Visitor/resident – some further thoughts

I can’t make up my mind whether I’m a visitor or resident. As Dave White says in his presentation its not a dichotomy – but rather a duality (which is very much Wenger’s approach to communities of practice). In his presentation Dave makes some comments that I have been thinking about:
Visitors leave no trace – my [...]

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Are you a visitor or a resident in the online environment?

I am posting this invitation on behalf of Roy Williams, Dave White, Sui Fai John Mak and Gus Goncalves.
Please join us
You are invited to join us in the Elluminate conference on Wednesday 4th November at 20:00 GMT to discuss the title question with Dave White from Oxford University.
The Link for the conference is: Elluminate Conference [...]

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Some great questions out there at the moment

I keep coming across great questions which really make me stop and think.
George Siemens  asked four really thought provoking questions in the Networked Learning Conference 2010 Hot Seat

What skills/attributes do learners need in order to learn effectively with networked technologies?
What role will educators need to fulfill in networked learning environments?
Can learning networks (partly) replace the [...]

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Group think

My online PGCert group (for which I am a facilitator)  is currently studying a module on the emotional intelligence of teams. Had I not worked on the connectivism course in 2008, I might not have even thought to question whether working in teams/groups is a good idea and also whether working in teams/groups leads to group think [...]

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F2F and online teaching

Mike Bogle’s reflection on his presentation skills – http://techticker.net/2009/08/27/self-assessment-of-my-presentation-skills/ – strikes a chord with me. I always unpick my ‘performance’ in detail after a presentation or a course, either online or offline – but I tend not to do it in public as Mike has done. Through a long career which has involved being interviewed, [...]

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Collaboration online

Many online courses now require students to collaborate, but we know that just putting people together in the same space isn’t enough? What should a tutor do to prepare students for collaborative tasks?
Gilly Salmon’s 5-stage model provides very good guidelines on how to prepare for collaborative tasks online. These are usually designed into Stage 4 of [...]

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Teaching with technology: changes in daily routines

Here is the next set of questions (following on from previous posts which have raised questions about teaching with technology – for me teaching with technology means teaching online).
How has your daily routine changed?  What changes have you had to make to how you organise and manage your time?
I have to say that I hate routine and resist [...]

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Teaching with technology: changing roles

My third question in this series (from the list I posted) is: How has your role changed as a result of working with technology?
Recently – it hasn’t changed a lot, since I have been working and teaching online for a number of years now. Just writing this has made me wonder whether I am in [...]

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Engaging learners with technology

How do you ensure that learners engage with the technology?
This is the second question from my list and my immediate response is similar to my initial thoughts about the last question. My primary concern, as a teacher, is to engage learners with learning. Technology is only a tool – a means to an end.
Most of my career [...]

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Using technology in teaching

How do you use technology in your teaching? Why do you use particular technologies? Which technologies do you dismiss? What are the drivers for using technology in your course design?
Thinking about these questions I am struck by the emphasis on technology and teaching as a starting point, whereas I have always thought that learning should [...]

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