Lisa has posted an important one on Revamping a MOOC http://lisahistory.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/course-recommendations-revamping-a-mooc/
I found her post so inspiring that I would like to respond to it here:
Hi Lisa,
This is an interesting debate. I appreciate your, Bob’s and Jenny’s points on the course on restructuring and other comments.
My point is: It’s really difficult to have a black or white strategy under connectivism – is it duality or plurality? Are there any grey areas?
As mentioned by Jenny, a fully learner centered approach could be complex and chaotic. I have used that in my on-the-job training and assessment in Distribution Centre Training. Every learner becomes a leader. They decide what, how, when, where and why they would like to learn them, all on an individual basis. Every learning experience would be based on their needs, not mine. I could be the guide on the side…
So, what make sense to the learner may not be what the instructor wants to do. And whether connectivism could really achieve this would depend on the learning paradigm adopted by the learner, not only the teacher.
For me, I take the stance of a learner (while I am a teacher by profession). But I may not be connected to others, as others may be avoiding me as I am a “teacher”. These are just my speculation. With the same token, George and even Stephen took a stand-off role in some ways, to let go of the teacher’s hat. But, what are the reactions of the participants? It’s a complex and emergent situation. A structured course like this will suit someone like you, perhaps. But, again under connectivism, a network or community of practice will suit a bigger “audience”. Are we having the “right” audience or participants for this course? Are we having the “learner centred” approach to “teaching and learning”? This experiment has revealed part of the emergent phenomena. Does it mean that we have to become “true” learners to appreciate connectivism? Would you mind me including everyone, you, Jenny and me as true learners? I am not sure whether Stephen and George would agree. ??
Cheers.
Learner Weblog 