The following are a list of my responses to others’ posts and my posts of resources and interesting findings:
Hi Michael, I so agree that we should stop dishing out money for textbooks and start investing in iPod for students. I rarely use textbooks in my classroom. I have brought a laptop, iPad, tablet of my own for my students to use. I also let them use my Mac and my phone to search for information. If we could supply our students with iPads or even tablets there would be a lot that could be accomplished. Our students could access up-to-date information. I think about “open education” as accessible. In a small way I think some of us are trying to expose our students to what is “out there”. I think that is a beginning to showing our students that education does ot need to be within four walls with a teacher “instructing.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interesting article, Alec. After reading this article, I started thinking about commercial courseware providers and how they want a return on their course development work and how the "change" to the MOOC system will be morphed "to become yet another online vendor of services to higher ed." I would hope that there would be more to it than that. I would hope that there would be more substance to the MOOC/institutionalized programs than just another online course. If that is the road the "new" MOOCs are heading, then where is the "access" and "open" to all, part? We just go back to only being able to access the courses if you are a student of that particular institution. I know - what if "we", the students and "experts" develop courseware that can be open and accessible to all. There certainly is enough information "out there" to pull from, isn't there? Or am I being naive and don't understand all of the parameters around what is involved in developing a course? Dated May 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Marieke, I so agree with you especially about the myriad of resources that are out there. I, too, am finding it really overwhelming. One of the challenges I have is that I go to one site and within that site are other links to other sites. I get so sidetracked that I lose sight of the initial thing I was focusing on. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the outcome. It can be good if it takes you to a better thing than where you started, but a bad thing if you get more confused. Unfortunately, I think sometimes I have been more confused than not. As to evaluating resources, I too, wish there was some way of them being easier to be categorized or somehow evaluated for ease of reviewing them. On the other hand, it is sometimes fun to "play" so that you get a true since of the resource. Great post! May 20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Justin, I absolutely loved the part about you meeting Trevor Linden. I too, am a Canuck fan. I thought it was interesting also about when Stephen mentioned that massive did not necessarily mean thousands. I also didn't know about "Green OERs" being hosted in a local repository and "Gold OERs" being hosted by a publisher. Something else to look into in more detail. I also thought that Stephen's idea of what makes a course work is when there is "autonomy, diversity, openness, and are interactive." It will be interesting to see how the path of MOOCs go. I have been looking into cMOOCs and xMOOCs after listening to Stephen. I have discovered that the real difference is that cMOOCs are built around a community of connections and that they are not centred around an instructor but around joint collaboration with the students and the instructor. xMOOCs are more in line with a traditional institution, dishing out content. I am really excited to see where cMOOCs lead us. June 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow Kris, What an amazing story!!! The things that you have instilled in your students, a sense of giving, accomplishment, and pride is not something you can "teach". You gave them the portal with which to shine and achieve. Isn't what you did right in line with one of the things we have been looking at during 505? You used something that was "shared" and then you "shared" with your mom's class. I wonder if you could go a bit further and "share" with a wider source, as with "19 pencils" (http://19pencils.com/) for example. I am sure that others, other than our small group would love to hear of your success story. I want to thank you, Kris, I got quite choked up when reading your post. Now, I am motivated to do what you did too! June 1, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Tracy, Great post! I too, was, and still am a little overwhelmed by some of the technical jargon. Prior to the OLTD program I had had absolutely no experience at all with this level of technical skills and knowledge. Even though, like you, I have to spend extra time to "research" things that others may already know about, I am loving every minute of it. I am by no means near being as fluent in all the ins and outs as many of our cohorts, but what I am finding interesting is that through the support and sharing of our cohorts I am learning so much more. I am now the person at my school of whom my fellow teachers come to for ideas or help when they want to do something to do with online with their class. I am so proud to be able to do something tangible in my school. Getting back to your post, before I get too carried away, I remember when I was doing my bachelor's that there were older people, probably my age ( ha ha) who would audit a course. I see, in part, today's MOOCs as an avenue for all those people who don't necessarily want credit. How much easier it is for those who do not want credit for a course but wish to "audit" one to enroll in a MOOC. Before a person had to go to a campus to audit a course, but now they can be anywhere in the world and enroll in anything they want, not just a course at the nearest university. June 1, 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Justin, You hit the nail on the head about the reason you find it difficult to share. I too, feel the same way. I know that within my school I have shared things I have done with my students only to have someone say, "Why would you do that, that doesn't really work", even though it did work with my students. The example is that I teach my students to write the way they speak. If you pause then you put a comma, if you stop you put in a period. As they develop in their writing we add question marks, etc... I have had great success with this and non-writers are now writing reams of things. Their confidence is raised and they have a tool to use to help them know where to put the punctuation. I guess what I saying is that I do have a fear of being criticized about what I am doing. Here I thought, and still do think, that I had a great tool, and it took one person's comment to shoot down my pride. I guess the question is, am I strong enough to take that kind of stuff with a grain of salt and go with my experience and gut feelings and put myself out there and take a chance? My answer has to be, yes. I shouldn't let my pride get in the way of possibly helping others. I see now that there are things I do in my classroom that so many others could benefit from. I also need to realize that not all shoes fit every foot, and that what one person may think won't work for them, may work for someone else. Thank you, Justin, for giving me a push in sharing more. June 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen General Discussion Jun 1, 2013 I