Observations about learning, knowledge and technology

Recent #MOOC & #PLE research from Rita Kop: publications on Massive Open Online Courses and Personal Learning Environments. 


Rita (ur-moocquette or mooc wonkette? Maybe both...) writes...

People interested in Massive Open Online Courses will probably be aware of the research by Helene Fournier and me on Personal Learning Environments and MOOCs. We carried out research in the MOOC PLENK2010 (The MOOC Personal Learning Environments Networks and Knowledge that was held in the fall of 2010). The data collected on this distributed course with 1641 participants has been massive as well. Its analysis has kept us and some fellow researchers busy over the past year. The research has resulted in a number of publications and I thought it might be useful to post links to all of our journal articles, conference papers and presentations that were published in relation to PLEs and MOOCs in one space. Each publication looks at the data from a different perspective, eg, requirements in a PLE, self-directed learning, learner support, creativity.

Read the rest at Observations about learning, knowledge and technology: Research publications on Massive Open Online Courses and Personal Learning Environments (and save the links)

'via Blog this'

updates on multiliterate and other ESL chaos

 I created a Multiliteracies PLN (or facsimile thereof) tab on my public NetVibes page, and then posted a screen shot of the page + brief note with link to my Multiliteracies blog on Ning.

This evening, one of my almost students in Blogging English emailed me privately with a question about starting a PLN. I replied but directly to the blog (sorry the blog is private - just for the class). Then I found the student had not yet joined the class, so I did have to write the student privately to explain that he was not a member of the class until he joined the blog. I can't imagine why he thought he could be part of the class without joining it. That's a new one - and something to address in future letters to new students.

Now I need to find a few "PLN for newbies" links and decide how to organize hosting student PLNs on the blog. I can add pages, but we don't have an unlimited number available. I think each student can put PLN in a post and then edit as needed.

more literacies, networks, knowledge, etc

I'm doubling up on PLN related open / online courses. Too tired to come up with a name both right and clever. Do enough and I may even get a handle on them - if only on the acronyms. 

Platforms are another issue. I remember D2L from when it was a study skills and how to learn site. LMS (Learning Management Systems) are becoming increasingly complex and admin oriented, more about micromanagement and surveillance. I first used WebCT (if memory serves) around 2001 or 2002, creating and loading most of my own course materials, all of which went into the belly of the beast. Course back-ups only opened in WebCT through the university account. You leave, your course material stays. 

Now the trend is for colleges and universities to subscribe to WebCT pre-loaded with course materials as well as automatically upgraded, adding (imo fake) "social media" features. Why would an informed student want to keep a private personal blog shared with not just instructor and classmates but sysadmin to boot?


LMS can be seriously clunky, some more than others. The more intrusive, the clunkier. UC Davis' course listserv did everything I needed, and the Tech in Teaching program was developing a nimble LMS DTA or Distance Teaching Assistant, designed for flexibility and customization. Now they've gone to one of the commercial systems.

I still think online and hybrid classes could run just fine on a collection of free applications, e.g. a blog, a web based/archived email group, microblogging for short notices, document sharing, chat for office hours. That opinion also has more than a little to do with edu punk leanings, which is why I'm giving all this a spin, including the PLN/PLE. Forget e-portfolios though. No more evaluations, which is what that particular artifact is for. I prefer the network approach because it can allow weaving in community, academic advocacy, learning materials (whether for local or global users).

My current, sort of related project (obsession) is filling gaps - teaching materials, course pages - as best I can. Portfolio but as memoir and biography.  An electronic CV for someone no longer on or in the market, which means I am free to do it my way. If it the self-paced study group works, I'll think about putting up something self-paced (that I already have material for) for community use.