It was a pleasure for me to co-author today’s blog post with Donna Miller Fry. In this post, we share our amazing experiences with the OSSEMOOC: 30 days of learning in Ontario collaborative blogging project.
Enjoy reading our reflections [here].
~Mark
I had a chance to chat with Brandon Grasley at the end of the OTRK12 conference following the OSSEMOOC “Getting Connected” session. Somehow we got onto the topic of new social media users adapting to the “fire hose” information flow of services such as Twitter.
You can’t get caught up in reading endless material. One must become comfortable with jumping in and out as time permits. Information can be tailored to your interests by using dashboards such as tweetdeck to follow topics of interest.
I decided to put the “jump in” theory to test, so one morning this week I looked at my twitter dashboard to see what could be noted in just a couple of minutes.
SUCCESS !!!
… an insightful blog post
… a digital citizen/digital literacy tip
… and a PD opportunity
Excellent results for just a couple of minutes of reading I would say. Here are a few ways to “jump in” that work for me.
– breakfast & twitter – I enjoy an interesting read to start the day
– tea & twitter?
– a few minutes between meetings
– lunch break
– waiting in the car to pick up your kids
– standing in lineups
Well, you get the picture. Jump in when you can and leverage on the go connected learning .
~Mark
Note: My article for today is cross posted from OSSEMOOC: Day 1 of 30 days of learning.
I recently enjoyed a family trip to China in the context of “the journey home” for my adopted daughter. The trip in of itself was simply amazing. I enjoyed going back, seeing the changes and once again experiencing the culture in such an amazing and historic country.
Given the 1997 timing of my first trip we essentially survived on landline calling cards as public internet access and early versions of email were just springing up around the globe. On this 2014 trip, of course the internet as matured and there are many amazing and often free collaborative tools available, so in that sense the trip felt less isolated.
At the same time, I had a chance to experience the “internet culture” in a much more locked down and filtered government controlled environment. Tools that we celebrate, use and promote here in North America were simply not available. Most social media tools were not available including Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus. Of the Google suite of tools, only gmail and search were available and even these had seemingly limited use. Gmail seemed to respond very slowly and not all search result web links were actively available. I also noted the some, but not all, blogging sites were blocked. Facetime and Skype worked OK (band width dependent).
The notion of public free wifi as we experience here at locations such as McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s and Starbucks etc. was not wide spread. Yes, the wifi was free but you needed to text your phone number to a service in order to obtain an access code which would be texted back to you. This is a very different approach to walk in free access for any device culture that is enjoyed in North America.
Here in Canada, we are blessed with a very open culture and full access to a wide variety of web tools. The bottom line is YOU have a voice – and a choice of tools to use. Please do not take take this for granted. Leverage this privilege! Take time and make time to connect with other educators to develop your network and make your thinking visible by sharing your learnings and reflections. Ask questions, pose scenarios, collaborate. Give yourself a rich experience by starting a blog today!
Related Resources:
Reference 1: Perspective from the Wall
Reference 2: #OSSEMOOC 30 days of learning
~Mark
The On the Rise K12 conference is set to go for April 1/2 in Mississauga. There is an awesome lineup of workshops. Check out the Tuesday list and the Wednesday list.
Donna Fry and I will be there presenting about the OSSEMOOC project and also sharing the learning by live streaming some of the sessions. Video streams will be available [here] and/or [here] (you will need to sign up for a free account to watch). Some audio streams will be available at QueST Radio 1-14.
Watch the #otrk12 twitter stream for ‘on the fly’ details of which sessions will be streamed.
Enjoy the learning. Consider sharing your reflections by submitting an article to the OSSEMOOC 30 days of learning project.
~Mark
As we have travelled throughout the province this week, we have heard loud and clear that we need an easier entry point for our education leaders to start the connecting process.
Last Tuesday, connected leaders met to discuss how they became connected leaders – the catalyst that got them started. Here are some of the things we learned. Which of these do you need? Which of these can you bring to a leader you know to help them connect?
Educators are busy. Nobody disputes that! But could connecting actually make your life easier? YES IT CAN! You can pose a question on Twitter 24/7 and get an answer in minutes. We have heard many stories with this theme.
Learn to make time. Start with 15 minutes each day. Some of us do “Tea and Twitter”, some of us start…
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Last night I enjoyed the mobile learning session presented by Rob De Lorenzo as part of the OSSEMOOC professional learning series.
After the session I went the the chat transcript and picked out a few phrases that resonated with me. They are:
Which phrase(s) resonate with you? Why?
Now, an invitation, or perhaps a challenge depending on your viewpoint. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post or consider writing a blog of your own to share your thinking. If you choose to blog, please share a link to your post.
Additional Resources
Listen to the archived recording of Mobile Learning .
~Mark
Ed Camp Waterloo Region, held yesterday – Feb. 22, 2014, was an amazing day for many reasons. First off, a special thank you to organizers for arranging the day and bringing so many passionate educators together. Each of the sessions I attended had deep, meaningful and thought provoking discussion. I appreciated the openness of the educators who attended to share their thinking and insights with confidence.
The day also turned out to be a great example of connected learning. Many thanks to the educators who joined remotely and contributed to the discussion via twitter and text messages.
The day after a successful event like this always begs the question: So what next? I hope each of you will turn “what next?” into “what can I do?” Please consider:
Resources
Check out my Storify of EdCampWR tweets
Read Where to now? by Donna Fry
Join in the free professional connected learning with OSSEMOOC
Keep the learning going.
~Mark
Why not make your Saturday a great opportunity to learn. Would you like to learn from where ever you are? You just need an internet connection.
EdCampWR is happening Saturday Feb. 22 2014 at Ryerson PS. I will be attending in person and sharing my experience through video broadcasting of sessions and interviews.
Here is how you can learn virtually.
Learn more about Ed Camp Waterloo.
Sign up for a free account to access the video stream here.
Where to watch: click here.
Follow the Twitter conversation
Make it a great learning day!
~Mark
Once again the annual Educon event was an amazing learning experience. I decided to share a couple of learning points by bringing a few reflection points through this video.
On a another note, it was great to have a opportunity to try out Google Glasses too!!!
Happy pondering and learning.
Learning at Educon by @fryed
Follow the #educon Twitter channel
~Mark
~ Mark's Musings ~ blog.markwcarbone.ca 