was just looking through my "Weebly" under my "Community Connections" page and realized that I didn't have my Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram links posted. Wow, what an oversight! Here I have been thinking all along that "Community Connections" were supposed to be on a more academic note, such as with "Linkedin", when some of the most important sharing and connecting that is done is through the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and the like. I have now corrected the oversight and have added the above links to my "Community Connections" page. Whew. Jane ChristensenJun 1, 2013 1 Just added this to my OERs list, and posted to Twitter. Thanks, Jean Jane Christensen Week 3 - May 15, 2013 I found this site "iTunesU" (retrieved from:http://www.apple.com/ca/education/itunes-u/) when I was reading the article from the University of Ontario that I posted yesterday. You can get an app for your iPad or iPhone that lets you develop and distribute a course. I haven't delved into the bits and pieces yet, but wow, how far we have come. You can have audio and video, do presentations, write documents, use PDF formats, use iBooks textbooks for iPad, use ePub books, use iOS apps, and have web links. Thoughts on this? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 4 - May 18, 2013 I was hanging out in "Facebook" and searching for groups for education. I came across two that were interesting. I have added them to my "education interests" page. The first one, "Facebook in Education", I hadn't seen before, however the "Guardian" one I have seen, but as a webpage, not as in a "Facebook" format. https://www.facebook.com/education https://www.facebook.com/educationguardian ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AWE....so cute1111 dated May 28 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOVE THIS!! Dated May 28 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Love your vlog, Marieke!!! I especially appreciated that you shared personal information as well. Adding to the sense of our community, thank you. Dated May 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 5 May 29, 2013 Interesting article on "What Teens Feel About Privacy and Social Media" by: Holly Korbey - May 22/13. (retrieved from:http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/what-teens-feel-about-privacy-and-social-media/) Interesting to note that many teens are veering away from "Facebook" as an avenue for social networking. The "new wave" seems to be Snapchat (http://www.snapchat.com) and Instagram (http://instagram.com) as their social connection venues. I haven't connected with "Snapchat" yet, however, I do have "Intagram". --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen General Discussion May 29, 2013 YouTube video on "The Future of Higher Education: MOOCs and Disruptive Innovations" Posted May 1/13. Dr. Doug Guthrie speaks.The Future of Higher Education: MOOCs and Disruptive Innovations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA2px1NymJw ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 5 May 27, 2013 I just fired off the following email to Stephen Downes. I wanted to ask him his opinion on the following, but my cursor froze so I couldn't do anything!!!! Hi Stephen, I just wanted to let you know what a thrill it was for you to meet with our OLTD 505 group on Saturday. I had wanted to ask a question, but my cursor froze, so I couldn't do anything. I didn't want to shut down my computer and restart, because I didm' t want to miss anything. I watched your video on You-Tube explaining about the difference between LMSs and PLEs, LMS vs PLE I loved your "high tech" way of diagraming. Actually, the paper diagrams really did help me to visualize what you were talking about. I love the idea of PLEs and I believe that they are more in keeping with "openness". I also read an article from the "Ontario Online Learning Portal for Faculty and Instructors" (http://www.contactnorth.ca/trends-directions/open-educational-resources) The article's title is: "How Really Relevant and Practical are Open Educational Resources". I was intrigued because the article talks about how MOOCs are more of a "push" of content and that there should be more of a "pull" of resources to make learning more individualized. I couldn't help see a relationship between your video and the article. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Again, thank you so much for being a part of our learning! Jane Christensen (OLTD 505) Show less LMS vs PLE Jane Christensen Week 4 - May 21, 2013 As I was thinking about privacy issues with posting students' work online, I remembered our first course (Oltd 501) when Julia Hengstler talked to us a little about FIPPA (retrieved from: www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaw_new/document/ID/freeside/96165_00) I found Julia's blog (retrieved from: http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/a-k-12-primer-for-british-columbia-teachers-posting-students-work-online/) where I read her post on "Ed Tech Thoughts" about privacy issues with posting students' work online. Within her blog post about privacy issues she has a link to her work on a primer document to address the issues around publishing students' work online: " A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online“. A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students' Work Online http://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/a-k-12-primer-for-british- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Marieke, I made a comment on your website. Great post! May 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am going to "play" with this now. Thanks, Alec May 20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 4 May 18, 2013 "Social Networking for Kids" (retrieved from:http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-lists/social-networking-kids) has kid friendly social networking sites that are supposed to be "safer" for younger children to use. I will investigate further. Social Networking for Kids commonsensemedia.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 4 - May 18, 2013 I started looking into the viewings and readings for this week this morning. I started out with watching Dean Shareski's video on "Moral Imperative Talk" (retrieved from: http://blip.tv/k12online/sharing-the-moral-imperative-4216381) I was captivated by what Dean had to say. I totally agree about the importance of educators sharing. It is so important for keeping up with today's innovations. I absolutely loved the project that George Couros did on "The Identity Fair". This kind of project makes an impact on so many levels. Not only does it enhance and bolster students' confidence, but because it was sent "out there" it affects others from different parts of the world. There were amazing connections being made and another educator used George's idea with their own students. In the "old days" , before the internet, and even up until the recently, this would not necessarily have happened. The other thing that I see as very powerful, is the ability for understanding. We so often judge others without really knowing them. A story I will share is when I was a paraprofessional at a middle school. A teacher asked me why a particular student I worked with was always sneering. The teacher had a dislike for this student because she thought the student was being disrespectful. I explained to the teacher that the student had had nerve damage to the right side of her face which caused the "sneer", but in fact the student was actually smiling at the teacher. The teacher was so upset because of her initial assumption of the child. The moral to this story is, first of all, to try not to judge too quickly, and secondly, that understanding "who" someone is, is more than the exterior package. The students at George's school, who did this project, have paved the way for understanding, compassion, not only within their school, but for the world as well. They have shared an inner part of their "package". I do, however, have a question about publishing students' pictures and projects on the "Web". I teach very young students and would love to do more sharing of my students and their work with the "World". There are some parents who are dead set against having their students even using our class "Weebly" for blogging. My question about putting students work "out there" is how to do this effectively and safely? I will be looking into this over the next few days. