#ccourses - Leveraging our ‘why’ – reaching out to the #ccourses community

#ccourses has suggested that we ‘leverage our why’ – and Jonathan Worth said we ask others to help with the HOW.

So - HOW?!

We are lecturers in an institution that reaches out into our local communities. Our students are often described as ‘fish out of water’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992),  swimming in educational currents composed of regimes of inspection and the over-riding narratives of assessment, SATs, League Tables, OFSTED, moral panics about plagiarism – and the ‘dumbing down’ of education:

There are Mickey Mouse students for whom Mickey Mouse degrees are quite appropriate (Starkey in Brockes ‘Taking the mick’ The Guardian, [online] 15 January 2003).

They are re-territorialising tricky academic space (Deleuze & Guattari1987/2005) – and do not get an easy ride. More than ever they need to experience connection – engagement – inspiration – creativity and joy…

We’re sustained by our communities (of Practice, of Inquiry, of Engagement): ALDinHE, (#loveld, #studychat) - and #edcmooc, #rhizo14, #ccourses … BUT we know that many staff in HE generally are feeling pretty battered and bruised right now. As with the students, they, too, experience regimes of control and surveillance: targets and strategies; Performance Review; Academic Work Allocation Model. Every hour is mapped and measured and there is no time to ‘be with’ students. Overworked and under-valued, they do not feel trusted – they may not feel trust. How can we celebrate and sustain creative emancipatory practices …in this cold HE climate (Sinfield, Burns and Holley 2003)?

So we are experimenting with Take 5:

http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/epacks/take5/index.html

Take5 includes some tips on:

Role playing and simulations

Creative and visual learning strategies – using:

Drawing, collage, performance, poetry, prose

Object and Inquiry-based learning

Project Based Learning

Real research projects – from the first year

Academic & empowering literacies – with a positive twist!

Using the MOOCs - #edcmooc, #ccourses, #ds106, #rhizo14

Resource and artefact production.

At the moment we are planning to write fortnightly blog posts speaking of things that we have done in our classrooms and our MOOCs – in the hope of seeding conversations and re-engaging people in their own love of teaching and learning.

What do you think?

What should we do next?

Who wants to join in?

#ccourses – Theme 2: Trust

So little time – so many great things to do in #ccourses!

I am lagging behind – I am a *bad* student! BUT one thing I really loved in this theme was the chance to collaboratively produce a poem with other #ccourses participants – and loosely based on the theme of trust. We used TitanPad (https://titanpad.com/sXgaTJMniP ) – and it could definitely be something to try with students… If not a collective poem – why not a collective essay or article?

So, in lieu of *proper* homework (!!),here’s that poem:

How to Stay Connected (While Walking Through the Wires)

A Connected/Collaborative Poem – erupting from #ccourses

(You can listen to the podcast of the poem from October 2: http://vocaroo.com/i/s00WbrKqEIj6 )

(This version copied, 14^th October 2014)

While 

Walking through wires

Dancing on air

Whirling through space

Pay attention to the sounds

of others alongside you

humming, mouthing, shouting...

Notice those beside you 

also walking 

through wires.

Only look at them through 

the periphery

Else...it's a long way down

from balanced.

We're all tightrope walkers here

navigating across the lines

always in motion

teetering in virtual time:

Virtuosos, all of us!

Listen, what was that? 

A whisper, a scuffling of feet

from some other, other

a-part of the world,

apart in the world,

resonating with words and links and images

and sound

Perhaps a small laugh, full of excitement,  the froth of lingering fear

Look around, reach ...

Totter, swirl on the brink of

becoming 

beyond yourself

make connections that 

spin

that

span place and time

     I am so alone

     In this icy space

     The wires unjangled

     By the current that should warm them

     

Share your fire at our hearth

please join so that we may be comforted

This cozy cottage a gathering place, 

a shelter from our loneliness.

     It is so far down

     and the wires are slick and worn

     and sometimes I think

     a spider lingers nearby...licking.

     

But don't be afraid of falling,

we are all friends here

Trust us and if you fall we will catch you

so that you may continue on your journey

Do I have to say trust me to have you

close your eyes or better still, look around;

give me your hand and walk with me

or run ahead and lead the way.

