Reflections of a Digital Civilization T.A.

Our event is over, and our class is done. Right now we're requiring the students to write blog posts reflecting on their semester of Digital Civilization, and reading over some of their posts, it seems fitting that I pause in their grading and do a reflective post of my own. I hope I'm not setting up myself to get ripped apart, but I'm going to be vulnerable and post this anyway. (P.S. I watched this great TED talk on vulnerability the other day, and I think we would all do well to take what Brene Brown says to heart. P.P.S. TED talks are my new YouTube addiction. Check 'em out. They're good. The tagline isn't "ideas worth spreading" for nothing.)

Open Resources

For this final project I'm working on in the class I T.A. for, I'm taking a look at some valuable resources and influential people in the openness movement, particularly in the realm of open educational resources (OER).

READINGS:


"The Economy of Ideas" by John Perry Barlow
This 1994 essay in Wired Magazine presents an eloquent overview of the shift from physical to intellectual property in the Information Age and an argument for companies and institutions to adapt to that shift: an important document in the ideology of the openness movement.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/economy.ideas_pr.html


"Giving Knowledge for Free: the Emergence of Open Educational Resources" by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
According to the description on Amazon.com, "This study, building on previous OECD work on e-learning, asks why this is happening, who is involved and what the most important implications of this development are. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the rapidly changing phenomenon of Open Educational Resources and the challenges it poses for higher education. It examines reasons for individuals and institutions to share resources for free, and looks at copyright issues, sustainability and business models as well as policy implications." 
http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/free/9607041E.PDF

A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources prepared by Neil Butcher for the Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO
This guide is composed of three sections: first, a general overview of key issues concerning Open Educational Resources; second, a more in-depth analysis of the issues; and third, appendices that explain more thoroughly different areas of interest for those who wish to do a detailed study of a specific area.
http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/Basic-Guide-To-OER.pdf

PEOPLE:

Eric Raymond
Open source software advocate, self-proclaimed geek, and author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar and The New Hacker's Dictionary. He was for a long time considered to be the spokesperson for the open source movement. Because the open movement began with the open source movement, it is good to have an understanding of Eric Raymond's ideologies.
Home page: http://www.catb.org/~esr/

David Wiley
"Dr. David Wiley is Associate Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology in the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University. David also serves as Associate Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling with responsibility for the research unit, where he directs the Open Education Group. His career is dedicated to increasing access to educational opportunity for everyone around the world." (from davidwiley.org)

Everything I've Been Thinking About Openness

This is a post in process: Enter if you dare. It's a little crazy right now, but hopefully some of it will make sense and it's not just the product of a frenzied mind. Continual revision forthcoming.

In the class I'm a teacher's assistant for, we have begun work on our final project, the main manifestation of which is an e-book. And even though I don't have much time as it is, I am making a contribution to the chapter on openness. Why? 'Cause it matters and I care enough to do something about it, that's why. Our group has been trying to hone in on the focus of our chapter, and considering the subject, that has been a challenge thus far.

A friend of mine told me recently that he thinks one of the strengths of my personal scholarship is that I am able to ask the right questions. So I'm hoping that as we make an effort to answer these questions we will be able to strike at the heart of what openness means, why we need it, what its shortcomings are, and what we propose to do about it all.

Why an "A" Student Has a Hard Time Caring about Her Homework

I've been having some motivation issues lately.

Part of it could be mid-semester slump, it's true. When I (and I'm sure pretty much every other student) am up to my eyeballs in things I have to do, it's easy to get overwhelmed and go into non-functioning mode. That's what happened last week, I think. Stress levels spiked, and I really didn't want to do much of anything, frankly. Two jobs, a full credit load, and outside stressors can do that to ya. Yep.

But I don't think that's the entire explanation for my lack of motivation in some of my classes nowadays. You see, I have come to realize the value of authentic learning tasks--things that actually matter in the real world, things that go above and beyond arbitrary things like essays that will get read once and thrown away, or worksheets that I'll probably never look at again. Lately I've been feeling stifled, mired down in minutia and unable to pull free and devote my time to things I actually care about. It gets frustrating. On my Facebook status the other day, I posted, "Sometimes I feel like college gets in the way of my education, and it irritates me." I think that's at the heart of my feelings of restlessness as of late.

