Saturday, September 6, 2014

Pretension, Protection, Possibility, Profusion, Potentialities, Production, Pro Forma

Human Embryo Day 3
In the Connected Learning world, I am essentially an embryo, having made my first true foray into #CLMOOC this past summer.  The summer of 2013, I had tiptoed around #CLMOOC without really understanding it, and feeling like I could not contribute anything of value to such an amazing group of people.  Back then, I still felt some element of ego, and unthinkingly protected its ragged remnants.


Pic  kindly shared by Simon Ensor
This summer, I jumped in to Making Learning Connected, nearly ego-less.  I was first struck by the lack of pretension in what was being shared by CLMOOC-ers. It was a beautiful thing, to share one's process, messy as it was, torn at its edges, sometimes ripped right down its middle, and most of us (as coined - I think- by Terry Elliott) #flailers.  It became joyous to for me to join a community of self-professed flailers. Showing your vulnerability gives others the chance to feel comfortable sharing theirs, perhaps luring in some lurkers/samplers/watchers/observers/worriers in the process.  This is what CLMOOC-ers did for me - helped me feel connected to something much larger than "an online class."

Speaking of which, my prior experiences with online classes were comparable to boxed macaroni and cheese, with most of the Required Online Discussion Board postings filled with pro forma powdered cheese.  I craved Asiago and Pepper Jack, or at least real cheese of some kind, but instead faced postings as benign as imitation American.  I wasn't looking for pretension, or even brie, just something real to respond to.

Why were/are people so disengaged in these required online courses, the ones they are doing just for credit, just to maintain certification? Certainly time is an element, or rather lack of time.  But I think it is primarily a result of the combined crush of low expectations from the instructors pressed into complete lack of any awareness on the part of students that it can be different/better/fun.  In the last online class I took (Common Core Formative Assessment no less), I went so far as to put ridiculous titles on my Discussion Board posts just to try to engage people - titles like Pigs and Beer - basically I was yelling "Come over here!  Here, come see this! Connect!"  Results were meh. 

What I have seen in the weeks since CLMOOC ended is that CLMOOC did not end; the connected learning had a life of its own.  I have never been led down so many wormholes, rabbit holes, into so many thought tornadoes, never before jumped into ponds that were way deeper than I thought when I jumped in, found dark crannies and cracks in windows that delighted and confused and astonished me.....so much real cheese that I never even knew existed.  I had never before taken a class that I couldn't wait to engage with.

So my question is, what are the requisite conditions for such living-loving-learning to occur?  It feels often that this is a unique group of learners, these Connected Learning People, the curious, the intellectual, the profane, the questioners and answerers, the organizers and the break-apart-ish, the great writers and poor spellers and people who respond when you need them to as if they can read your mind.  

fulgurite (formed when lightning hits sand)
Basically, can this happen with any group of people?  And I know the answer is yes-at-some-level-or-another.  That's just not good enough for me.

Here's what I feel (I was going to say, "here's what I know") - it just seems that if anyone could get a glimpse of what true connected learning feels like, they would be converted instantly, as I was, like when lightning hits sand.  I was a fulgurite.  I was instantaneously melted and re-formed (reformed?) with  connected "roots or branching tube-like structures."  A true reformation.

Connected Learning, you leave me hungry for more.  How do we make this appetite go viral?

25 comments:

  1. Howdy and thanks for the really rich post! My immediate answer to your question is that no, I don't think the kind of magic that sometimes emerges in co-learning communities happens as easily in any kind of group. The common interest that draws a self-selected group together is a strong element. If any of the people in an emerging group had positive experiences with other people in the group in the past, I think that leavens the trust-dough a lot. I think there has to be a critical mass of lead learners who are willing to jump in -- as you have -- from the beginning, and start exploring, inquiring, connecting.

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    1. Hi Howard. My immediate reaction to your immediate answer is that I agree with you....and that for the instant that doesn't matter.

      My other reaction is that sometimes we get our attention fixed on apparent calm in the sea only to be hit by a wave.

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    2. An arrière-pensée, Simon? I think that critical mass has to be a critical mass for the energy of fusion to flash. Think Saul on the road to Damascus or Death on the road to Samarra.

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    3. I think uncritical mass will do for starters.

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    4. And, jumping in saying, yessirree, low expectations of instructors plus lack of awareness of what connections are possible, fruitful, on behalf of students leads to the generic mac-cheese in the white box experience. How do we capture the Saul on the Donkey (the bright flash that this course is DIFFERENT and you want to BE THERE) moment and put it at the outset to turn the generic into the unique and compelling?

