Open & Collaborative Learning: How Social Networks Can Transform Learning

Open & Collaborative Learning

How Social Networks Can Transform Education

Dr. Alec CourosApril 2010Southwestern Community CollegeSylva, North Carolina

Who is this guy?

risk

“Web 2.0 tools that might allow academics to reflect and reimagine what they do as scholars.

Such tools might positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching, and services responsibilities - only if scholars choose to

build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-public selves and becoming invested in and

connected to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow, Robella, & Hughes, 2009)

my blog, my hub

photo sharing

video sharing

social networking services

content sharing

copyleft

open cv

open teaching

changes

Free Tools

Open Content

“describes any kind of creative work in a format that explicitly allows copying and modifying of its information by anyone, not exclusively by a closed organization,

firm, or individual. (wikipedia)

Open Access

“The aim of the open access movement is to make scientific and scholarly literature openly accessible

to all users free of charge.” (open-access.net)

open access is beginning to expand to conferences, courses, and other educational events

Ubiquity

Personal Learning Networks

context

Each technology creates a new environment.

The effects of mediacome from their formnot their content.

Mario Couros

connected reality

quick stats (2009)

•90 trillion emails sent annually from 1.4 billion email users

• 234 million websites

• 1.73 billion Internet users

• 126 millions blogs

• 350 million Facebook users

• 4 billion images on Flickr

• 1 billion Youtube videos served daily.

Stats as of Jan 22/10 via Royal Pingdom

Stats as of March 17/10 via Mashable

David Wiley

@opencontent

Then vs Now

Analog Digital

Tethered Mobile

Isolated Connected

Generic Personal

Consumption Creating

Closed Open

David Wiley

@opencontent

Education vs Everyday

Analog Digital

Tethered Mobile

Isolated Connected

Generic Personal

Consumption Creating

Closed Open

Teens are not connecting in the ways we fear. But, we need to pay attention to:

•Properties: persistence, replicability, searchability, scalability, (de)locatability.

•Dynamics: invisible audiences, collapsed contexts, blurring of public & private spaces

@zephoria

danah boyd

• Inspired by McLuhan’s “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.”

• Youtube & other social media mitigate “connection without constraint”. In many cases this leaves to “tremendously deep communities”.

@mwesch

Michael Wesch

practice

connecting educators

@kathycassidy

Grade 1 - Expert Visits

Grade 5 - Choir on Youtube

ps22chorus.blogspot.com

Grade 6 - Global Connections

@zbpipe

Around the World - 80 Schools

@langwitches

Highschool - Youtube Channel

@amhwrites

HigherEd - Open Courses

eci831.wikispaces.com

Professional Identities

PD Gone Wild

Real-time search

Real-time collaboration

Real-time streaming

ps22chorus.blogspot.com

Thinning Walls

Private Public

Closed Open

designing 4 openness

if you build it ...

non-credit students

social affordance

distributed conversations

culture of sharing

global classroom

invisible colleges

why this matters?

Disruptive media

Social Learning

New Possibilities

Power of Openness

Disruptive Education

Drive to Connect

new possibilities for

@willrich45

“I was able to go out and learn throughout the entire week, the entire year, and I’m still learning with

“The best part of the course is that it’s not

ending. With the connections we’ve built, it never has to end.”

“The course ... has been the most profound pd experience I’ve ever had. It forced me to

critique & review my practice. I never knew how important social networks were. Now, I couldn’t

be a teacher without being connected. It’s drastically changed my view of education.”

this is not going away

new possibilities for

social media provides engagement/motivation

development of meaningful learning communities

incredible possibilities for teaching and learning

good teaching is shared & transparent

web: couros.catwitter: courosagoogle: couros

couros@gmail.com

Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another

time. ~Tagore