REMOVE ME
McKee, Christopher
Chris McKee
Medical Illustrator
From: edu...@googlegroups.com [mailto:edu...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of edumooc...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2011 9:57 PM
To: Digest Recipients
Subject: [eduMOOC] Digest for edu...@googlegroups.com - 3 Messages in 2 Topics
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/topics
- Please help edit the Wikipedia article on MOOCs (before it disappears) [2 Updates]
- Blogs on Weekly Topics [1 Update]
Lisa M Lane <lisah...@gmail.com> Jul 30 10:09PM -0700 ^
This is the only thing I'm doing that's connected to the eduMOOC right
now, so I won't so much as "move on" and do something else for awhile
and come back later.
If it's an encyclopedia, we should get as close as we can to defining
not only MOOC but the major issues surrounding the idea. I don't think
it's about how it's perceived so much as how it's set up, which is why
I started to focus on pedagogy. But I don't have enough information
about the systems and pedagogy used in the more recent MOOCs -- that's
where more is needed. The research that's surrounding it might be its
own category.
I'm not at all sure about "founders". In fact, putting Alec Couros as
a "pre-MOOC" person doesn't sit well with me; I may change it to Early
MOOCs. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm a historian that has been
shying away from "first"s! :-)
Lisa
Scott HJ <scot...@gmail.com> Jul 31 10:38AM -0700 ^
You are right about the ideas behind MOOCs and the issues. I tend to
focus on ideas being locked to the people who introduced them which I
guess is closer to an historical approach? (Or a People's magazine
approach).
Have notes on PLENK2010 and the introduction page <http://
connect.downes.ca/how.htm> has the 4 major points of activity that
speak to how the course was set up.
Aggregate
Re-Mix
Re-Purpose
Feed Forward
All these look like higher order learning strategies that go beyond
absorbing to interpretation and creation of new ideas.
This also might be useful: Review of e-learning theories, frameworks
and models
<http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Stage%202%20Learning%20Models
%20(Version%201).pdf>
And a blog that started giant discussion in class: <http://
jennymackness.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/attacks-on-connectivism/>
We are a bit up against there being minimal "support" for Connectivism
in the form of actual field studies--or even if it qualifies as a
theory <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory> which is a big stumbling
block in making claims about MOOCs.
I wonder if it's possible to decouple MOOCs from Connectivism? Is it
the only "theory" by which to create, operate, monitor and interpret
what is occuring in a MOOC? My view of the purpose behind MOOCs and
how they are constructed is that they are at the in-progress stage.
Commentary is still 99% speculation based on casual observation rather
than hard data. This makes it really difficult to define them--not
impossible, just difficult.
Glad you are keeping at this. There seems to be a sense that based on
the outer appearance of chaos that MOOCs are unknowable or without
purpose. That makes studying them all the more interesting.
Going to have a look at systems theory and large group dynamics. Might
be something useful there.
Scott
Topic: Blogs on Weekly Topics
Anil <aple...@gmail.com> Jul 31 09:33AM -0700 ^
Hi friends,
See my blog for the fifth week: Public, Private & Open - Online
Learning at
http://apletters.blogspot.com/2011/07/edumooc-public-private-open-online.html
Warm regards,
Anil
http://www.apletters.blogspot.com
http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Anil_Prasad
Mark Crawford
----- Original Message -----
From: edumooc...@googlegroups.com
To: "Digest Recipients" <edumooc...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 9:05:28 PM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
Subject: [eduMOOC] Digest for edu...@googlegroups.com - 24 Messages in 8 Topics
=============================================================================
Today's Topic Summary
=============================================================================
Group: edu...@googlegroups.com
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/topics
- ANNOUNCEMENTs - Please post within threads or create new thread in Google Groups ... and more [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/7d2dca0593c09e16
- Please help edit the Wikipedia article on MOOCs (before it disappears) [7 Updates]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/ca7108c0c764b9aa
- Week 5 - Learning Objectives - Open Education and MOOCing [9 Updates]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/602e0e9d24af42a
- Computable Document Format.(CDF): new interactive document format [3 Updates]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/a0e4bd4a2612a211
- Shirley Gossack, Manager Student Engagement/ LA&PS is out of the Office. [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/beb0501fb9f1df16
- Popplet organizing other Wiki-to-Speech, Etherpad and Popplet content [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/ec1a7dacda45fb7a
- Mobile learning--International Projects [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/3d5a77e962f8d213
- E-learning – E is for Ellie! [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/30629ebcfac61777
=============================================================================
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENTs - Please post within threads or create new thread in Google Groups ... and more
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/7d2dca0593c09e16
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: Rob Darrow <robda...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 08:01PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/f6c33e138c15e4bd
Nice interview of Ray Schroeder about the EduMooc by Curt Bonk. Read
it here: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2011/07/edumooc-on-loose-interview-with-ray.html
=============================================================================
Topic: Please help edit the Wikipedia article on MOOCs (before it disappears)
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/ca7108c0c764b9aa
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 7 ----------
From: Maria Droujkova <drou...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 28 09:32PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/7a64acd26526e779
Scott,
If you press the "edit" button on that page, the syntax will be pretty
obvious - just format parts as other parts are formatted. I see
several groups discussing or editing pieces on forums before posting
to Wikipedia, so posting a piece here for example would be
appropriate, I think.
