academic learning & collaboration & learning

Dr. Alec CourosUniversity of ReginaJuly 2011

Academic Collaboration & Learningin a Networked Age

bit.ly/oslo2011

me

Faculty Profile

The Blur

Photo-A-Day

Open CV

Open Access Journal

Open Teaching

“Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reflect and reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching, and

service 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, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009)

journey(quick version)

Knowledge

knowledge

• what is k?

• how is k acquired?

• how do we know what we know?

• why do we know what we know?

• what do humans know?

• who controls k?

• how is k controlled?

human thought/ideas

human language

high-level language(e.g. C++, Java, PERL)

low-level language(assembly language)

machine code(binary)

source code

code irretrievable

@jonmott

Collaboration

“given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow”

(Linusʼ Law, Raymond 1997)

“A key to transformation is for the teaching profession to establish innovation networks that capture the spirit and culture of hackers -

the passion, the can-do, collective sharing.”

~ Hargreaves, 2003

Openness

• philosophical stance

• power & control

• access

• design attributes

- privacy/publics

- transparency

- accountability

open(ness)(short version)

open source software

open contentopen access publication

open accreditation

open education

open access coursesopen teaching

free software

open educational resources

open(ness)(short version)

open scholarship

networkedlearning

(short version)

• pedagogical & pragmatic stance

• knowledge exchange, curation, wayfinding, crowdsourcing, collaboration, problem solving

• facilitated through personal learning networks/environments (PLNs/PLEs)

Free/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)

“...the power of the new software movement stems from the ʻgift cultureʼ....

The Internet is a quintessential example of a gift culture. People are willing to make

all sorts of useful information available for free, in defiance of orthodox economic ʻrulesʼ that claim such voluntary behavior can occur only with financial incentives.”

(Bollier, 1999)

• knowledge needs to be free.• relationships trump content.• transparency & openness are powerful

conditions for knowledge building.• distributed, weak-tie communities can help

to solve complex problems.• education can greatly benefit from the

experiences of open (source) communities (i.e., networked communities of practice).

early lessons

participatory media

Stats as of January 2011 via Royal Pingdom

media stats (2010)

• 107 trillion emails (89% spam), from 1.04 billion users.

• 255 million websites

• 1.97 billion Internet users

• 152 millions blogs

• 600 million Facebook users (sharing 30 billion pieces of content per month)

• 2 billion videos watched on Youtube daily

• 5 billion photos hosted on Flickr

“Privacy is no longer possible ...”

“Privacy is no longer possible ...”

“... the technical infrastructure for creating and sharing content has been simplified to the point where

anyone with even limited technical skills can participate.”

“Privacy is no longer possible ...”

“... the technical infrastructure for creating and sharing content has been simplified to the point where

anyone with even limited technical skills can participate.”

“Social spaces and the process of identity creation and growing up

require some “forgivability”.”

Text

Easily Copied

Viewable by MillionsEasily Edited

Instantly Shared

by DEFAULT

with EFFORT

PRIVATE

PUBLIC

by DEFAULT

with EFFORTPRIVATE

PUBLIC

Best Job in the World

Stephen Downes

• “Ten years ago, not one student in a hundred, nay, one in a thousand, could have produced videos like this. It’s a whole new skill, a vital and important skill, and one utterly necessary not simply from the perspective of creating but also of comprehending video communication today.

On Digital Video

implications

Changes

Early Day of PC in Schools Todayʼs Social/Mobile Reality

George Siemens

• “Informal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience. Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning.”

•

Informal Learning

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Howard Rheingold

• “Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st century.” (2010)

Network Literacies

Services

Human Connections

Crowdsourcing Example #1:

Deconstructed

Crowdsourcing Example #2:

Deconstructed

Crowdsourcing Example #2:

Deconstructed

Crowdsourcing Example #3:

Deconstructed

Crowdsourcing Example #4:

Deconstructed

• growing modes of access and the ability to publish & disseminate to wide audiences are key affordances.

• (digital) citizenship & (digital) identity are emerging content areas that heavily implicate emerging pedagogies.

• crowdsourcing & social curation of content will prove transformational for learning experiences.

additional lessons

practice

open teaching

network mentors

non-credit students

student-controlled spaces

aggregation

microblogging

shared resources

daily updates

What We Learned

• Open access, low-cost, high impact.

• Courses become shared, non-local, learning events.

• Students immersed in a greater learning community.

• Rethinking of space/interaction (walled gardens, open spaces)

• Learning spaces controlled and/or owned by students.

• Development of emerging literacies, relevant for other courses.

• Pedagogy focused more on connecting & interactions; content important, but secondary.

• Development of sustainable, long-term, learning connections.

conclusion

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/4802611949/

Sharing

“itʼs about overcoming the inner 2 year old in

you that screams mine, mine, itʼs mine.”

(Wiley, TEDxNYED, 2010)

On Sharing ...

Openness

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/4396467701/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Identity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaumedurgell/740880616/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3356252350/

Relationships

“My student was delighted by the attention her blog post had received; it gave her confidence in her

writing and bolstered her enthusiasm for our class.... We were no longer studying an important work of

20th century literature within the narrow context of my syllabus; instead we had become part of a

conversation that involved the broader reading public. As a professor, I was displaced from the centre of the conversation, which became more open, distributed

and student-driven than it had been before.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/admitchell08/2574455073

http://couros.cacouros@gmail.com

@courosa

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

in another time. ~Tagore