Let me begin by saying that this assignment in OLTD 502 on “Making sense of the noise and fire hose”, is definitely mistitled. When I really began reflecting on what my Personal Learning Network was comprised of, I was quickly deflated in my belief that I was well connected. I had no idea! Looking at what is really available with Web 2.0 tools made me wonder if ignorance wasn’t considerably safer. So forget the fire hose and face the water cannon.
Seeing the many ways to collaborate, network, grow, and even vent has been a little overwhelming (and scary). Although the idea of networking has been around for a very long time, it is only through connectivist theory (Siemens & Downes) that the possibilities for building communities online have been explored. I know that as I write this, there are likely more tools being created to make connecting with others possible and easier. At my age, I thought I was at the top of my game – that is until I started exploring the connected world of online collaborative communities. Darn young whippersnappers! So now here I go. I am a blogger, a member of a Google + community, I look through wikis, host my own website, and as of today – a Twitterer(?). My kids are going to laugh when they read this. So, back to the water cannon.
I do enjoy the challenges that building my PLN has brought me and understand that I need to go slowly and build with a certain degree of caution. Not everything is necessary or even useful to me. I am wanting to use my PLN to understand a topic that I think is critical to the success of the virtual school I am helping to build. One particular area we have been introduced to has proven to be of significant importance in this process. This is the Community of Inquiry. The idea can be traced back to John Dewey and C.S. Pierce. Their basic premise was that a CoI was a group of individuals collaboratively problem solving using a process of inquiry. These ideas were expanded into the world of online learning by R. Garrison, T. Anderson, and W Archer at the University of Alberta in 1996. Since then, the CoI model has been refined and used in many parts of the world. I felt that the incorporation of the three aspects of the model, social presence, teacher presence, and cognitive presence, provided a great means of developing a sound and dynamic learning environment in a virtual classroom. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered the emergence of a fourth aspect that will create exciting dialogue with my colleagues and members of my PLN. This is the emotional presence aspect being applied to the CoI model (4PCoI Model). I would encourage you to check out the Canadian Initiative for Distance Education Research (CIDER) webinars on The Community of Inquiry. These can be found on the CoI website at https://coi.athabascau.ca/ . Check them out and let me know if you agree that this is an appropriate model to apply to my DL school.
So how do you face the water cannon? DUCK! If any of you reading this care to reply, I will actually have empirical proof that I succeeded at sending out a tweet. Sweet!
Seeing the many ways to collaborate, network, grow, and even vent has been a little overwhelming (and scary). Although the idea of networking has been around for a very long time, it is only through connectivist theory (Siemens & Downes) that the possibilities for building communities online have been explored. I know that as I write this, there are likely more tools being created to make connecting with others possible and easier. At my age, I thought I was at the top of my game – that is until I started exploring the connected world of online collaborative communities. Darn young whippersnappers! So now here I go. I am a blogger, a member of a Google + community, I look through wikis, host my own website, and as of today – a Twitterer(?). My kids are going to laugh when they read this. So, back to the water cannon.
I do enjoy the challenges that building my PLN has brought me and understand that I need to go slowly and build with a certain degree of caution. Not everything is necessary or even useful to me. I am wanting to use my PLN to understand a topic that I think is critical to the success of the virtual school I am helping to build. One particular area we have been introduced to has proven to be of significant importance in this process. This is the Community of Inquiry. The idea can be traced back to John Dewey and C.S. Pierce. Their basic premise was that a CoI was a group of individuals collaboratively problem solving using a process of inquiry. These ideas were expanded into the world of online learning by R. Garrison, T. Anderson, and W Archer at the University of Alberta in 1996. Since then, the CoI model has been refined and used in many parts of the world. I felt that the incorporation of the three aspects of the model, social presence, teacher presence, and cognitive presence, provided a great means of developing a sound and dynamic learning environment in a virtual classroom. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered the emergence of a fourth aspect that will create exciting dialogue with my colleagues and members of my PLN. This is the emotional presence aspect being applied to the CoI model (4PCoI Model). I would encourage you to check out the Canadian Initiative for Distance Education Research (CIDER) webinars on The Community of Inquiry. These can be found on the CoI website at https://coi.athabascau.ca/ . Check them out and let me know if you agree that this is an appropriate model to apply to my DL school.
So how do you face the water cannon? DUCK! If any of you reading this care to reply, I will actually have empirical proof that I succeeded at sending out a tweet. Sweet!