Dance your dance across the wires

so that I might find your rhythm and

create the rhyme

And even when it seems we are

alone

we are not.

These are the times our feelings are just

plain

wrong.

open 

your eyes 

and

clear your ears to think.

But where are we going?

Do we have a map?

Do we explore and make 

our own

mark

(Haec dragones sunt!)

Or -

Are we waiting for-

OH?!

Why wait?

 Do

 Act

we cannot wait for someone to prove

their trustworthiness

we cannot wait for someone to protect

our privacy

 how do u know

 whom to trust

 without ever taking risks?

 how do u know?

 Fail

 Our risks may be 

 Our safeties in disguise...

 or not.

 But before the barricades

 believe in the possibilities

 like cliches in a poem

 they are endless

Grow your knowledge of trust 

as you test the path.

It's a well worn road

Ask for directions

But don't expect everyone's using 

the same map.

It's a magic of sorts

Walking through timezones 

digging through rhizomes

riding wires like skipping stones, 

or underwater currents,

As if they weren't there,

saying good morning to

someone's goodnight, and wishing upon

the same stars from the sky.

A dimension transcending time and place.

Truly human

democratic

not making judgements

based on appearance, age, 

status, wealth - 

what do you say? 

Join us. Or don't.

Just don't do nothing. 

Extending an invitation

to write

to express

to make sense 

of the daily chatter

as well as the world's conversation

trying to streamline thoughts

playing, mixing, and remixing

words and ideas

conventional vs. unconventional

with just a few tweaks

I will have started the process

Simply trust --- that you can.

don't autumn  leaves

fall

     just

like

     that ?

     

  don't autumn leaves

  become

      part of the soil

      that recreates

the Earth? 

humus = humility

mulch = organic

Gardening!

Trust your ideas will extend the wires

weaving a tapestry of understanding not yet imagined

Time

      space

Individuality...

these things are fleeting.

Ideas alone remain,

connecting cultures and 

enriching life.  

The expresso to the latte.

This human existence

encapsulated in connected thoughts.

A prism-glimpse of neurons, synapses.

Will you think?

Contribute?

Or muted, remain lost...

Wires broken, 

rusted,

disconnected,

finding no easy signal and no outlet?

En otros idiomas

También conectados

Porque ya no hay fronteras

Para quienes estamos interesados

Hola, te oigo

#ccourses 2014

#ccourses Why we need a why

I just loved the discussion between Mike Wesch, Randy Best and Cathy Davidson on ‘The end (purpose) of HE’ – launched by a share of their best teaching experiences.

For Randy it was working with architecture students in a Studio mode. The students came to work not to listen – and the Crits provided authentic contexts and audience for the work in progress – and the students were fearless about revision – prepared to go and cut 90% of work-in-progress and to improve and produce their best work.

For Mike it was the time he and his Anthropology Class moved into a Retirement Community and lived and breathed meaningful ‘anthropology in action’, where: ‘something special happened’.

For Cathy it was returning to a 21^st Century Literacies Class to find that the students had torn up the Learning Contracts – because they wanted to do more. That year they produced a de facto textbook on the course – the following year they generated a MOOC…

This sense of engagement – of excitement – of authenticity – of wanting to go further – work harder… definitely seems at the heart of great teaching and learning.

Check out: http://connectedcourses.net/thecourse/why-we-need-a-why/ for great video discussion – and this topic’s questions:

So what is the real “why” of your course? Why should students take it? How will they be changed by it? What is your discipline’s real “why”? Why does it matter that students take __________ courses or become _________ists? How can digital and networked technologies effectively support the real why of your course?

Write down your real why, share it in the make bank, and frame it in a blog post that explains your story and inspiration. These can be in the form of student learning objectives, but do not feel constrained by whether your objectives are measurable, realistic, or reasonable. Explore your own depths to find reasons you did not even realize were there — or reasons you have never been able to put into words. And, if you can’t quite put your reasons into words, share a story or picture that somehow conveys your otherwise inexpressible thoughts.