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I would appreciate it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 3 May 15, 2013 I found this site "iTunesU" (retrieved from:http://www.apple.com/ca/education/itunes-u/) when I was reading the article from the University of Ontario that I posted yesterday. You can get an app for your iPad or iPhone that lets you develop and distribute a course. I haven't delved into the bits and pieces yet, but wow, how far we have come. You can have audio and video, do presentations, write documents, use PDF formats, use iBooks textbooks for iPad, use ePub books, use iOS apps, and have web links. Thoughts on this? Read more Apple (Canada) - iTunes U - Learn anything, anywhere, anytime. apple.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 3 May 14, 2013 Wow, I just read an article from the "Ontario Online Learning Portal for Faculty & Instructors" (retrieved from:http://www.contactnorth.ca/trends-directions/open-educational-resources) that kind of threw me for a loop. You have to read this article. It talks about how we are "pushing" the use of OERs through MOOCs but that they are still controlled by the instructor and institution and that the future of the use of OERs should be more focused on "pulling" OERs into an LMS based platform. The real "push" for OER's should be more around the use of instructors as facilitators around how the students' "learning can be developed and facilitated for, in and by our students" Wow, does that sound like the "constructivist" model or what? Show less How really relevant and practical are Open Educational Resources?: A case for a little humility about the potential | Contact North contactnorth.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Jean, I have just signed up for 19 Pencils. Love, love, love it!!! Thanks so much. May 14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow, this sounds awesome, Jean. I am definitely going to check this out. Thanks May 12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 3 May 12, 2013 I have been looking into "Open Tapestry" (retrieved from: http://www.opentapestry.com) It is a lot like "Pinterest"(http://pinterest.com). My interest lies in how to find online resources that were geared toward educators and students in the elementary level and the ease with which to find resources. Later this week I hope to have some comparisons between "Open Tapestry" and one or more of the other OERs. Right now I am "playing" with "Open Tapestry" and dabbling in some of the other OERs on this week's list. Show less Open Tapestry --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen General Discussion - May 10, 2013 I came across the following youtube video when trying to find out the connection between MOOCs and OERs and how many MOOCs actually use OERs. So now I am a little off topic. The following video is a conversation between Howard Rheingold and George Siemens discussing MOOCs. (retrieved from:George Siemens on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)) The reason I am posting this video is because George give a really good description of MOOCs and he mentions Alec in the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMfipxhT_Co&feature=player_embedded ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Jane Christensen week 2 May 9, 2013 Wow, what a lot of food for thought! My head is still spinning and I know that there is a lot "out there" that I haven't even begun to sift through. I read about the different licenses and then started thinking about what each entails. First of all, I didn't realize how involved "Creative Commons" were with the different licenses and layers involved. (retrieved from: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/) Initially, I thought a "Creative Commons" license was separate from "Copyright" when in fact it is used in conjunction with "Copyright". It helps that you can find the right license for you whether it is the most stringent of CC licence (Attribution-Non Commercial - No Dirivs CC BY-NC-ND) to the least restrictive license (Attribution CC). What has intrigued me the most when looking at "Creative Commons" were the issues around non-commercial use of someones work and the effects of someone disrespectfully altering a piece of work and attributing the original author with the new work. As far as the first issue, if you have advertisements on your site, does that mean your site is considered commercial? I have posted this question on "Twitter" with the hashtags of #OLTD505 and #creativecommons, but have yet to have a response. I did however, find a blog post on Bobbi Newman's website, "Librarian By Day". (retrieved from: http://librarianbyday.net/2013/01/27/the-danger-of-using-creative-commons-flickr-photos-in-presentations/) Bobbi shares a personal example of what happened to her during the making and sharing of a one of her presentations. She makes reference to how the person who "owned" a photo she used in her presentation, changed their CC license and then accused her of using it on a commercial site. The person demanded that she remove the photo from her presentation. The person thought that because there was an "upgrade" option on the "slideshare" site she had her presentation on that, that meant her site was for commercial use. I think that there needs to be some work done to clarify what IS a commercial site so that it is very clear what is considered commercial and what is not. Also, if someone changes their CC license, shouldn't there be some kind of notification to those who have used the said work that it has changed? I found on the Creative Commons site (retrieved from: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/4.0/NonCommercial) twelve proposals to change the 4.0 version of the noncommercial license suit. These range from giving more detail of the definition of what noncommercial is to totally eliminating or "re-branding" the noncommercial license to not use the CC name or stand on its own. It will be interesting to see the end result of the revamping of the noncommercial language in the licenses. The second issue, is, if someone changes my work and I don't like what they have done but they continue to use my name attached to it, is a little frightening to me. I find this a little unnerving as there could be ramifications associated with a piece of work that has been changed where it could be embarrassing or unprofessional. Dr. Charles Severance makes reference to this exact issue on his blog, "Creative Commons Has Failed Me and My Heart Is Breaking", retrieved from: