The E-Learning and Digital Cultures MOOC (#EDCMOOC) has taken the approach in design to make multiple platforms possible for engaging in the content of the course — many, many discussion lists and all manner of social media platforms. Given the large number of students and personal technology preferences, this seems to be a strategy that allows for some management of how a student might engage with the course.
For instance, I am primarily checking the Twitter feed, Facebook Group, Mash-up EDC MOOC News which pulls in blog feeds, and tracking two discussion threads — one a Synchtube group of folks who are online educators and the other a discussion of one of the four videos assigned for week 1.
I also have some very specific learning goals for myself for this class. Such as:
- experience how a discussion oriented MOOC runs
- experiment with technique and strategies for making the most of collective insights and knowledge
- explore individuals and concepts that focus on learning process and instructional design
With these in mind, I’m able to identify content from scanning quickly posts, titles, etc. It makes me realize how critical it is to distill the essence of your ideas into a compact tweet, blog title, discussion title, Facebook post, etc. That these can signal your interests to others and help you find individuals with whom you might enter into more in-depth conversation.
My previous thinking on self-organizing groups and organizations applies to this class. Theories of connectivism are now on my list to explore a bit further.
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