Ignatia, thanks for the links! I will edit in the next few days.
"Marked for deletion" means you need to improve the article within the
seven days. I removed "marked for deletion" after improving the
article somewhat, with at least a couple of references, and someone
else adding a good piece to the introduction. Let's see what happens.
---------- 2 of 7 ----------
From: Lisa M Lane <lisah...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 28 10:27PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/bc9a7f52758e742e
I am dearly hoping this is not somehow my fault. About a week ago, I
was trying to link a tutorial to a definition of a MOOC, and found the
Wikipedia page on Massive open online course. The page had been
sitting there with very little on it, and I joked to Dave Cormier in
Twitter that someone ought to do something. He suggested I had just
volunteered, so I got an account and went in and started adding the
names of some of the instructors of the MOOCs I had been in. You can
see me in the History.
I wonder if the activity somehow alerted someone.
It needs to be vastly expanded, not removed, linked to the term MOOC
for disambiguation, and also Massive Open Online Course. I am very
very new to Wikipedia.
Lisa
---------- 3 of 7 ----------
From: Scott HJ <scot...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 02:56PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/ce82a0acbe820fe0
Lisa, if you hadn't spoken up the incompleteness would have driven it
off the web anyway and that would have been a big loss. So thanks for
getting us started and rescuing history from deletion!
Is there a direct link between connectivism and MOOCs? The Wikipedia
page
on Networked Learning >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Networked_learning<
says yes and I'll see if I can locate a non-Wikipedia reference.
More later.
Scott
---------- 4 of 7 ----------
From: Lisa M Lane <lisah...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 04:05PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/c62b5dd4ab9387c1
Scott, the main connection between connectivism and MOOCs is that the
first named MOOC was on this topic.
The announcement for the 2008 MOOC is still here: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism/?p=53
. This shows the coining of the name.
Is that the kind of thing that makes an acceptable source?
Lisa
---------- 5 of 7 ----------
From: Lisa M Lane <lisah...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 04:21PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/ca3350a86c950092
I have added more to 2008, which I was in from the beginning. Added
Fini's study. Obviously, we need more....
---------- 6 of 7 ----------
From: Lisa M Lane <lisah...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 04:48PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/b490e6dc89d91761
OK, I've done more with EC&I, added more references, linked from both
"connectivism" and "networked learning".
---------- 7 of 7 ----------
From: Scott HJ <scot...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 05:31PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/c9d577cf6dfa467
That's great searching Lisa. I think the page you referenced is an
excellent source. Suppose we could dig around the U of M campus and
see if there was a bronze plaque issued at the time;-)
I was going to use the U of M sponsored CCK11 as an example of a MOOC
that had tuition paying student particapation as a means of breaking
the notion that MOOCs need to be "free" to function. I'll also have a
look at the details on Bryan Alexander for more background. Did you
take the 2008 MOOC as a formal course?
Scott
=============================================================================
Topic: Week 5 - Learning Objectives - Open Education and MOOCing
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/602e0e9d24af42a
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 9 ----------
From: Anil <aple...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 28 08:55PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/41b4d08a32b5c9cb
Hi Apostolos,
Great initiative! See a wikieducator experiment at
http://wikieducator.org/Qualification_Framework
Warm regards
---------- 2 of 9 ----------
From: Scott HJ <scot...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 28 10:52PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/73fe12ae258e1762
Rather than struggling to find an application for open education and
then
spending hours listing all the places where it fails at every measure,
I'm
interested in openness as a quality that informs an educational
environment.
How we define an "open" approach or attitude that has purpose, some
sort of
goal setting and an expectation of presence through participation and
visible contribution? I feel I'm falling short of understanding
openness
when I measure it only by where it can't be used.
Rebecca, understand your concern over the sustainability of MOOCs
when
sponsoring them has real costs. I paid tuition and received credit for
CCK11
through the U of Manitoba and felt perfectly comfortable to be
surrounded by
fellow learners who were there at no cost. I honestly don't believe
the
quality was diminished by having so many non-tuition students with no
declared "purpose" for being there. In fact, the level of presence may
have
been enhanced by having traditional power structures broken down.
