10-Rep Learning ~ Teague's Tech Treks

Learning Technology & Tech Observations by Dr. Helen Teague

By

Participating in an Online Community~Week 3, Post 1

Disclaimer: This post is part of course requirements following this assignment: Extend your identity in the direction of your career path and participate in a new online community. Interact online using your projected identity for at least six weeks. Think deeply about identity and learning and blog twice a week about your experience. Take time to analyze the meaning, power, and constraints of the community on your learning.

~~~

Week 3, Post 1

Something I read today fits perfectly with the Community of Practice I’ve joined.

Change is the one constant that we will always have in our world and if we do not grow and learn to embrace it, then we will become irrelevant.  This mindset towards learning is only one part of the solution; making the connections with our learners is also equally (if not more) significant. ~George Couros, The Principal of Change Blog

This ability to accept change, envision change, and promote change is one of the many things I appreciate about members of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Group on Goodreads. Most of the time, those I encounter avoid change and go to all sorts of extremes to avoid it. But, reading through the posts accumulated in my group, I can tell this is not the case. The creativity among the group is extensive, with some members being readers and writers of science fiction. One person even translates science fiction books into Lithuanian. During the previous week, from September 8 – September 14, there were 232 new posts from 44 discussions.

A couple of the group members have become my Goodreads’ “friends.” They have encouraged me to ease up on the anonymity I’ve attached to my identity. They have especially encouraged me to make my book list public instead of private. But I am afraid to pull back the curtain on my historical fiction, Janet Evanovich and cookbook-heavy bookshelf.

I am behind on the monthly book club reading selection. “Brave New World” is the choice for September. I find that the assignments for my classes have thrown me into an undertow under the tsunami of assignments and textbook reading. I decide to download the audio version of the book and hope to catch up during my 10-minute commutes, Tuesday’s oil change, and various lunch breaks. The version I download features narration by Michael York. “Now, we’re cooking with Peanut Oil,” as Phil, The Duck Dynasty Patriarch would say.

After listening to a few minutes of York’s narration I can already tell that his differentiation of character traits and the voices he uses, adds texture and interest for me. Also the comments of others in this sub-group add depth too. I like how everyone’s comments are respected. Out of 33 comments, (mine is 34th), there are no reactionary backlash comments or over-posters.

Book clubs such as these, within the already established Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book group community, mesh well with Wenger’s description of landscapes of practice. “As communities of practice differentiate themselves and also interlock with each other, they constitute a complex social landscape of shared practices, boundaries, peripheries, overlaps, connections, and encounters. … The texture of continuities and discontinuities of this landscape is defined by practice, not by institutional affiliations; second, the landscape so defined is weaving of both boundaries and peripheries.” (p.118)

~~~

Book Source: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice, learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.

By

Weekend Ed. Quote~ September 14

“Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. Most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the result of creativity…our language, values, artistic expression, scientific understanding, and technology—is the result of individual ingenuity that was recognized, rewarded, and transmitted through learning.” ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Csikszentmihalyi quote

~~~

More Weekend Quotes

By

Participating in an Online Community~Week 2, Post 2

Disclaimer: This post is part of course requirements following this assignment: Extend your identity in the direction of your career
path and participate in a new online community. Interact online using your projected identity for at least six weeks. Think deeply about identity and learning and blog twice a week about your experience. Take time to analyze the meaning, power, and constraints of the community on your learning. This post updated on October 18, 2013.

~~~

Week 2 Continued

I found an informative study by M. McLure Wasko and S. Faraj that researches why people are reluctant to divulge information online. Wasko and Faraj  test their hypothesis “that knowledge can also be considered a public good, owned and maintained by a community.” Their study is titled, “It is what one does”: why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice and here is the link to this study.

The Sci-Fi Discussion Group is a robust community with frequent postings, interesting topics, quick response by the moderators, and encouragement. As a newbie, I felt welcomed and encouraged with almost immediate responses to my Introduction and request for science fiction titles to read. They never displayed judgment at my lack of experience with their favorite literary genre of science fiction. They encouraged me to read additional titles and I have added them to my Goodreads bookshelf. They have also invited me to join their monthly book club which, for September, is reading “Brave New World.”

I wanted to increase my interaction with the Sci-Fi Discussion Group. My motivation is based on wanting to reciprocate for the attention and posts I’ve received. My experience somewhat reiterates Wasko and Faraj’s conclusion, “When knowledge is considered a public good, knowledge exchange is motivated by moral obligation and community interest rather than by narrow self-interest.” I can’t say that I felt a moral obligation to participate, but I did feel community interest and an interest in participating.

Checking in today on the progress of my Discussion post thread suggesting a theme topic to include in the Themes Discussion Board in the Sci-Fi Discussion Group from my post earlier in the week. I was disheartened that my I had not received an email notifying me of any responses to my suggestion. When I logged-in to the group I saw that my post had not posted after all. I must have written it in Sunday’s blog post and neglected to copy and paste it to the group board. It is difficult to embody Jenkins “participatory media” when I don’t participate!

