tone may imply selection, conscious or otherwise of the intended audience of (and contributors to) the discourse.
The tone of Jayne and Barry's blogs is light and the comments follow suit. Their postings are clearly part of initial experimentation. Ian's blog contains contrasting styles, his second posting starting to indicate particular academic interests and reflecting a rapidly developed comfort with the medium. For Ben, the medium has already become secondary to the content .... his tone encourages participation of academics and invites serious interaction.
Digital Attitude
I spent a couple of hours this afternoon introducing the concept of blogging to a group of my peers. The group comprises teachers from Music, Art and Physiotherapy curriculum areas and a 'token tekkie' (sorry, Ian) in the form of our HE Operations Manager. We are aiming to establish a team blog on the subject of 'Assessment and Feedback', the link to which will be circulated to members of the college Learning and Teaching Unit, thus gradually inviting colleagues across the campus to feed the interaction.
It was important, to me, that the initial group should not be perceived to be particularly technically capable. The probability of others deciding to 'have a go' will be increased considerably if novice bloggers can be seen to use the medium to good effect.
So what attitudes have I been relying upon? I initially looked for an enthusiasm for learning and teaching, an open minded approach to new ideas, an enjoyment of cross college interaction and a certain (intangible) energy. None of the above relate directly to the use of technology; all of the above involve creativity, adaptability and interpersonal skills - a subset of the soft skills valuable in the connected society.
Have I come full circle?
