Sail’s Pedagogy

Self-Diagnostic exercise A.I am your friend. I don’t work in education. You are talking to me about the idea that we all learn from each other, in all kinds of contexts, and that this can often be richer than more formal classroom based learning. I am skeptical. Tell me about an informal learning experience you have had online in which collaboration was involved, show me a concrete example to help me to see what you mean. Since I teach online, online collaboration and informal learning very much a part of own class where it is actually part of the curriculum. My class, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skill Development in Technology Environments is about how the internet and Web 2.0 tools affects our lives. We are now communicating and collaborating in new ways and learning using new tools. Online collaboration is also part of what makes me a good online teacher. I use many tools to connect to my students, Wimba, email, iChat, Skype and Second Life. They can text me, chat with me thought audio, see me with video and meet me in Second Life. By giving my students many options, they can choose which best fits there needs. If it is a quick question, then it is usually texting in iChat or Skype, but if it is more of serious, such as not understanding an assignment, then usually voice or video is better. We learn by making connections with others and forming networks. I am also in the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (CCKO8) being given by Stephen Downs and George Siemens. This has been a very interesting experience. Learning is the process of creating connections and developing a network.

Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing. Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical. (George Siemans, 2005)

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B. We all explore new technologies, some grab our attention more than others, some seem revolutionary, others simply bore us. Tell us about that new tool, or set of tools, you have just discovered that really excites you, talk about the potential it has to change your work. What do you want to do with it?  The first has got to be Second Life. I have never been what they call a “gamer”. I started Second Life when I started this position at Full Sail University. My boss, Dr. Ludgate wanted Second Life incorporated in this Masters of Education program. It has been a huge success. Most of our students have never heard about Second Life so it is a new experience. I start the students in SL, they will do 3 more projects. We have plans for the University to have an Island soon and I can’t wait. I want to start learning to build, and created more interactivity in SL for our program. I have been using many of the Web 2.0 to tools for a couple of years and use Facebook, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and many more. For communication I use Wimba, Skype and iChat. This way I can keep in touch with my students and it is much faster than email. They can see when I am online and if they have questions, they they can text, audio or video me. Another is the Mac and all of the iWeb applications (Pages, Keynote, iWeb and iMovie). I feel this all make it easy for anyone to create a multimedia project.

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C. Do you see yourself as a pioneer? Do you think you are more innovative than others in your organization? Do you think your organization is lagging behind? Tell us how you feel about this?  Full Sail University where I work at is very innovative. I do not feel I am any more innovated than my peers. We all have our own unique personalities, experiences and skills. I do attempt new things, so I could say I am a pioneer, but I am not necessary the first to experiment. I have done many new things since I started this position almost a year ago today. I love to attempt new things, love to learn, and have experiences of any kinds. In many ways I feel like I have lived many lifetimes in one. I am older now and slowing down, but I will never stop learning. [http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age], International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Vol. 2 No. 1, Jan 2005