Absentmindedness seems to be a recurring theme for me this week as I have already left an email I thought I sent on the screen of my home computer, only to find it when I returned from work and I forgot neglected to pay an online bill that I marked “paid.” A quick search of Wenger’s name and “absentmindedness” rendered no results so there is no curricular adaptation that I can make.

I quickly upload my post and respond to a couple of threads by others in the community. I also feel an obligation to reply to the book suggestions from my fellow community members.

~~~

Book Sources:

Jenkins, Henry (2008-09-01). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (Kindle Locations 3040-3041). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice, learning, meaning, and identity. (1st ed. ed.). Cambridge Univ Pr.

Study Source: Wasko, Molly McLure and Faraj, Samur (2000).  It is what one does”: why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice. The Journal of Strategic Information SystemsVolume 9, Issues 2–3, September 2000, Pages 155–173.

By

Proof that Libraries are Vital, even on the back of donkeys

A true example of altruism:


Colombian grade-school teacher Luis Soriano spends his weekends bringing books, via two hard-working donkeys, to the children in villages of Magdalena Province. Delivering books since the late 1990s, Soriano’s children help him pack a rotating selection of books.       The donkey’s names are Alfa and Beto. Source Link: http://www.pbs.org/pov/biblioburro/

By

Participating in an Online Community~Week 2, Post 1

Disclaimer: This post is part of course requirements following this assignment: Extend your identity in the direction of your career
path and participate in a new online community. Interact online using your projected identity for at least six weeks. Think deeply about identity and learning and blog twice a week about your experience. Take time to analyze the meaning, power, and constraints of the community on your learning.

~~~

Participating in an Online Community~Week 2, Post 1

CofPLevelsofParticipationToday’s activity is all about nomination and identity. Etienne Wenger defines Identity as “Learning by Becoming.”  I nominated myself to move from “new novice” status to “apprenticeship” status in my CoP Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club discussion group. I would like to become an apprentice, or, to fit Wenger’s model label, part of the occasional group.

Gladwell writes that people need 10,000 hours of Practice to achieve expert status. I have only been a member of my CoP for less than a month so I maybe have ten hours of practice. I am applying a social media construct of Moore’s Law to my participation. If information doubles every 18 months, then surely identity role status should progress with as much exponentiation as well.

I decided to participate in a new Discussion Forum. I chose the “Give Us Your Themes” forum begun by Zena*, whose identity is “The Zaphod.” Zena began this thread in April, 2013 asking for the expertise of the group:

“Ok, so it’s not always easy coming up with a good list of themes every  month for people to vote on. So we want to hear form our awesome members what themes you like. We will use this thread to build a master list of themes. Each month we’ll pick on the the themes for the group to nominate books for. We want to reduce the amount of polls down to just the book pick polls…This thread won’t be closed. I’ll make a second post and keep updating it as we get more themes given as well as marking them off as we use them. You don’t have to give a reason for the theme and you can submit multiple themes. Just mark whether it’s sci-fi or fantasy. Zena, The Zaphod

Activity responses were most concentrated in the first days after Zena’s post with 35 themes offered. I did not see the theme I was considering as my theme addition.  Posts continued with a periodic suggestions until the last post on September 6, 2013.

On August 26th, the Discussion Board members had to wrestle with the question of whether it was ok to copy themes from another group. Within 90 minutes it was decided in the affirmative. Now the list expanded to include an additional 18 themes. I still did not see the theme I was considering as my addition. The last theme which suggested Magical Realism was posted on September 6.

Since my theme was not listed yet, I decided to venture forth from newbie-ville and raise my virtual hand. I posted:

“Still new to the group, but I would like to add the theme of “Creative Problem Solving” in the Science Fiction section. Thanks!”

Short, sweet, concise with only a hint of forced gratitude at the end.

~~~

Book Source: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice, learning, meaning, and identity. (1st ed. ed.). Cambridge Univ Press.

*Zena, The Zaphod is a pseudonym

By

Participating in an Online Community~Week 1, Post 2

Disclaimer: This post is part of course requirements following this assignment: Extend your identity in the direction of your career
path and participate in a new online community. Interact online using your projected identity for at least six weeks. Think deeply
about identity and learning and blog twice a week about your experience. Take time to analyze the meaning, power, and constraints of the community on your learning.
~~~~

Week 1 Continued
My first post about joining an online community concluded with my Introduction submission to the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club on Goodreads.

I am a newcomer or novice in the group. In Wenger’s Levels of Participation in Communities of Practice model below, I would label myself as part of the Peripheral Group…at the outer limits of the Peripheral Group, pun intended.

