Global Connections (Credit: Google images)
Options start with a good teacher. Allt börjar med en bra lärare.
Dreams start with a good teacher. Allt börjar med en bra lärare.
I was visiting the blog of a #CCK11 course member, five minutes ago. Her name is Linn Gustavsson. She lives in Sweden, and she’s a teacher, like me.
We are both members of the Facebook PLN, CCK11. We are both participating in the CCK11 course, and we hope to take away valuable learning experiences, and insights, for our personal benefit, and for our students’ benefit.
Connectivism allows us to do this.
Linn was a bit behind, and so she invested a little time, trying to find a path that would lead her to a sense of having “caught up”. That path led her to me.
The interesting thing, is not the fact that she found me, but the way in which she used her knowledge of constructivism to achieve her desired result, namely an efficient investment of her valuable time.
You see, Linn, being the lovely lady that she is, inside and out, also has to juggle being my classmate in #CCK11 with the competing interests of being wife, mother, and cat owner. This is in addition to being a dedicated, motivated teacher for her students. How does she do all that?
Oh, I digress. By now, you must know that my point is the brilliance that Linn showed in using her limited time. Let’s allow her to explain how she did it, in her own words.
Wordle (Credit: Lin Gustavsson)
Linn: “I have been unfocused for the last two weeks of CCK11. I have followed the facebook group only. Now, I have decided to spend about one hour on catching up. What was discussed the past two weeks?”
Thomas: Thanks Linn. (me looking directly in the camera – at you – dear reader) My friends, what would you do? How do you catch up on two weeks of a course that is moving at supersonic speed? Let me share with you my answer now, dear reader(s) and friend(s): I don’t have a clue. I’d give up and wait for CCK12. Try again next year. 🙂
Linn: Not me Thomas. It’s easy if you know what to do. Let me tell you how to do it.
Thomas: I’m so happy you are in my PLN. You live in Sweden, and I live in Chile. Without connectivism, I’m lost, waiting for next year, CCK12. But with you and me in the same PLN, I can learn from you how to deal with learning when one is behind. Now, I know you are not going to tell me you started reading and watching videos, because this only took you an hour.
Linn: (smiling) Relax Thomas. Let me tell you my story.
Thomas: OK Linn.
Linn: Thomas, just be quiet and listen, please. 🙂
Thomas: My lips are sealed. 🙂
Linn: (ignoring me) 🙂
First, I made a word cloud of all the CCK11 blogposts, using Wordle word cloud generator. I noticed “Profesorbaker” appeared often next to “networks”.
Networks and Profesorbake appears (Credit: Linn Gustavsson)
Thomas: So, you had been aggregating, or collecting course material. Aggregation means you did nothing, everything came to you. I do that too, using Google Reader RSS feed, and then there’s the Stephen Downes Daily, and the GRSShopper course feed, and the CCK11 course Twitter newspaper, so, yes, we do the same thing Linn.
So, this is Principle 1: Aggregate.
Linn: Yes.
Thomas: Then you remixed your aggregated information, in a word cloud, with a new purpose in mind. You re-purposed this to catch-up on what had been going on in the course, to update your knowledge, and then move forward, without having to spend a lot of time on past material.
Linn: Yes.
Thomas: Principle 2: Remix.
Linn: Yes.
Thomas: Principle 3: Repurpose.
Linn: Yes.
Thomas: Linn, tell me something. Did all this take you an hour to do?
Linn: (smiling) No, this took 5 minutes to do.
Thomas: What else did you do?
Linn: Next, I used the Twitter TweetCloud. Again, your name came up.
Twittercloud - profesorbaker appears again (Credit: Linn Gustavsson)
Thomas: Interesting. Anything else?
Linn: Yes, after that I used the MOOC Touchgraph to get a visual of the course. Again, you came up.
Touchgraph - profesorbaker (Credit: Linn Gustavsson)
Thomas: Very interesting. Anything else?
Linn: Yes, I used Mentionmap for the CCK Twitter account. When you came up again, with some strong lines, I knew that…
Mentionmap - profesorbaker (Credit: Linn Gustavsson)
Thomas: (interrupting) Thanks Linn. You’ve been really great today. I’m going to recap here.
1. Aggregate
2. Remix
3. Repurpose
4. Feed it forward (Share)
Linn: But Tom, we haven’t shared the conclusion, the final part of my story yet.
Tom: Linn, let’s let the reader(s), if they really want to find out what you did next, well, let’s let them go to your blog to get the “Rest of the Story”.
Linn: 🙂 Sure Tom. I’ll be there waiting for anyone who stops by to read my blog.
Thomas: Thanks Linn, for sharing your story with me here. Connectivism is really powerful, and you demonstrated its power today, with your connectivist story. Have a wonderful evening, and give my regards to your lovely family. Pleasant dreams to all.
Linn: Bye, Tom.
Tom: By the way: “Allt börjar med en bra lärare”. 🙂
Linn: 🙂 Allt börjar med en bra lärare.
Tom: Enjoy the video…
Best regards,
Thomas
profesorbaker
Profesorbaker's Worldwide Bilingual Blog 
So many Swedish words here in your blog. I feel at home:) Nice of you to write about me. Great to have as a classmate.
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Hi Linn,
You are welcome. Your story is a lovely one. Thank you for being generous with your knowledge. I will stop by often to read your writing, you are a brilliant teacher. I mean that sincerely, and surely after seeing how you played, “catch-up”, no one will disagree with me.
Nice to have you for a friend,
Your friend and colleague in Chile,
Thomas
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