Creating a learning community... And opening it to the world

1. Creating a learning
community. . .
And opening it to the world
Richard Gordon, IT Communication Group
Mathieu Plourde, IT Academic Technology Services

2. Creating a learning
community. . .
And opening it to the world
Richard Gordon, Computer and Information Sciences
Mathieu Plourde, School of Education

3. This is what we do when we
actually teach.
• Neither of us use one monolithic tool.
• We both use individual tools as building blocks—
linked from one starting place.
• Technology must advance learning objectives!
• Richard: Undergraduate class -> learning
community
• Mathieu: Opening a graduate “learning
community” to the world
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4. Forging a learning community
• Diverse group of students, multiple majors, in
CISC355 (Ethics) & CISC356 (IP)
• Community and Collaboration:
• Share discoveries with each other
• Answer each other’s questions
• Work together in small (and larger) problem-solving
groups
• If tech won’t help with this, I discard it.
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5. Simple things
• What are some of the common sense steps you
take to build community?
• My list includes (but is not limited to)
• Learn everyone’s name.
• Call on students by name.
• Score assignments within one week – if possible by next
class meeting.
• Respond politely and publicly to online posts.
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6. The Usual Suspects
• E-Home
• One place that links to all other tools—a landing place.
• Discussion
• Collaboration
• Sharing
• Review & Accountability
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7. The Usual Suspects
• E-Home (landing place): Sakai (or Canvas)
• Discussion: Google Groups (or Sakai Forums, or a
PHPBB, or ….)
• Collaboration: Google Sites & Drive (or Canvas
Pages or Sakai Wiki or….); Gore 218
• Sharing: Google Drive, Sakai Resources, etc.
• Review & Accountability: Android Attendance App,
UD Capture, Quizzes
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8. Accountability and Community
• Technology makes me more accountable to my
students at the same time it makes them more
accountable to me—and each other.
• “You’re all responsible for all the reading and what
happens in class every day.”
• “We are all responsible for advancing each other’s
understanding.”
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9. Accountability and Community
• On Line Discussion (Google Groups or ….)
• You can’t just spout what you want.
• Graded assignments – with a published rubric
• Responsible to each other: Comment on each
others’ postings.
• Responsible to each other: Summarize, provide
basic biblio info, build points logically, and invite
discussion.
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10. Accountability and Community
• Sakai quizzes due at class time:
• Are you prepped for discussion?
• UDCapture: part of the class culture
• Did I miss anything important?
• Android Attendance App
• Miss class? Responsible to add to the online discussion
to keep quiz credit.
• Backend spreadsheet to help track.
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11. Accountability and Community
• Use Sakai Resources to share slides.
• Review material from class or UDCapture
• Collaboration: students responsible to each other
• Google Docs (or similar tools): shared note-taking (in-
class, out-of-class)
• Google Sites: publish research to rest of class
• Gore 218:
• ATS wants me to talk about the technology.
• The students would want me to tell about the chairs.
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12. Accountability and Community
• Tried other things, too. For example, Diigo:
• Social bookmarking or shared
bookmarking/bibliographic tools – would keep for a
research or grad class
• Accountable for sharing research with each other
• Undergrads got confused by using two tools to share
research and commentary on the research….
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13. Tools for building Community
• When we blend in-person and on-line elements to
build our classes into learning communities, we
enhance the value of our students’ education and
experience.
• When I select tech tools, I try to keep that in mind.
• During question time, or afterwards, I’ll gladly
answer any questions about what I do….
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14. It’s time for Mathieu Plourde
• My undergrad classes—build the group into a
community.
• Mathieu’s grad classes—look outward—look at
the class’s place in the larger open learning
community.
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15. Gordon and Plourde, WFI2013, 2012-01-22 15

16. About EDUC439/639, aka
#udsnf12
• Title: Social Networking (for educators)
• New class, elective
• Built from the ground up by me
• Audience:
• 20 students, half K12 teachers, half other professionals
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17. The multiple facets of openness
Credit: Steve Jurvetson on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/156830367/
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18. Open Feedback
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19. My course evaluation
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20. Your final grade
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21. Open Toolbox
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22. Wordpress as a course gateway
http://openteaching.ud-css.net
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23. Open by default
Social bookmarking Google Group LMS
PUBLIC PRIVATE
Social media Cloud storage Email
http://openteaching.ud-css.net/social-presence/
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24. Open invitation to outsiders
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25. Outsiders have answered the call!
• Experts are everywhere online
• Pat Sine
• Steven Mangat, Alumni relations
• Laura Gibbs, online educator, University of Oklahoma
• Jane Bozarth, author, social media guru
• Kristen Swanson, author and Google-certified educator
• Jenny Brand, social media marketing professional
• Kim Hayworth, Stanford University
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26. Open Syllabus
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27. Gordon and Plourde, WFI2013, 2012-01-22 27

28. Open Content
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29. Open content
Used Created
• Only used materials • Licensed all materials I
openly available online created as Creative
Commons - Attribution
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30. Open Learning
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31. Student blogs
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32. My sharing loop (2012)
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33. Open Classroom
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34. Synchronous
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35. Classroom roles
• Google Jockey
• Backchannel Moderator
• Archivist
• Recapper
• Ed Tech Analyst
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36. Open Archive
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37. #udsnf12’s digital footprint
• UD Capture
• Google Hangouts on Air
• Posts
• Slides
• Google Docs
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38. Open Community
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39. Credit: Jon Mott and David Wiley, Open for Learning: The CMS and the Open Learning Network
http://www.ineducation.ca/article/open-learning-cms-and-open-learning-network
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40. “Chance favors
the connected
mind.”
Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
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41. Creating a learning community. . . .
And opening it to the world
• Questions?
• Discussion?
• Richard Gordon
• richard@udel.edu
• Mathieu Plourde
• mathieu@udel.edu
• mathplourde.wordpress.com/about
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