http://www.dr-chuck.com/csev-blog/2013/04/creative-commons-has-failed-me-and-my-heart-is-breaking/. "Dr. Chuck" had issues with a "spammer" who abused the use of a video he had made. He "doesn't want people to simply clone (his) material on competitive sites as link and search bait." "Dr. Chuck" has decided to go with "copyright" or "Attribution-Non Commercial - No Dirivs CC BY-NC-ND" instead of "Attribution CC". I can understand Dr. Chuck's indignation and that he wants to share his work and have people use his work as their own, but on the same token use it with respect and for enriching others knowledge. As I have pondered these two issues and some of what they entail, I have come to the conclusion that it really wouldn't matter how clear the descriptions of what is commercial or noncommercial or what license you use to enable respectful use of your work, there will be, unfortunately, others who will abuse those privileges regardless of the openness or safeguards in place. I think the big question that needs to be asked is if a person was willing to take the chance that there may be misunderstandings and that there will be people out there who will continue to abuse any system that is in place. Fortunately, there are more people who are respectful and grateful for the openness and sharing of ideas and materials that the "Creative Commons" brings about. I am excited about works being "open" and the future of the amazing things that are happening and will happen as we travel on this journey of education for everyone, no matter where you live or how much money you have. Show less About The Licenses - Creative Commons creativecommons.org I just put a CC on my Weebly. Thanks, Tracy. May 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I actually really like this platform. We don't have to log in to our D2L site, this is just a click away. I also like the way this site looks. It is more visually appealing than D2L. I am a very visual person. May 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen General Discussion - May 6, 2013 Check out this video with Stephen Downes about "MOOSE" (Massive Open Online Support for Education) (retrieved from: http://www.downes.ca/presentation/314) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 2 May 6, 2013 I came across the article, "Creative Commons: Copyright Tools for the 21st Century" (retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/online/jan10/Gordon-Murnane.shtml). The article discusses some intriguing issues with the uses of Creative Commons. One issue is that the licenses are non revocable. You can stop distributing your work, but you can't stop someone else who has already accessed your material from continuing to use your work. Another issue is around "non commercial" use. Some questions arise around if you can use someone's work if you have any kind of advertisement on your site. Technically, the advertiser is receiving money every time someone views your site, so, in theory, if you are using someone else's work on your site you are promoting the advertiser, thus, you are in violation of the "non commercial" use of someone's work. Are we splitting hairs or is this a serious issue? Another issue is with "derivative works", what if you don't like what someone has done to your work? What are your options? You can ask them to remove your name from their remix, but what if they refuse? What are the options? I am going to delve further into some of these issues al little further and get back to you. Show less Conferences infotoday.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen General Discussion May 6, 2013 Check out this video with Stephen Downes about "MOOSE" (Massive Open Online Support for Education) (retrieved from: http://www.downes.ca/presentation/314) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Christensen Week 2 - May 6, 2013 I came across the article, "Creative Commons: Copyright Tools for the 21st Century" (retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/online/jan10/Gordon-Murnane.shtml). The article discusses some intriguing issues with the uses of Creative Commons. One issue is that the licenses are non revocable. You can stop distributing your work, but you can't stop someone else who has already accessed your material from continuing to use your work. Another issue is around "non commercial" use. Some questions arise around if you can use someone's work if you have any kind of advertisement on your site. Technically, the advertiser is receiving money every time someone views your site, so, in theory, if you are using someone else's work on your site you are promoting the advertiser, thus, you are in violation of the "non commercial" use of someone's work. Are we splitting hairs or is this a serious issue? Another issue is with "derivative works", what if you don't like what someone has done to your work? What are your options? You can ask them to remove your name from their remix, but what if they refuse? What are the options? I am going to delve further into some of these issues al little further and get back to you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hey Michael, I just registered for "Open Tapestry". It reminds me of "Pinterest". I amstarting to "weave". May 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks Tracy, I needed this, easy to digest!!! Brain is a little foggy, old age or.....? May 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey Michael, Loved your blog post on "Open Education", especially about an iPad for every student instead of textbooks. I have made a comment on your Weebly site. April 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following is a list of the tweets I have made throughout 505: Jane Christensen @playnjayn26m #oltd505, #edchat, #pedagoofriday, #satchat Great link Jean, thanks http://bit.ly/10Q0BTa 1:04 PM - 1 Jun 13 · Details @playnjayn2 forgot to say wat it was. great resource for tons of ideas and such for teachers Jane Christensen @playnjayn229 May #edchat #pedagoofriday #satchat #oltd505 Interesting views from teens about privacy and social media http://bit.ly/13Z9k9D Jane Christensen @playnjayn223 May Interesting! pay for someone else to do online course #oltd505 http://bit.ly/16csCMp 1:24 PM - 23 May 13 · Details Jane Christensen @playnjayn220 May Check out Cortex, a beautiful new way to share fast. #oltd505 I got it! http://bit.ly/cBirKv Jane Christensen @playnjayn219 May http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/chat-room-get-new-life-in-classrooms.shtml … Thanks @education_world #oltd505 Chat for kids Jane Christensen @playnjayn219 May 101 Websites That Every Elementary Teacher Should Know About http://buff.ly/19Rm0z7 Jane Christensen @playnjayn218 May I must say, I am having a lot of fun "playing" with social media. LOL #oltd505 Jane Christensen @playnjayn218 May #oltd505 #Edchat #pedagoofriday #satchat Check these out https://www.facebook.com/educationguardian?hc_location=stream … and https://www.facebook.com/education Jane Christensen @playnjayn218 May Social Networking for Kids http://buff.ly/12Ki68S Jane Christensen @playnjayn218 May http://pinterest.com/pin/531987774703688939/ … Social Networking for Kids #oltd505 Jane Christensen @playnjayn218 May Online Diagram Software and Flowchart Software - Gliffy http://buff.ly/17KOi1H #oltd505I Found this site "iTunesU" (retrieved from:http://www.apple.com/ca/education/itunes-u/ …) Thoughts? Jane Christensen @playnjayn26 May What I wish Tim Berners-Lee understood about DRM http://gu.com/p/3ect5/tw via @guardian #OLTD505 blog about attaching a DRM to the new HTML. Jane