Personal learning network (beta)

This is my first attempt at conceptualizing my personal learning network (PLN), and I've attempted to capture all of  the web 2.0 sites that I access the internet through - both personally and academically. During last weeks google-docs assignment @Tyler_JL and I discussed learning networks where he first differentiated between PLNs and personal learning environments (PLEs), and then proposed his own interpretation of the two. 

Next will be an attempt to better capture the relationships between individuals that have made the connections to these individual websites and their importance to my learning. 

Alec Couros & participatory learning

This week, Mike Nantais delivered a phenom of a guest speaker (via adobeConnect this time) in the form of Alec Couros. Alec spoke at length about the prevalence of technology today, shared several web-based resources with us, and discussed the concept of participatory learning.

Not without its hiccups, adobeConnect suffered several audio-crashes throughout the lecture. Thankfully a number a I4Ed students were able to notify Alec via chat whenever things got garbled, but it added to a level of discontinuity that wasn't present with the presentation via Skype last week. There is something about the pace of a lecture and interruptions that is harmful to the message being delivered. I think that Alec felt the same way:

For a second there I thought that Adobe Connect didn't suck anymore. Then I tried to use my webcam and it crashed my browser.
—Alec Couros (@courosa) January 22, 2013

 Without a doubt, the prevalence of technology in our lives today is astounding. I was researching articles for a methods class this afternoon on the laptop when my iPhone buzzed: momentarily distracted, I noticed my girlfriend on the couch beside me shift her gaze from the adorable pets on her Pintrest iPad app to her mobile. As HIMYM played out on our wifi-enabled Netflix-supporting television, the alarm on my Nike GPS watch went off a moment later. Alec stated that kids are on the internet now by the age of eleven.

So with all of this technology and information, websites like hootsuite.com and about.me have popped up just to consolidate and manage all of the different information streaming at us at all times. Which brings us to participatory learning: at the heart of all this data is our own participation in what is going on around us. Of course it is possible to be passive, but Alec pushed that 21st century literacy is about understanding how these services work and how they network with those around them.

It is not enough to read a wiki and follow the citations to the source material; we need to get involved in developing the resources out there, we have to become part of the discussion. The popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs) is a testament to this shifting paradigm where educators and students no longer just view the internet and technology passively, but participate in a bidirectional manner.

Alec referred to twitters hashtag (#) as being the soul the internet at the beginning of class. I think I disagree that the soul is that tangible. I believe that if an internet-soul exists, it is embodied by a need to learn and expand our minds, that is represented by a group of people who have come together for no other reason than for a primal need to know. Sharing was what was at the heart of ARPAnet, of wikipedia, of countless chatrooms, message boards, file-sharing programs and the controversy of 'free' education. So that people need not be limited by what they know, and only by their own ability to do something with it.

In conclusion I thought a quote from Tony Wagner that Alec put up was so fitting:

“Today knowledge is ubiquitous, constantly changing, growing exponentially… Today knowledge is free. It’s like air, it’s like water. It’s become a commodity… There’s no competitive advantage today in knowing more than the person next to you. The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what you know.”

First class of Internet for Educators

So first off, I just want to say that as part of the group of First Years that has been bumped around this session, having this class with Mike is already looking like one of the highlights of the semester. Sharing? Interactive? Social networking? Coffee and snacks in class? Find me a seat, I'll sit.

In reflecting on Dean Shareski's presentation - which was on the surface just inspiring in its message, and engaging in its delivery - the greatest idea that I took home was his thoughts on Viewing and Representing. The idea that we focus so intensely on reading and writing in the ELA curriculum, but if that is all we are teaching today's students: then we are actually failing them.

I just took the first middle years ELA methods class last session, and while all of those GLO's quickly became rhetoric, I distinctly remember during lesson planning that I failed to hit on these two basic forms. Programs like Boushey & Moser's the Daily 5 easily hit the first four, but in retrospect really failed to address viewing and representing.

Clearly these are important and the smart people that created our ELA curriculum got that, so why is it so under-represented in the documents that I've seen so far? Has anyone else noticed this missing, and importantly: is this a part of the curriculum that is covered more extensively in our second methods course? Your thoughts on this - please comment below ↴

While we figure that out, much thanks to Dean for taking the time to speak and to Mike for sharing his contacts with us.

Best,

Nick

About me

Hi!

If you're reading this, you must be Professor Mike Nantais, or possibly a fellow student in Internet for Educators! In either case, if you'd like to know a bit more about myself, then please read on:

Although born and raised in rural Manitoba, I grew up with a duality to my identity: my mom emigrated from Sweden in the late 70's and we travelled back and forth as much as we could in the early years. We were always outdoors as kids, skating by age three and playing shinny whenever we could. At age 11 my uncle introduced me to Karate and I went on to compete provincially and then nationally, excelling in Kumite. At 16 I earned my black belt under Sensei Nishiyama and started instructing soon after. 

After high school I moved to Brandon, Manitoba and began working full time. I saved and travelled to Europe that next year. That fall I enrolled at Brandon University in the science faculty and began my academic career. Simultaneously I began working with adults living with disabilities and over time my studies at the university focused on psychology. I began assisting honours students in the lab under Professor Goernart, but transferred to Simon Fraser University in the fall of 2007. 

Living on the west coast, I completed my degree in Psychology while volunteering for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and in the Psychology and Law lab at SFU under Professor Mansour. In 2011 I traveled to Manila to meet close friends who had been teaching in Kuwait at the American Creativity Academy. I intended to only be gone for a month, but ended up traveling to Bali and then cancelling my flight back to Vancouver in order to move to Kuwait. There I tutored and subbed at ACA while living with my girlfriend and later traveled to South Africa, Jordan and Barcelona. 

That fall we returned to Brandon, where she quickly got a position teaching with the Brandon School Division. I returned to Brandon University in order to prepare to enter the After Degree Education program and began working with youth living with disabilities. That position transitioned into the Children's Disabilities Services "Summer Services" program, which provides programming for youth throughout the summer. In the fall of 2012 I entered BU's Education program and simultaneously accepted a promotion to be one of the coordinators for CDS.

I am currently enrolled in my second semester of Education at Brandon University, providing respite and coordinating programs for CDS, and instructing karate in Carberry, Manitoba while living in Brandon.