Multiliteracies

Stephen Downes tells it like it is and might get the attention of establishment education with no-holds-barred statements such as this one: "MOOCs were not designed to serve the missions of the elite colleges and universities. They were designed to undermine them, and make those missions obsolete." 

To further clarify, "Yes there has been a great rebranding and co-option of the concept of the MOOC over the last couple of years. The near-instant response from the elites, almost unprecedented in my experience, is a recognition of the deeply subversive intent and design of the original MOOCs (which they would like very much to erase from history)."

All the right buzzwords and concepts in this slideshow by Zaid Ali Alsagoff

What impact will MOOCs have on business down the road? Ten experts discussed the topic in freeform conversation. Jay Cross, George Siemens, Dave Cormier, Stephen Downes, Coursera, illustrious others. Of course the session was recorded:

This looks like a comprehensive resource for teachers, recommended scoopable by Nellie Deutsch

A scoop recommended by Daniel Shields, thanks.  Edudemic is a site you should have in your feed reader, imho

In a second post this week, #evomlit #mmooc13 co-moderator Ana Cristina Pratas reflects on the role of chaos in iPadology. Chaos is an element which Siemens thinks is crucial to learning, as he notes in his video interview with Howard Reingold, partially transcribed here: http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com/w/page/61341664/Getting_Started_2013evo

In the following exerpts from Cristina's post, she wonders if the chaos that learners must resolve in order to learn is helped or hindered by technology
 
"There are other Apps, such as Word Mover, which engaged my students with language and which, after having created their poems, we sat on the floor and listened to each poem with smiles of understanding.

Would my students have achieved the same outcomes without the Apps mentioned above?

Yes." and ...

"Regrettably, digital technology does not equal good pedagogy.

In fact, digital technology requires good pedagogy

Where lies the balance?

Can balance be achieved within chaos?"

My workflow is a bit different from the one suggested here.  I was checking http://paper.li/tag/evomlit and I saw from the Twitter feed there that Vanessa Vaile had highly recommended this post, so I read it and scooped it.

In this post, Allan Johnson explain how he applies the rule of 30% "chatter" in his Twitter feeds and 70% "content" by using "a good RSS reader, a read-it-later app, a tweet scheduling app, and a tweeting time calculator." With these tools he filters his always-on tweet stream into stuff he can read in two minutes but "pocket" items requiring deeper reading to a set time on Sunday devoted to that. He then uses a tool to know when his PLN is most active to activate another tool to schedule delivery of his tweets on "content" at optimal times throughout the week. Johnson illustrates his workflow with clear diagrams and says, regarding these tools, "I like the ones that I use precisely because of their elegant and seamless integration.  With this set up in place, it means that I have plenty of time to do what no app ever can: thinking about the ideas I have found." 

This is THE basic set; if you use these, you're ready to flip:
wordle,
wikispaces,
poll everywhere,
Edmodo,
Jing (Screencast.com),
Celly,
Dropbox,
YouTube,
Twitter,
Evernote

This article from Uni of Wollongong highlights Alexander Hayes's work on wearable technologies, which he predicts will become mainstream in 4-5 years, as does the latest NMC Horizon Report http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-HE.pdf (Scoop.it isn't pdf friendly, unfortunately). For more on wearable tech, see Edudemic's piece on "7 Pieces Of Wearable Tech Being Developed Right Now" http://edudemic.com/2013/02/wearable-tech-being-developed-right-now/. And follow developments at Alex's blog http://veillance.me/

Now and then someone writes a blog post for me.  I never got into Pinterest either, and this post explains essentially why.  In a nutshell it is superfluous and it doesn't add to our PLNs.  At worst it's illegal.  However, I would relish reading an alternate viewpoint (if my filter bubble will let any in if my filter bubble will let any in if my filter bubble will let any in filter bubble will let any in let any)  -- is there an echo in here??

This about sums it up.  Terry Freedman encapsulates in a brief post a very accessible and practical encapsulation of the salient features of Web 2.0 in educational tech nowadays

Sunday Jan 20 looks to be a very interesting day online between the hours of 1400 and 1600 GMT. The Hangout at 1500 GMT will be about ePortfolios and this is one of the recommended readings.  The other is at http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ali-Portfolios.html

Please join us online. The particulars are here:
http://learning2gether.pbworks.com/w/page/32206114/volunteersneeded#Nextupcomingevents

Cristina begins: "it is a fallacy to determinedly say 'I am not a teacher – I am a facilitator',“ and later, "it is the learner who makes the connections - not the facilitator or teacher," a point stressed by Siemens in the video which is partly transcribed on this page: http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com/w/page/61341664/Getting_Started_2013evo

I commented that I like David Warlick’s characterization of a “master learner” taking a role somewhere between didactic teaching and guide-too-far-to-the-side facilitation. In this characterization, the teacher is modeling. I have often thought of teaching as a percolative process, where as I first heard Stephen Downes say to teach is to model and demonstrate, to learn is to practice and reflect. In my view, practicing teaching is all of those. ... In the EVO sessions ... in my self-perceived role of master learner, I am there to do all 4 things in the iterative cycle, model and demonstrate, but also practice and reflect, and to get others doing the same, and basically to learn from the experience, which in EVO we have the luxury of experimenting with as well.