My MOOC-for-credit experience may not translate into points on a
resume
(though it does count towards a certificate in emerging technologies).
That
said, the learning in a unique atmosphere was certainly worth paying
for in
effort and money.
Scott
---------- 3 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 12:32AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/4dcaa379665e46c
Indeed. I'm being both speculative and provocative suggesting that courses
might go away. But horses went away (at least as a major means of
transport) when a mechanized alternative came along, so why not courses? I
just wouldn't want to miss the on-line learning train ...
---------- 4 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 12:42AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/a9b57b9d7aa3774a
I would point you to stackoverflow.com as a model for sustainable,
crowd-sourced open learning / knowledge exchange. The customers are ... wow,
$6 million dollars of investment means much more than that in revenue ... I
had not actually looked into this before. Do you know of any *schools* which
have grown to have 19 million students within 3 years?
http://stackexchange.com/about
What’s the story behind Stack Exchange?
In 2008, Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky created a site called Stack Overflow<http://stackoverflow.com>and brought together millions of computer programmers from around the world
to help each other with detailed technical questions. That site was a
phenomenal success, so, after securing a $6 million investment from Union
Square Ventures, they created the Stack Exchange Network and started
launching new sites in August of 2010. There are now 57 separate sites and
over 19 million unique visitors (as of January, 2011) —and growing!
---------- 5 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 02:47AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/f13414362f481f8a
Here is a link to a video of a 2009 talk by Glyn Moody<http://2009.r2.co.nz/20100118/50350.htm> at
an open source software conference.
---------- 6 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 02:55AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/48ea7cf854ddc417
On further investigation, this analogy is really offensive. I did NOT mean
to imply that the s**t is piling up:
From Horse Power to Horsepower
http://www.uctc.net/access/30/Access%2030%20-%2002%20-%20Horse%20Power.pdf
"Enticed by high speeds, point-to-point travel and the flexibility to roam
across the
urban landscape, the public adopted the new innovation in droves.
Contemporary
observers calculated that cars were cheaper to own and operate than
horse-drawn
vehicles, both for the individual and for society. In 1900, 4,192 cars were
sold in the US;
by 1912 that number had risen to 356,000. In 1912, traffic counts in New York
showed
more cars than horses for the first time. The equine was not replaced all at
once, but
function by function. Freight haulage was the last bastion of horse-drawn
transportation;
the motorized truck finally supplanted the horse cart in the 1920s."
---------- 7 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 03:08AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/725af92a7677914e
Although student loan debt<http://www.credit.com/blog/2010/08/student-loan-debt-passes-credit-card-debt-830-billion/> is
apparently piling up out of control! Yikes! Perhaps the "cheaper to own and
operate" lesson from the horse-to-car transition carries a lesson for the
classroom-to-on-line-learning transition after all ...
... and just as we now have 10x the number of cars per capita as we had
horses per capita, perhaps in a world of on-line learning we'll have 10x as
much learning as in the classroom learning era.
---------- 8 of 9 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 03:21AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/ab093fa907cefd5
Here's a quicker one. Glyn Moody and panel on YouTube, Jan 7, 2011: Roundtable
- Open Democracy: redefining democracy? chaired by Glyn Moody, Technology
Writer <http://youtu.be/3bdCPnt2Yeo>
---------- 9 of 9 ----------
From: Scott HJ <scot...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 05:05PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/87b93ea75773acb6
Thanks John, the video is quite good at explaining openness as a
social value and equalizer. My first thought about the introduction of
open courses within traditional institutions was how would grad
students who had committed themselves to huge student loan loans feel
about "sharing" classroom space with non-tuition paying "open"
students? Would they feel cheated or devalued? Played for fools by the
system for paying where others ride for free? Shows how far the notion
of education being a commodity has drilled into my consciousness. Or
maybe the notion of education as a value has moved from a public value
to private advantage as in society needs doctors and somehow it's been
decided that doctors need BMW's and country club memberships and it is
the duty of society to provide these perks by restricting access to
medical education through high tuition and this whole mechanism has
just happened and now we can't but understand the purpose of learning
as a means to a higher income first, last and always?
Found a quote in "A Pattern Language" 1977 Christopher Alexander under
the heading Network of Learning:
“...another network, not physical like transportation, but conceptual,
and equal in importance, is the network of learning: the thousands of
interconnected situations that occur all over the city, and which in
fact comprise the city’s “curriculum”: the way of life it teaches its
young.”
This suggests to me that openness is a natural consequence of human
activity. It doesn't have to be free, most activities carry an
expectation of reward. But at the same time most activities need to be
practiced in the open in some form or they would disappear... Better
stop here. Thanks for the link.
Scott
=============================================================================
Topic: Computable Document Format.(CDF): new interactive document format
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/a0e4bd4a2612a211
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 3 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 06:50AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/6a9b361f083c02e3
Computable Document Format.