Learning Plan 1.5: Academic Blogging

Remember my learning plan 1.0 post?

Well, things changed.

I think that my book will now be about academic blogging, the topic of the research paper I will be presenting at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in March. And it's time for some major work, because I need to have the paper ready for submission/publication on February 20th. I've got two weeks, right?

I've been discussing my ideas for this presentation with a couple different people. I think it would be incredibly cool to have an e-book version of my paper available online for people to look at as I'm presenting, or at least have a URL to point them to where they could access it. I also want to stream my presentation LIVE. Not only will this be great for expanding my audience, but it will also be so comforting to know that there are sympathetic people watching when I start attacking the sacred cow of the academic paper. I've also toyed with the idea of doing an infographic presentation of some kind. There are so many crazy exciting possibilities that are so far outside the box of death by powerpoint.

I want this to be a killer presentation--the kind that Dr. Gideon Burton describes in his post. I want to show people my passion and leave them thinking seriously about some of the things I have said. I want to generate more conversation about this even after the conference is over. I want to show people why this matters in the larger context (because it does) and why they should care (because they should). Not an easy task, to be sure, but a worthwhile one.

Thus, here are my title and abstract. Watch for sections of the paper to come as I revise, expand, and prepare it for the conference. I'm really excited about all this. (Hmm...I seem to be saying that rather often lately, don't I?) I think I can pull it off--at least, I really hope I can pull it off. I had a really good conversation with Gabe Meyr the other day about how when we break from old models to try something new there is opportunity for both dizzying success and monumental failure. So here I go--I'm taking the plunge, and come what may.

Title: Blogging in Undergraduate Courses: A Potentially Powerful Tool for Self-Directed Learning

Abstract:

Since many students now come to college already familiar with new media, educators have become interested in the potential benefits of implementing media such as blogs (weblogs) in academic contexts. Particularly intriguing is the potential of blogs to help students take more control of their own learning and connect their knowledge with that of other people, a process referred to as “self-directed learning.” This paper draws on studies of instructors who have implemented blogging in college courses and on the author’s personal experience in academic blogging to explain benefits and concerns over blogging for students and instructors. Furthermore, it gives suggestions for implementing blogs in undergraduate courses in ways that promote self-directed learning. It is evident from studies that “blogging (like any new technology) is not a panacea and will not independently or autonomously increase student learning” (Ellison 116). Thus, results indicate that instructors must carefully guide students in the use of blogging in order for blogging to assist students to become better critical thinkers and self-directed learners. If implemented in a pedagogically sound way, blogging has the potential to empower students to become active participants in the global learning conversation.

I posted a few topics on Google+ that I want to discuss in my paper. Right now it deals mostly with pros and cons found in studies published in academic journals. I would like to extend my research to look at articles and comments from instructors and students who are discussing this topic right now in more informal ways. Who are some of the big voices in this area? What other issues should I be addressing here? How can I make this most relevant to right now?

Photo credit: ajSEO on Flickr

The Vision

So some days I get discouraged. And it's on those days that I take a deep breath and redouble my efforts.

Yesterday I was feeling a little low for a few reasons, one of them being that my online presence/blog/digital literacy is not what I want it to be. And I didn't really know what I wanted it to be. Sometimes it seems like everyone else is doing so much better at all this than I am. I was talking to Dr. Burton about some of this and how I'm considering going to grad school for instructional psychology and technology (SURPRISE! In case you didn't know that). Whether or not I go to grad school will depend on several factors, but I've been considering it more seriously as of late. Anyway, Dr. Burton suggested I make a kind of online portfolio, a site where I can refer people like potential employers, graduate school admissions boards, and so on. So I thought about that for awhile, and today the sun broke out from behind the clouds in brilliant flashes of inspiration and I suddenly knew what I wanted to do.

So here it is--the vision for le blog as my online portfolio: the sum total, the conglomeration of my online presence. ME ONLINE. You get the idea.

The REAL Question Is...

It has been interesting to see how the way I structure my education has evolved over time. Over the past year, I have become less concerned about just "getting the grades" and more focused toward integrating, connecting, and applying my learning in meaningful contexts. So, as you might imagine, my goals for this semester revolve not around GPA, but involve some questions that have come to the forefront for me in recent weeks. So here are my big-picture questions, and my goal this semester is to begin to find some answers to them.