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    5. Howard, I definitely know who you are! Thank you for taking the time to read my bloggish post. But primarily, thank you for continuing the food metaphors by mentioning leavening the trust dough. I agree with that dough comment in theory and am looking forward to seeing it through into its imminent reality asi get to work with the folks I have gotten to know thru CLMOOC. I see what you mean also about a self-selected group of people. There's not exactly a control group in these experiences. Love the phrase "critical mass of lead learners".....wondering what that proportion or number might be (but Terry will tell me not to think of it in those terms, and right he is....let the magic happen).

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    6. Andy, looking for your twitter handle but not finding it on your blog...anyway, this is a great question and an important one - "How do we capture the Saul on the Donkey (the bright flash that this course is DIFFERENT and you want to BE THERE) moment and put it at the outset to turn the generic into the unique and compelling?"
      And more importantly, how do we ensure that we do not disappoint and lead to more powdered cheese expectations, once people are in?

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    7. Simon, I am currently looking up arrière-pensée, to see if it helps me (thru Terry) to understand what you mean in your comment. Is the unexpected wave you are referring to the surprise of meaningful connection?

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    8. In my face-to-face classes of 20-30 learners, if I can get 3 lead learners, it can do the trick. In an online course like this, with hundreds of participants, a dozen lead learners are all you need. These are all either top of my head or seat of my pants (take your choice) estimates.

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    9. Thanks, Howard, that actually gives me a good visual.........as I turn the mathness into pictures.

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  2. (I'm not really unknown. I'm Howard Rheingold. But because of the diffferent logins for different online identities, it gets complicated).

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    1. I like that: "I am not really unknown" - are you sure?

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  3. What could I do but Zeega you? I Zeega-d you.
    http://zeega.com/167686
    :)
    Kevin

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    1. Good 'un Kevin. Short, sweet, spot on.

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    2. Kevin, I am honored to be Zeega-d! Wow, thanks and I like it a lot. The soundtrack is perfection. Great energy to match my cornball enthusiasm.

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  4. I am trying to be a bit lighter on my commenting footprint so I have provided a Diigo annotated link that fleshes out all my responses to this: https://diigo.com/0220tv

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  5. Susan. I think you are the nucleus of this course.

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    1. Simon, if that's the case, we better man the lifeboats or gain some electrons.

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  6. This is soooo sooo beautiful Susan. I'm taking some time to absorb it, but I kept saying Yes YES YES out loud as I read it. So beautiful. I agree totally "if anyone could get a glimpse of what true connected learning feels like, they would be converted instantly, as I was, like when lightning hits sand."

    I am starting to have a feeling that everyone's first fully-engaged cMOOC experience becomes something special in their heart. So for me that was rhizo14 and I felt as you felt about the vulnerability, the people, the amazingness of it all and wondering why all learning is not like that... and that's why I want to do this metaMOOC research thing. and the rhizo14 collaborative autoethnography thing - I want to know how these experiences happen to people so that I can help more people experience them and the joy of learning... will share your blogpost with my work colleagues!!! I'll let you know via twitter if I get a pulse ;)

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    1. Maha, you have inspired me so many times. Thank you for reading this. Based on my limited experience, I would have to say that one's "first fully-engaged cMOOC experience becomes something special." Indeed. But I also think it sets the stage for what Howard called the leavening of the trust dough. How much further can we go, now that the requisite initial uncomfortability has been sand-blasted off? That is what excites me. I envy your research on cMOOCS. Can't wait to read more about it.

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  7. Wow, I go off the grid for the day to absorb some outside-ness and come back to all of these wonderful comments. I'm a bit overwhelmed, as I am just a simple androgyne who loves vegetables and posts cat videos on the internet. More feedback to follow!

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    1. We are never just...particularly with ourselves

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  8. I love boxed mac and cheese. (In fact, I'm fiercely brand-loyal to Kraft.) It's what I grew up on, it's familiar and soothing to me. Restaurant and home-made macaroni and cheese dishes often leave me feeling a little left out. They're perfectly nice dishes, of course, and they speak of someone's life and aesthetic in a way which deserves respect - but they're not "mac-and-cheesy" enough for me.

    But a few months back, at The Raven Club in Ann Arbor, I had mac-and-cheese which was revelatory. It tasted like the chef had seen me coming in, read my mind, and said "I know what you like, but this is what that _could_ taste like." It was authentic to my memories, while every ingredient was kicked up a notch.

    Why am I worrying this poor innocent metaphor to death? Because this speaks to something I'm trying to do in leading a #ccourses cohort at my institution. I, and a couple of other people, want to conduct grand experiments. We want to push at the pedagogical and technical boundaries. At the same time, we've got people who want to go slower. They want to ponder, pick and choose the pieces which integrate with their existing pedagogy. And my role, as a lead learner, is to find a way to bridge those camps. Everyone wants a taste of something familiar, it's just about figuring out what's familiar enough.

    Thanks for the wonderful piece!

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