Christensen @playnjayn26 May #creativecommons Is it a violation of CC with "noncommercial" if you use someone's work on your site if you have advertisements? #OLTD505 Jane Christensen @playnjayn23 May #OLTD505 Achieve OER Evaluation Ruberics and Tool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JISqBa6HAbo&list=PL0FAF3D76A72FA1B9 … Jane Christensen@playnjayn2 Are MOOCs Really the Future of University? #OLTD505, #edchat, #pedagoofriday, #satchat http://bit.ly/10Q31Bd Jane Christensen@playnjayn2 #oltd505, #edchat, #pedagoofriday, #satchat Julie Hengstler's K-12 Primer for BC Students' Work online http://bit.ly/10Q3lzZ • Jane Christensen @playnjayn21m Crickweb - free online ed resources. #oltd505, #edchat, #padagoofriday, #satchat http://bit.ly/10Q3Mu5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Facebook: added to my interests page in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/education https://www.facebook.com/educationguardian ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diigo posts Edcanvas build a canvas of "pinned" resources for class use more from www.edcanvas.com - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 01 Jun 13 Free Tech 4 Teachers lots of great resources and ideas technology more from www.freetech4teachers.com - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Archive tons of videos, music, audio, text more from archive.org - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview OER Commons Teacher designed Ideas more from www.oercommons.org - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Crickweb Sheppard software fun educational games and quizzes more from www.crickweb.co.uk - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 19 Pencils Resources for elementary teachers more from 19pencils.com - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Cogdogroo Presentation tools more from cogdogroo.wikispaces.com - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Open Tapestry Tons of resourses more from www.opentapestry.com - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview CNX repository of educational content more from cnx.org - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview CK12 free collaboratively- built digital textbooks more from www.ck12.org - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Earth Album more from www.earthalbum.com - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Kids National Geographic more from kids.nationalgeographic.com - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Story Jumper more from www.storyjumper.com - Cached - Text View - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 18 May 13 80 Open Education Resource (OER) Tools for Publishing and Development Initiatives - OEDB.org more from oedb.org - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 15 May 13 http://www.contactnorth.ca/sites/default/files/contactNorth/files/pdf/publications/how_relevant_are_oers.pdf Awesome article about the future of MOOCs and OERs. more from www.contactnorth.ca - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 12 May 13 CK-12 Community Site | General information about CK-12 lessons/activites for online learning interactive more from www.ck12.org - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview 01 May 13 OER KnowledgeCloud | Lots of links to research on OER more from oerknowledgecloud.org - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview Educause OER more from net.educause.edu - Not Cached - Edit - Delete - Share▼ - Preview After taking Alec's advice, I narrowed down the myriad of information "out there" that we have been looking at and realized that my quest is to focus on OER's with an emphasis on individualizing education for elementary students. I have a keen interest in how OERs can be used to individualize student learning in my f2f classroom.
I found a great article on the Mind/shift: How We Will Learn site (retrieved from: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/02/three-trends-that-will-shape-the-future-of-curriculum/ ) The article is titled, "Three Trends That Will Shape the Future of Curriculum". The three trends are 1) Digital Delivery, 2) Interest-driven, and 3) Skills. The basic premise of "digital delivery" is that sites such as, Shmoop (retrieved from: http://www.shmoop.com/) where there are many fun based learning content activities, and many other OERs, allows for release of being shackled to books and having access to many digital resources that can be used to facilitate learning. The second trend is based on tailoring content to students' interests so that curriculum can be built around it. The third trend is around working on skills for readiness in the "real world", with using collaboration, innovation, critical thinking and communication. It is interesting that I see a direct correlation to this in what we are doing in our cohort. We are collaborating on projects, using innovative tools, having to be extremely critical thinkers of the material we are delving into, and even though we are not in a f2f classroom have had a lot of communication through chats, Skype, Twitter, and Facebook. I have taken a look at what I am doing in my f2f grade three classroom and have realized that I am just beginning to scratch the surface of the above mentioned three trends. I have a Weebly site for my grade three class and each student has their own Weebly site under my teacher site. They are learning how to blog and respond to another's post. Another thing I am doing in my f2f classroom is helping my students learn how to navigate their way around the web, how to search for information, and how to determine whether a site they are visiting is viable for their needs. We have also been working on Inquiry based projects. My students and I have been gathering OERs and placing them in our class Weebly. I started them off with a couple of sites and they have been adding sites that they have found. I am sharing a few of their blog comments: "I love the math blog its my favorite", "do you now a web cite of canadas history", "I now a web cite for math it is called math mate how do i post a link to you", "please show me later eney time in-between seven or six". I am thrilled that many of my students are finding value in what we are doing and am very engaged, however, I have a long way to go to reach all of my students. My next goal is to continue to gather OERs that will engage all of my students. I also need to start my students off right at the beginning of the year with blogging, navigating the "Web" and inquiry based projects, instead of half way through as I did with this class. I also need to be way more in-tune with the needs of all of my students so that I am able to "reach" all of them on some level. I think I have a good start on gathering OERs, and am excited, to further develop my repertoire of engaging OERs. I don't know if I am the only one of whom is feeling the same way that I am at this moment, but I am finding that my brain is swirling. I am trying to keep up with others' posts, but I am finding it quite a challenge. I feel like the spokes of a wheel right now. I think I am going in a straight line, but then I read something that sends me off onto another pathway. It is great that I am finding out new things, but I am feeling as if I have no direction and can not focus on any one or two things. I am sooo glad that Alec is giving us this week to "catch-up", but now it is Wednesday, and I feel like I could use another week just to sift through all the great posts that have been submitted.
