So it’s day three of #moocmooc, and after exploring what MOOCs are, places where learning takes place, today’s theme is “Participant Pedagogy”.
We’ve been given a short list of articles offering a number of perspectives from Howard Rheingold, Amya Kamenetz and Stephen Downes, and been to consider and respond to the following questions:
*How does the rise of hybrid pedagogy, open education, and massive open online courses change the relationships between teachers, students and the technologies they share?
*What would happen if we extracted the teacher entirely from the classroom? Should we?
*What is the role of collaboration among peers and between teachers and students? What forms might that collaboration take?
*What role do institutions play?
We’ve also been asked to:
*Create your own conversation around the topic of participant pedagogy.
*Do this by writing an article on your own blog or, if you don’t have a blog, by starting a thread in the discussion forum within this course.
*Establish the space, provide the tools, and provoke your audience to respond. Announce and link to your post on Twitter w/ hashtag #moocmooc and hashtag #post (to help people search and avoid spambots).
I thought that this task might be enlivened by some face to face discussion around the questions and I’m inviting fellow moocmoo-ers and anyone else who is interested to join me in a google hang out tonight (15 August) at 8pm (BST). As well as getting to know some fellow course members, I’m hoping this will be a good opportunity to try out Google hang outs, which I haven’t done before. I understand you can record conversations to, which again would be useful.
Unfortunately, despite a couple of tweets and a post to the course discussion forums, it looks like no-one is really that interested. So if you, dear reader, would like to talk about participant pedagogy (or anything else really) and try out google hangouts – DM me (@sheilmcn) and so I can get your email address and invite you to the hangout. There is a limit of 10 people which again I think would be about the right number for a this kind of conversation. However I am having rather mixed feelings of irony that there is so much other “massive” mooc participation/activity going on, that so far no-one seems to want to participate in this activity. I’m not paranoid, honest, but am beginning to feel slightly like a Billy no-mates:-)
**UPDATE**
I should have had more faith in my fellow moocmooc-ers. Have had a great chat tonight, despite some technical ‘issues’ at the start (note to self – don’t try to do a google hangout on 7yr old mac, with domestic broadband).
It’s hard to be in this big, massive thing but not really feel connected. A Google Hangout is a great idea! I would attend if I were available during that time. I’ve made it a little goal to try to connect with two or three people in the MOOC each day. I follow them on Twitter and retweet or reply to their tweets. Or I comment on someone’s blog
This helps to make it more manageable to me.
things do seem to go quiet for a bit and some folk bunched in similar timezones still…so it’s been tricky to get the discussion going asynchronously in a short time period. As for the G+ hangout would be happy to join in, just depends on family things so might be a bit disrupted as folk are due back in the house at that time!! Yes you can choose the G+ ‘live on air’ option to stream more widely to a larger audience and it records the session into your youtube account. Have used it a number of times and it can be quite nifty.
Hi Rachel – thanks for the response – like your strategy and I’m doing something similar, will hopefully share recording too.
Sheila
Hi Iain
Thanks for the response and totally understand re times. I’m usually a bit brain dead by time twitter chats start so just thought this would be an alternative – maybe chat later.
Sheila
Hey Sheila….
I too find MOOC’s very isolating…the tweets have been coming fast though, so I think that’s why I have felt more enagaged…
Can’t make your hangout…as I am already supposed to be two other places online at a similar time (have yet to figure out how that will work…) But I wanted to write and say – I can relate – I think that is something that needs to be discussed, how you can feel so alone within a MOOC…and Why
I am on twitter for future chats…@verenanz
Thanks for posting a comment Verena, and after I posted this has a flurry of communication on twitter and also the hangout did go ahead – just about to update the post with a link.
Sheila
Hi, I considered joining, then decided I couldn’t since it’d be too late – but have since realised this was purely because I misread and thought it was at 8pm EST as opposed to BST! Hope the hangout was productive, perhaps I’ll catch another if you find it worth repeating.
Hi Dan
Yes working in different time zones a bit confusing:-) Just update post with video of chat. I found it worthwhile so would be up for doing another one – if we can work out suitable times:-)
Sheila
Really glad that you found some folks to chat with in your hangout. Absolutely loved your idea. I understand what you mean about the desire for some f2f time. Thought of you and your post when this entry just showed up on my feed: http://vsuter.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/why-cant-i-find-my-way-in/
I made a comment on the post, but it feels like a place that might need some more populating.
Hi Jesse
yes it was great. Thanks for the link – I think that sums up how most people have feel at some point in a MOOC.
Sheila
Thanks for the response last night, Sheila. I felt a lot better after posting it, although that felt a little like putting myself out there. Maybe it is because how I feel about learning is central to who I am, and I feel a little exposed when I, well, expose myself.
I like Rachel’s idea of making a goal to connect with 2-3 people a day – that’s what I did at all those many conferences I used to attend (and plan). I am going to approach this as though it is the first of a new type of conference I’m attending, and use some of the strategies that worked so well for me in the past.
I wasn’t planning on giving up, just trying to figure out a way in. All these ideas were very helpful.