Virtual Learning Communities w/ Dr. Richard Schwier – Sept. 27/11

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Tonight’s session was led by Dr. Richard Schwier, a Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, an expert in Virtual Learning Communities, and a great friend and colleague. Dr. Schwier gave us a sneak preview of his upcoming keynote at the eLearn conference in Hawaii (description here) titled Connections and Contexts: The Birth, Growth and Death of Online Learning Communities.

This was a wonderful session and a must-see for those interested in studying, developing, or being part of virtual learning communities. if you missed it, or would like to experience it again, check out the recording found here. Fast-forward about 15 minutes to get to where Dr. Schwier begins.

Next week, our guest is Shelley Terrell as she discusses Personal Learning Networks. Be sure not to miss it.

Welcome Non-Credit Students – September 20/11

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Tonight, EC&I 831 welcomed the non-credit students into class (and specifically, into our weekly, online session). To date, about 127 students have signed-up as non-credit students, and we expect more drop-ins as the class progresses. I have shared a list of the non-credit students here, and included an interactive map of their locations below.

In tonight’s class, we went through protocols of the course, discussed the learning environment (both synchronous and asynchronous components), outlined essential course tools (e.g., WordPress, Google Reader, Twitter, Delicious), and discussed guidelines for blogging, commenting, and other communication. Much of technical piece was accomplished through screensharing (via Blackboard Collaborate) along with continuous discussion in the chat.

For more specific details of tonight’s session, feel free to view this Google Document (a running outline of the course) or view the recording from tonight’s session.

It is also worth mentioning that Clint Lalonde and I have begun to collaborate on the “Dynamic Guide to Network Mentoring“. This is a preliminary guide for network mentors, and we hope that anyone who has signed up for that role could add or edit the document as we collectively begun to discover ways to mentor students in an open learning environment.

Dr. Richard Schwier is our guest next week. He’s a great friend, colleague, and one of the very best in the field. He’ll be discussing virtual learning communities, and it’s definitely a session not to be missed. See you soon.

Message to Network Mentors/Non-Credit Students

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Over the weekend, I emailed the Network Mentors & Non-Credit students important information about their possible involvement in this course. Due to it being sent to over 120 recipients (and this often triggering spam filters), and in the spirit of being transparent/open, I have copied the email this message here below. The course begins tonight for non-credit students, and we’re really looking forward to meeting everyone!

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Hi everyone,
If you have received this email, you have signed up as a non-credit student for the open graduate course that I’m running, EC&I 831: Social Media and Open Education. In case you have lost the address, more information can be found at http://eci831.ca

Our first open session will be held on Tuesday, 7pm, Saskatchewan time (September 20/11). Here is a time converter for the event: http://bit.ly/pslGDb
An important note about time zones is that Saskatchewan does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so the relative time of the class will change for many of you come November. You will be reminded when the change happens.

The schedule for the class along with connection information is available here: http://eci831.ca/schedule/

We will connect via Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate), and if you do plan to join us for the live sessions, it would be wise to try connecting well in advance of the first session. The first time connecting usually means the downloading and installing of a media component to support Collaborate/Elluminate. Also, important to remember, all sessions are recorded and will be available for viewing on the course site.

If you said ‘maybe’ or ‘yes’ to network mentoring, we will discuss the logistics of this role on Tuesday. As well, Clint Lalonde and I have been working on this reference document to give you a sense of what this role might look like. See: http://bit.ly/networkmentorguide and feel free to edit/add/suggest. If you’re sitting on the fence about this, I’d love to encourage you to take an active role and give it a shot. What this will eventually look like will be wholly defined by your participation and your relationship with the Credit students. I know we can build something amazing here, and we’ll all serve in co-creating and better understanding what a truly open course can look like.

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm, and your time. In whatever way you choose to participate, whether more passive or more active, we’ll all be better off with your involvement.

See many of you on Tuesday and beyond!

Cheers,
Alec

First Session for Credit Students – September 13/11

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Tonight, the for-credit students of #eci831 met tonight for the first time in Blackboard Collaborate. This was my first time using this tool since its former incarnation, Elluminate, was purchased by Blackboard. From a technical standpoint, the session ran relatively error-free, and I was actually quite impressed by the user-interface changes in the latest version. That being said, I’m still hoping that a FOSS web-conferencing tool (e.g., Big Blue Button) matures enough to be a viable option for (open) courses like this.

Tonight’s meeting was with credit students only (non-credit students are invited started September 20/11). In past semesters, I have made the mistake of inviting everyone at once (credit, non-credit) and that has resulted in some anxiety for the credit students. An initial private/closed session seems to be appropriate for describing the format of the course, going over assessment details, allowing for student introductions, and encouraging the voicing of questions and concerns.

Tonight’s introductory class included a welcome & introductions, a quick overview of Blackboard Collaborate, and a longer overview of the course (i.e., format, assignments & expectations, key communication tools, and the overall philosophy). I’ve created a Google Doc with more detailed notes & recommended readings – this document will be updated after each session, and participants are free to add details I may have missed.

The recording of tonight’s session is available here. I made a bit of an error starting the recording so the first minute or so is garbage, but if you let it play for about a minute or so, it will jump to the start of the session (somewhere around 1:41).

Those who were part of this session, did I miss something important? Feel free to add to the Google Doc or comment below.

See you all next week.

Pre-Course Preparation

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If you are a registered student in this course and would like to do a little pre-course preparation, I would suggest the following activities:

1) Please email me (your instructor) at couros@gmail.com with your preferred email address. This will make sure I have a relatively direct way of communicating with you throughout the semester. And if you are not in the habit of checking your email often, please do so for this semester as this will be a common and relatively frequent mode of a course communication.

2) Review the course ‘communication‘ page. If you are ambitious and feel comfortable, sign up for some of the services suggested. If you are already on Twitter (I know that some of you are), message me there (I’m @courosa), or let me know what your Twitter address is via email. I will be building a participant Twitter list and could use that information as soon as possible.

3) We will be using Blackboard Collaborate for our weekly synchronous sessions. Information about connecting with this tool along with the course schedule will be found here. It is highly recommended that you try Blackboard Connect well before the first class as it may require software installation on your computer. Also, it is highly recommended that you purchase a headset for these weekly sessions.

4) If you have any questions about this course, please feel free to email me at couros@gmail.com. The course will likely be different than any you have experienced before. However, our first session will be geared at outlining the course, the format, the assessments, and the interactions. I hope that this will give you a good overview of the course and make you more comfortable looking forward.

Talk to you all soon.