Photo retrieved from: http://afeatheradrift.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/learning-stuff-i-dont-wanna-know/ I would like to preface this week's post with letting everyone know that I have not spent the whole week obsessing about safety around sharing students' work online. I have had a great deal of fun playing around with things like, Flickr Attribution Helper (retrieved from: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flickr-cc-attribution-hel/gcnphdhkhoepofbahkgfifigellgklbp?hl=en) and being awed by Dean Shareski's video on "Moral Imperative Talk" (retrieved from: http://blip.tv/k12online/sharing-the-moral-imperative-4216381) and intrigued by 184 Days of Learning site from Parkland School Division (retrieved from: http://www.psdblogs.ca/184/)
I have, however, been struggling somewhat with this issue this week. I am excited and torn. I am excited because I think that the sharing of ideas and examples of the our students' work is amazing and exciting as stated above. I am, however, torn because I am worried about privacy issues with regards to the safety of my young students. A few years ago a student posted an innocent picture of herself and some friends hanging out outside. Because the house and house number were visible, some guy found out where they lived. Thankfully, the girl told her parents that some guy had contacted her wanting to meet face to face. I realize that these kinds of things don't often happen with sharing students' work online, however, I think it is a consideration especially when we are working with young children. Older students who are on "Facebook" and "Twitter" are putting themselves out there, but hopefully they are stranger savvy and have a good understanding of how to keep their personal information as safe as can be. After perusing Julia Hengstler's "A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students' Work Online" (retrieved from a link on her blog: http://A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online) I have realized just how important it is to be very cognizant of making sure that if we are posting students' work online that we understand all of the safeguards that are needed to try to ensure the most optimal safety that we can provide is in place. One of the things Julia talks about is how a student can be identified with as little as the student's first name and information about the class or the teacher. I asked myself if this is any different than a student's full name being used in a newspaper? In some ways no, but in other ways, yes. Unless it is a national paper then the likelihood of hundreds of thousands seeing it is unlikely. However, does it take hundreds of thousands for one wacko to find that student? Another item that Julia talks about is that even if a site, such as "Weebly", is password protected, a parent could still cut and then paste items/pictures onto a more public site, hence the safety parameters are null and void. After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that safeguarding our students from cyber-wackos is not much different than safeguarding them from someone on the street who may try to steal them. The difference is the way in which someone may approach a child. We can't protect all of our students from every person out there who may want to hurt them. All we can do is to continue to educate our students and our parents about how to keep themselves as safe as possible and to educate educators on the safest way to share their students' work online. I think it is a good idea to have a look at Julia's Primer, which is a good resource for keeping our students safe online. Should the risks of possibly exposing students to predators be a reason to not share students work? Not if the safeguards that are available are in place to the best of our ability. I guess you can look at it this way, a parent can do everything in their power to baby safe their homes for their child and yet you can't safeguard them from everything. You can put cupboard and door safety locks on every cupboard and door, you can put a toilet lock on the toilet and believe that you are keeping your child safe. What about the things on which you can't put a "lock"? There are endless things that could happen to injure a child, no matter what you do to prevent it. A fall from a chair, a hot stovetop, or many other prospective "dangers" in the home. Does that mean we clear everything out of the house and rubberize the walls and floor? Maybe that is being a little extreme. Sharing students' work online is somewhat like trying to baby-proof your home, you do the best to make sure you use the safeguards available, but you can't protect them from from everything, but that is life, isn't it? In conclusion, I have decided that not to share students' work online would be a tragedy, not only for the education community, but for students as well. I have gotten so many great ideas from the internet which have been greatly beneficial to me and so exciting for my students. This week has been a challenging one for me in that I was getting so wrapped up in the myriad of resources that I had to regroup. I did manage to regroup, somewhat and was able to narrow down my findings to two resources that I found to be of particular interest to me. The two sites are "Open Tapestry" (retrieved from: http://www.opentapestry.com) and, thanks to Jean, "19 Pencils" (retrieved from: http://www.19pencils.com)
I really like the way "Open Tapestry" is set up. I like its similarity to "Pinterest"(http://pinterest.com). It is easy to navigate and use. You can drop and drag resources and others can clip to your Tapestry. You can create your own page to add to resources and you can "harvest" content from various other avenues, such as; Rss feeds, YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo, and others. You can also upload straight to your "Canvas" (https://canvas.instructure.com) site. You can also create different tabs for different subject areas. "19 Pencils" is a great site for finding and saving searches of resources. It is much like "Open Tapestry" in the way the resources are set up to view. It is also easy to navigate. There are tabs for "websites", "quizzes", and "games". The resources you find will automatically go under the appropriate tab. You can also create content to share. You can set up a webpage that you can add students to and resources for them to view and use. I don't like how there are only the three tabs to add resources. There is no option to make sub-tabs to put in different subject areas. All of the website resources are combined on one "page" so you will have to either move them around so that they are in some kind of order or spend time searching within the tab for the item you want. What I love the most about the two sites is the ease of use. I can find resources quickly and easily. With both sites you can create your own material to share. I prefer the organization of resources in "Open Tapestry" over "19 Pencils". I like having choices for organizing my "stuff" under different headings. I also prefer the "Open Tapestry" search options. It gives you a wider range of search options with "YouTube" and the others mentioned above. What I like about "19 Pencils" over "Open Tapestry" is the ability to post resources on a "19 Pencils" webpage for my students (with a premium account of course) to view and use as well as a blog space on the website. If I had to choose between the two resource sites right now I think I would go with "19 Pencils", only because I like the idea of students being able to readily access the resources that I have put on the "19 Pencils" site. I also like the blog option right on the site as well. Both of these resources are great for me as I am focused on the primary aged students, however I know there are many more OERs "out there" to discover. For now, I have a springboard upon which to build, and that I have already started to build and use. I am going to digress from comparing OERs and talk about something that attracted my attention about the future of OERs. I read an article from the Ontario Online Learning Portal for Faculty & Instructors (retrieved from: http://www.contactnorth.ca/trends-directions/open-educational-resources) The