Why we need a why – my why

Loved learning – hated school! Hated the power and the lack of power – hated the never knowing WHY – felt fearful, trapped and constrained – and thought: this cannot be all there is!

Had wonderful experiences at Tottenham Tech and the Polytechnic of North London – and thought, THAT’S more like it!

This seems to have lured me into becoming an educationalist and a learning developer.

I want to enable spaces for students to learn, laugh, think, speak, discover, have fun, experience joy, get connected, be with each other and be with their subject.

Recently was gifted the opportunity with my partner, Tom, to develop and deliver a 30-week module, Becoming an Educationalist (http://becomingeducational.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/becomingeducational-1/), and suddenly we had the time and space to create a course with the time and space to explore the potential and joys of learning and teaching… drawing in all the ideas from our experiences, philosophies, politics, lived life – and MOOCs (#edcmooc, #artmooc, #artinquiry, #rhizo14 – and now #ccourses).

We hope that the students will be intrigued, excited, stimulated, engaged… We hope that they will work hard because somehow when you want it and you’re engaged, it’s not ‘work’.

We want to sing and dance and laugh and fly… Wish us ‘bon voyage’!

Tinkering to Learn #ccourses14

Boom! Another academic year – another load of too much to do and too little time – Soooooo... started another course – #ccourses14! (I have the feeling that *course* is an oxymoron in this context – but that is a good thing!) and for the next few weeks the focus of this blog will be co-learning and the co-creation of knowledge in a connected world.

‘Dear Reader’ alert!

Dear Reader,

If you are completely new to online courses and blogging to learn – don’t be put off by not knowing anyone else on the course yet. It is very easy to make friends in these spaces. The trick is to *like*, *Comment*, *re-tweet* and *favourite* the messages that people start to post on and about the course. This is the way that we touch base with each other and build connections, trust and dialogue. The knowledge emerges and develops through these very connections.

I am lucky because many people that I’ve seen on other happy courses (you know who you are #edcmooc and #rhizo14!!) are here – as are people that I have spotted on the almost mythical #ds106. I am looking forward to co-learning with these peeps.

The course proper starts next week, Monday 15^th September. If you are still in the process of joining – here’s the link to the one-hour video on the blogging part of this connected courses thing: http://connectedcourses.net/thecourse/pre-course/

To RSS Feed

My big first task is to try to connect this blog to the course list – with the appropriate RSS feed. I have never managed that before! I listened to the instructions on adding the RSS feed – and decided immediately to do the simple link this first time, that is, I will *only* cover #ccourses14 in this blog cos if you cover the course in a multi-topic blog the instructions were WAY too complicated for me!

#becomingeducational: The end of the beginning

So, it’s June 2014, all you #becomingeducationalists have hopefully more or less survived this first year – and are perhaps waiting slightly nervously for those all too important end of year results.

We want to say a big THANK YOU to you all! You were great. It was an excellent year. Being with you lot formed the highlight of our week. Seriously!

On that note – here’s a link to a great article on the importance of play: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/give-childhood-back-to-children-if-we-want-our-offspring-to-have-happy-productive-and-moral-lives-we-must-allow-more-time-for-play-not-less-are-you-listening-gove-9054433.html

We hope that Becoming, whilst intensive, thought-provoking and, hopefully, challenging - was also playful; that we created space for us to ‘play to learn’. As Winnicott (1971) says – play is vital to counter the implicit threat of those tricky transitional spaces. And – I bet you all know about Winnicott now – eh?

We hope that you are pleased with your results!!

Nil desperandum

Any students who had issues preventing them from getting the work in on time – do not despair. There is the opportunity for re-submission – and there will be some re-sit and re-submission support in the Learning Centre, Holloway Road; in the Moorgate Hub and at Calcutta House – from w/b 14^th July. Check out the Study Hub calendar for specific times: http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/epacks/studyhub/

Read all about it: Blogging to Learn

Towards the end of the year we presented our ‘Blogging to Learn’ paper in class before presenting at the ALDinHE 2014 Conference at the University of Huddersfield.

Well, we developed elements of that presentation into an article that has been accepted for publication in Investigations in University Teaching and Learning. When it is actually published, we’ll post links here.

Good luck folks – and keep in touch!