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Life & Learning

Experience

I just blinked. Did I miss it? Actually I experienced that blink. I know I think a lot, and with words, their meaning, understanding, and having… Read More »Experience

A Community of Consensus

I love a good think. #el30 has felt like a lovely stretch. My mind feels exercised. 

I am rubbish at following set rules, and in that vein I have come to write this post four times and left the screen blank each time. Here goes.

Some reflections on #el30 so far

My experience is one of value. I value the ‘nobody knows you’re not a dog on the internet’ principle. Everyone in #el30 has come to it with an openness and, yes, with a layer of trust in the way they have been willing to engage with concepts that are not their specialism and post about them. The nature of the topics chosen for each week means that nobody will be ‘expert’ in all of them, Read More »A Community of Consensus

Connected Learner Badge

This post is about a badge I designed called the ‘Connected Learner’.

In the world we are all connected, but how often do we connect? This badge can be earned by following some simple steps.

If you are reading this, then you have some sort of online presence, even if that is as one who reads, and not as a distinct or recognisable identity that you project outward.

The task that I have set is:

Read and comment on three blog posts. The posts should be to do with a particular theme, topic, or course.

For example, I could choose to comment on blogs having to do with the #el30 course. My creating this badge was a task for the #el30 course. (and my setting a task is also one of the embedded tasks for #el30 that was set by the facilitator and fellow participant, Stephen Downes.)

When applying for the badge, there is a place to put your evidence, so save the URL to the blog with your comment.

 

I think this is the public link to apply for *view* the badge via badgr:

https://badgr.io/public/badges/IlrDV104S5GF83PoBruWHA

*edit: to apply for the badge, you need to apply to me. I have learned thanks to someone from the Badgr team that issuers award the badges. So as an issuer, I can award my badge. 🙂

Read More »Connected Learner Badge

Recognition

Recognition is this week’s topic for #el30 and the abstract asks two very different questions:

  • How do we know a course has been successful?
  • How do we know what someone has learned?

For me, these are not necessarily related like a geometric proof.

  • If this -> then that.

If the course is successful the student learns. As we have seen, perspectives can reveal different meanings and aims. I wonder what the criteria one uses to know a course is successful? There will typically be course aims as well as desired learning outcomes, and perhaps criteria-based assessments or tasks.

Does the student learn? Now this is not something I would ever like to fit into a box, or expect to assess adequately or be able to reward completely.Read More »Recognition

#el30 Resources task

This is a very short post for the class #el30 about completing one of the tasks to do with resources. I did install Beaker Browser and had a good read of the accompanying documentation. It took a while to get my head around it.

The actual installation was a simple drag and drop into the applications folder (I use mac) like anything else, it was what to do then… ? I admit to being largely stumped by how to use it. I wasn’t sure if it was a drawing board, a repository, or what. I have come to sort of understand that it is a combination of BitTorrent and Dropbox. Reading the documentation it became clear what they meant by the users ‘seed’ the contents. They mean it is sort of like keepie-upies: The ball only stays in the air while there are people to toss it about, otherwise it is no longer in play and falls by the wayside (or goes dormant on your computer while your computer is off). This was clear when I went to click on Kevin’s resource and it said it wasn’t there. Read More »#el30 Resources task

Notes on Resources videos #el30

I am behind in #el30 and these notes are for the videos for the Resources topic (which is just being wrapped up now). I have watched the two videos posted by Stephen as part of the main course materials and I’ll dive into the task videos next – hopefully before tomorrow’s new topic conversation begins!

Video 1:

Stephen begins the video ‘From Repository to Distributed Web’ by laying out the topic that we are considering with resources: A vision of moving from a repository to something distributed.Read More »Notes on Resources videos #el30

The purpose of a website

I woke up thinking, had the most extraordinary day yesterday and my brain continued to think all night long. Who do I tell? Where do I share? and then it dawned on me:

Why would I share something exciting, inspiring, and personally meaningful to me with at least 1000 people (to give a conceivable number) in an office building? Why? Would I do that – walk into an office and broadcast whatever it is? um, no. but yes. I mean social media.

I did have an extraordinary day yesterday and there are things I will write about it and the thoughts that followed, both keeping me up late and waking me early with the cogs in my brain still in motion. Those thoughts are on music, community, talent, and teaching, and I will write them, but not in this post. This post stems from the desire to share and the resulting ‘where’ and why of posting.Read More »The purpose of a website