article, "How Really Relevant and Practical are Open Educational Resources?: A case for a little humility about the potential" describes how MOOCs are a "push" in that they push the instructor's or institution's content on the students who are involved in the MOOC. There is a fairly high non-completion rate and there is, as of right now, no formal degree attached to it unless you are already attached with that particular institution. My question about this is, is it really that open if you may not be able to achieve a degree? Hmmm, food for thought. The other end of the spectrum, according to the article, is the "pull" instead of the "push". This is more along the lines of a more individualized learning where the instructor is the facilitator and resources are "pulled" into the learning environment to best enhance and facilitate the students' learning. I can't help but be reminded of our last course, OLTD 504, where we were to build our own LMS and NON LMS. The NON LMS build would be an amazing avenue for the "pull" method of delivering courses. The students could have their own websites, as we do, and be able to pull from different resources to show their learning of the content and have their websites be their eportfolios. This kind of learning can make learning more meaningful to the learner because it is their choice of what materials and resources work best for them. Does it really matter what the resources and tools are that are used to achieve deeper learning, or is it the process and end result that has meaning? I know that I have chosen many different "roads" to my learning through the OLTD program than others in my cohort. Does that mean that I have not learned what I needed to learn? No, it means that we all learned in a different way. Some of my cohorts have taught online already, I have not. My path to learning about LMSs and NON LMSs took a different road than theirs as I was not at the same juncture as they were. Did Avi make us all do the same stuff at the same time? No, learning was tailored to encompass each person's level of knowledge. Some of us needed to start at the beginning and other's were able to use their expertise to mentor others. Also, when I look at what we are doing right now with Alec, I see the same type of pattern of learning. We are not all doing or learning one narrow topic, but being allowed to spread our wings and "discover" what resonates with us. Is this a less structured way to learn? In some ways, yes, we have freedom to explore. However, in other ways, no, we still have to "learn" the content within the parameters of the topic, but have the freedom to focus on and use resources we want to use to find what we think is important to us. For example, for this week's topic about "OERs" , some have focused on MOOCs, some on perspectives of OERs, some on comparing OERs, some on open content, licensing, learning, and the list goes on. Without the chance to find what fits for us, our learning would not be as deep and may not be as valuable in the quest for life long learning. In conclusion, I have come to the realization that our OLTD courses are cutting edge in the realm of online learning. We may not be in a MOOC, but I think we have developed beyond the MOOC in the sense that we are more in line with the "pull" of learning rather than the "push" of learning, thus we are helping to define the future of online education. It would be amazing if there were MOOCs that were truly open and you could receive a diploma upon completion without being affiliated with the institution that was running the MOOC AND they followed the "pull" method of learning! With the vast amount of OERs that are out there, there is no doubt in my mind that eventually we will be able to facilitate learning for all no matter where you live or who you are. The challenge will be to harness the resources out there to BEST facilitate learning for all. Maybe we need a "World University" that is separate from a "building" where we are not tied to a traditional environment. I can't wait to see what unfolds. References (2013). How really relevant and practical are open educational resources?: A case for a little humility about the potential . Ontario Online Learning Portal for Faculty & Instructors, Retrieved from http://www.contactnorth.ca/trends-directions/open-educational-resources Wow, what a lot of food for thought! My head is still spinning and I know that there is a lot "out there" that I haven't even begun to sift through.
I read about the different licenses and then started thinking about what each entails. First of all, I didn't realize how involved "Creative Commons" were with the different licenses and layers involved. (retrieved from: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/) Initially, I thought a "Creative Commons" license was separate from "Copyright" when in fact it is used in conjunction with "Copyright". It helps that you can find the right license for you whether it is the most stringent of CC licence (Attribution-Non Commercial - No Dirivs CC BY-NC-ND) to the least restrictive license (Attribution CC). What has intrigued me the most when looking at "Creative Commons" were the issues around non-commercial use of someones work and the effects of someone disrespectfully altering a piece of work and attributing the original author with the new work. As far as the first issue, if you have advertisements on your site, does that mean your site is considered commercial? I have posted this question on "Twitter" with the hashtags of #OLTD505 and #creativecommons, but have yet to have a response. I did however, find a blog post on Bobbi Newman's website, "Librarian By Day". (retrieved from: http://librarianbyday.net/2013/01/27/the-danger-of-using-creative-commons-flickr-photos-in-presentations/) Bobbi shares a personal example of what happened to her during the making and sharing of a one of her presentations. She makes reference to how the person who "owned" a photo she used in her presentation, changed their CC license and then accused her of using it on a commercial site. The person demanded that she remove the photo from her presentation. The person thought that because there was an "upgrade" option on the "slideshare" site she had her presentation on that, that meant her site was for commercial use. I think that there needs to be some work done to clarify what IS a commercial site so that it is very clear what is considered commercial and what is not. Also, if someone changes their CC license, shouldn't there be some kind of notification to those who have used the said work that it has changed? I found on the Creative Commons site (retrieved from: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/4.0/NonCommercial) twelve proposals to change the 4.0 version of the noncommercial license suit. These range from giving more detail of the definition of what noncommercial is to totally eliminating or "re-branding" the noncommercial license to not use the CC name or stand on its own. It will be interesting to see the end result of the revamping of the noncommercial language in the licenses. The second issue, is, if someone changes my work and I don't like what they have done but they continue to use my name attached to it, is a little frightening to me. I find this a little unnerving as there could be ramifications associated with a piece of work that has been changed where it could be embarrassing or unprofessional. Dr. Charles Severance makes reference to this exact issue on his blog, "Creative Commons Has Failed Me and My Heart Is Breaking", retrieved from: http://www.dr-chuck.com/csev-blog/2013/04/creative-commons-has-failed-me-and-my-heart-is-breaking/. "Dr. Chuck" had issues with a "spammer" who abused the use of a video he had made. He "doesn't want people to simply clone (his) material on competitive sites as link and search bait." "Dr. Chuck" has decided to go with "copyright" or "Attribution-Non Commercial - No Dirivs CC BY-NC-ND" instead of "Attribution CC". I can understand Dr. Chuck's indignation and that he wants to share his work and have people use his work as their own, but on the same token use it with respect and for enriching others knowledge. As I have pondered these two issues and