CofPLevelsofParticipation https://4oops.edublogs.org/files/2013/09/CofPLevelsofParticipation-trcxdj.png

Rereading my Introductory submission, I can see a few of my personality traits evident in just a few lines of text. First, I see my yen for excessive openness and inclusion: (Hi Everyone: every-single-one-of-you-no-matter-what-you-may-be-doing-right-now.) Also I see almost a defensive and guarded persona, explaining away my lack of science-fiction book cred: (I have enjoyed Fantasy books since junior high and high school, but I have never really read much Science Fiction and I really don’t know why.) Then, the community organizer/teacher in me takes over and I end the Introduction with an approval-seeking assignment for the membership: (I wonder: does Hitchhiker’s Guide “fit” in Science Fiction?).

That this group accepted my group membership request is truly amazing.

There are time in our lives when learning is intensified: when situations shake our sense of familiarity, when we are challenged beyond our ability to respond, when we wish to engage in new practices and seek to join new communities.” Etienne Wenger, Communities of Practice, page 7

This summer has arched in the direction of Wenger’s description of “learning intensified.” I began a new job with new computer systems, organizational systems, and interpersonal systems. I also took on two new clients and needed to learn their Sharepoint system, curriculum writing practices, billing practices, presentation modules, and in the case of one new client, their new Android Tablet that I would demo to other school districts.  And I also began a doctoral program, with many new people in my Learning Cadre and new professors and support professionals to meet, learn about, and learn from their expertise.

These coinciding events did shake my “sense of the familiar.” They approach the fiery volcanic eruptions described by Wenger. Two of the four components of Social Learning Theory which have been the most necessary for me to explore and integrate have been social structure and situated experience.

Gratifyingly, I have experienced both agency and interpersonal conversations in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Discussion Groups on Goodreads. I am already being a member of several communities under my authentic identity. The parameters of this assignment are to join a group under an alternate identity. I chose a gender neutral name for this group identity. I choose “ByTheFire Reading” (i.e. “ByTheFire” is my first name and “Reading” is my surname.) I keep my reading list preferences closed to keep the gender neutrality, reasoning that if group members see my reading list the proverbially reading identity jig will be up.

I was surprised by how quickly my introduction received reply. My Introduction was posted on August 25 at  1:17 pm. I received a reply and an invitation within 12 hours. I was shocked. The group moderator, Chloe*, was kind and inviting and non-judgmental of my self-assigned fledgling science fiction reader status. Her tone and inviting response is something I need to remember to use with others. As a newcomer, I felt included very quickly, which, according to Wenger, is “essential for transformation of identities.” By responding so quickly to my timid request to connect, Penny accorded to me Wenger’s sense of meaning. Of all the components of Wenger’s Social Learning Theory, meaning is the most important. Gray would nod in agreement and add that “central to social behavior is the notion of meaning.”

~~~

Book Source: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice, learning, meaning, and identity. (1st ed. ed.). Cambridge Univ Pr.
and also

Gray, D. E. (2009). Doing research in the real world (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

*Chloe is a pseudonym

By

Weekend Ed. Quote~September 7

To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered. ~John Ruskin

ruskin

 

~~~

More Educational Quotes

By

Mobile Learning and Engagement: Are you part of the 15%?

mobile devices

Are you part of the 15%?

First seen in this article: The 21st Century Digital Learner by Marc Prensky

~~~

 

By

Tech B.F.F.~OhLife Letter Writing for the Future

BFF is an acronym for “Best Friend Forever.” These websites and tips are so good that they will become your technology BFFs!
~~~~~~

The other day I asked some college students to keep a journal in the form of letters to themselves. One of the students timidly asked, “you, mean, with paper and everything?”

Enter OhLife

OhLife has two easy steps:

1.) OhLife sends an email asking “How did your day go?”

2.) Account holders write as much or as little as they would like.

After awhile a nice collection of letters forms a primary source time capsule.

ohlife email text sample

What I like is that there are no “share” buttons enticing students and/or participants to share (and perhaps embellish) the details of their daily life. There is also a nifty feature to set the date in the future for delivery of your letter. OhLife’s privacy makes it an intriguing choice for classroom writing projects, virtual diaries, MeMuseums, etc…

OhLife has a 15 day free trial and $10.00 yearly price tag.

Not bad for a memoir in the making!

~~~

See previous Tech BFFs

By

RIP Student Desks

student desk

As educational technology permeates more classroom environments, the student desk days are in decline. The invention by  Anna Breadin is in decline, so much so that one instructional coordinator wrote an obituary to them. “We just feel like kids in this new mobile age don’t need to be confined to a small, uncomfortable desk.” said one teacher Bridge Point Elementary school in Austin, Texas.

Montessori schools obliterated desks in 1907. Now, classroom across the country are following suit.

Read the obituary by clicking here.

Skip to toolbar