some of what they entail, I have come to the conclusion that it really wouldn't matter how clear the descriptions of what is commercial or noncommercial or what license you use to enable respectful use of your work, there will be, unfortunately, others who will abuse those privileges regardless of the openness or safeguards in place. I think the big question that needs to be asked is if a person was willing to take the chance that there may be misunderstandings and that there will be people out there who will continue to abuse any system that is in place. Fortunately, there are more people who are respectful and grateful for the openness and sharing of ideas and materials that the "Creative Commons" brings about. I am excited about works being "open" and the future of the amazing things that are happening and will happen as we travel on this journey of education for everyone, no matter where you live or how much money you have. I found this article, "The World Is Not Flat", on a link on the "OER Knowledge Cloud " site. (retrieved from:https://oerknowledgecloud.org) First of all, I loved the OER Knowledge Cloud" site. It had all kinds of links out to other sites that are related to OER. It has a searchable data base for pretty well anything related to OERs, including research data and research. I highly recommend you take a look. Getting back to the article by Ry Rivard (April 25, 2013), "The World Is Not Flat" that I found within the "OER Knowledge Cloud". (retrieved from: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/25/moocs-may-eye-world-market-does-world-want-them) I was, at first, really excited about how OERs can be global and provide a rich and invigorating platform for peoples of all cultures to get together and learn from each other as well as the content on which they are working. I then realized after perusing the article, that it is not as easy as we think. There are a lot of impediments in the way. One such impediment that Ry Rivard (2013) discusses is that the language barrier is not the only problem with developing a global OER platform, it is also cultural learning styles. We can have translators to translate the material so that people from different language bases can access the content, however, it is much more difficult to accommodate the different cultural learning styles. For example, Ry Rivard (2013) mentions how Arab students seem to need more structure and interaction with their instructor, whereas North American students tend to be more comfortable with asynchronous learning. The other difficulty I perceive is how to communicate with others from different language bases. The ideal is great, but to overcome the language and cultural barriers can be a daunting one. I would hate to say or post something that may offend someone from a different country. A case in point, is when I was doing my BEd, I met a person from Germany. I ended up offending her on numerous occasions. My sense of humour was way different than hers. What I thought was funny offended her. In conclusion as Ry Rivard (2013) states, "We need to look at what the rest of the world needs." When we overcome the language and cultural barriers, I think that we are well on our way to an enormously enriching and mind-blowing journey in OERs. After viewing David Wiley's "Openness, Disaggregation, and the Future of Education." Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRctjvIeyQ. I was intrigued and also feeling a little nostalgic about some of the concepts David was discussing.
I totally agree that things are so different now than before. We have moved into a digital age of socialization and information gathering. Long gone are the tasks of finding information in a phonebook or a book based encyclopedia, which happened to be outdated practically before it was published. Pretty well everything you need to find out about is online. We don't need to be in a building to be educated. I find the whole concept of inviting people from all over the world to participate in a program really exciting. I would love to be able to work with and communicate with others from around the world. You are exposed to so much culture this way and can make friendships along the way. I do find, however, that I am a little nostalgic about my university days. It was not just about the "buildings", it was also about going to the "Subpub 101" courses at the Student Union Building to drink and play darts with others from other educational pursuits and working out with my profs in the weight room. I realize that socialization has changed and maybe those kinds of connections aren't as important anymore, with avenues such as, "Facebook" and "Twitter" where socializing is more sharing of your life pursuits and ideals in an instant manner rather than waiting for the next "Subpub 101" session. Also, I do wonder about how "open learning" would be funded. How would the facilitators be paid? Would they be subsidized by the government or by donations from big businesses? Would the need for the "brick and mortar" universities be gone forever? Will the facilitator be in "The Cloud'? Will there even be a need for facilitators or will there be some computerized central place where all content and everything that is needed to complete a course be housed?. These are things I am thinking and going to hopefully find out about. Upon further reflection and nosing around, I came across the article: "Ten Years Later: Why Open Educational Resources Have Not Noticeably Affected Higher Education, and Why We Should Care", by Gerd Kortemeyer posted on the Educause Review website (retrieved from: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ten-years-later-why-open-educational-resources-have-not-noticeably-affected-higher-education-and-why-we-should-ca) I thought the following quote, from the article, was interesting: “What I propose here is a global enterprise-level system, which immediately raises the question, "How can such a system be financed in the long run, particularly if it is supposed to host free and open content?" The answer is probably manifold: • Because the system also provides a marketplace for licensed resources, the entity operating it would probably take a cut from all mediated content sales. • There might be a membership fee for an institution to supply part of the content pool. • In addition, revenue can be generated from services such as hosting or local integration. In the end, the business plan must make sense — it is naïve to believe that OERs can be free for everybody involved. Somebody has to pay for their creation, programming of the platform that hosts them, the platform's maintenance, the server space, the service, etc. Even if the content were originally generated using taxpayer money, in which case it arguably should be available for free, stewardship responsibilities — and their costs — continue. The business plan cannot rely on the same traditional institutions that face so many digital challenges already. Instead, the educational community can and should build a healthy, sustainable economy around OERs and commercial content, avoiding the excesses and idiosyncrasies of the current content marketplace. In a preferred model, the "supersized CMS" is open source and free; it should be as intuitive as an iPod, but it is only the "player-device." The entity that provides the marketplace, the service, and the support and keeps the whole enterprise moving forward is probably best implemented as a traditional company.” Before I found this article, I was thinking the same thing as the part I highlighted in the above excerpt from the article. I find it interesting that Gerd Kortmeyer refers to OER as a "marketplace" and "...best implemented as a traditional company". This worries me a little. I realize that Gerd Kortmeyer is correct in that we need to fund OER's someway. What concerns me is the possibility of the intrusion of big corporations that may supply funding for "a price". What that "price" may look like, I don't know. Could the price be too high and the idea of "open" is compromised? If education is to be truly "open" with input from students as well for developing content and personalizing learning then can this truly work if corporations are providing funding? |