This revolutionizes the experience of reading.
Watch the presentation at http://www.wolfram.com/broadcast/screencasts/announcing_cdf/
---------- 2 of 3 ----------
From: Mary Rearick <mlre...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 10:46AM -0400
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/35120ffb9c632f4e
Oh, wow, this is very well done. Thanks for sharing it in the edumooc.
On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 9:50 AM, John Graves
---------- 3 of 3 ----------
From: john stampe <jwst...@yahoo.com>
Date: Jul 29 01:08PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/25ca8d6915f0acfb
Interesting. On doing some searching I found these out: currently the
only way to produce cdf is to use Mathematica - a well-known closed-
source mathematics program -- by Wolfram, the same people who propose
cdf.
The cdf reader program is a stripped down version of mathematica.
According to Wolfram this is because it needs the computational power
of mathematica. It sound as though cdf requires a rather heavyweight
reader. Indeed to write a cdf document you need to be able to at the
level of using spreadsheet macros (again according to Wolfram).
The format is supposed to be open, but I (and others) cannot find the
specifications. It is also licensed so that it can be used for
commerical use.
Some further links:
FAQ: http://www.wolfram.com/cdf/faq/
See Comments on
http://blog.wolfram.com/2011/07/21/launching-the-computable-document-format-cdf-dont-compress-the-idea-expand-the-medium/
License: http://www.wolfram.com/cdf/adopting-cdf/licensing-options.html
> Computable Document Format.
> This revolutionizes the experience of reading.
> Watch the presentation athttp://www.wolfram.com/broadcast/screencasts/announcing_cdf/
On Jul 29, 9:46 pm, Mary Rearick <mlrear...@gmail.com> wrote:
=============================================================================
Topic: Shirley Gossack, Manager Student Engagement/ LA&PS is out of the Office.
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/beb0501fb9f1df16
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: Shirley Gossack <sgos...@yorku.ca>
Date: Jul 29 04:05PM -0400
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/2694388440c7e09
I will be out of the office starting 07/29/2011 and will not return until
08/16/2011.
If you require immediate assistance please contact:
Telephone: 416 736 5870
Email: myce...@yorku.ca
Website: www.yorku.ca/laps
=============================================================================
Topic: Popplet organizing other Wiki-to-Speech, Etherpad and Popplet content
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/ec1a7dacda45fb7a
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 06:11AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/72c85e8b8425b355
I think the key transformational aspect in presentation or ebook technology
is the collaborative aspect. This is where Wikipedia stands out from *Encyclopædia
Britannica <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica>*. Had
you picked up the fact that Wikipedia now has *25 times* as much content?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_comparisons#Paper_encyclopedias
Here is an example of a PDF book that gets rebuilt every night based on
reader feedback:
http://book.seaside.st/book/introduction/online-book
=============================================================================
Topic: Mobile learning--International Projects
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/3d5a77e962f8d213
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: John Graves <john.grav...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 12:27AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/2a10b4947cf3e84a
Some mobile phone companies are already aiming specifically at older users
with customized products. For example,
http://www.doro.com/
=============================================================================
Topic: E-learning – E is for Ellie!
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/t/30629ebcfac61777
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: Vanessa <vaness...@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 29 06:04AM
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/edumooc/msg/5759eb3b9fc4bbda
elephants, elearning, social learning, learning communities, moocs and
lurkers
Sent to you by Vanessa via Google Reader: E-learning – E is for Ellie!
via Nic's Insights - Communities at Work by Nic Laycock on 7/28/11
Elephant that is!
1997 in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania and our guide pulls our
Land Rover up close to a small group of elephants. Sheltered in the
middle of them, his mum and Aunties, is a tiny baby – all 200 and some
pounds of him. We are warned that we are too close and may need to pull
out quickly, but can stay and watch until Mummy and the Aunties show
signs of restiveness. They watch carefully and protectively as we sit
still, admiring their size and the bizarre sight of the little one, so
young he has no real control over the un-coordinated tube will one day
be his incredible, sensitive trunk.
The group seem to relax, able to cope with newcomers lurking on the
edge of their circle. Emboldened, the little guy suddenly scutters out
from under his Mum and between his aunties, makes a noise that in years
to come will become the terrifying sound of an angry giant trumpeting a
warning – but today sounds a comic and inconsequential squawk – then
rushes back to the security of the family and the guidance of his
elders. Secure in the knowledge of the caring adult community around
him, the little fellow had made one of his first forays into the world
of being the herd male (a mantle he would not assume for maybe 20
years)– and had clearly established a distance between us.
Do our learning communities offer that same security for people within
them to experiment, secure, supported, and with other more experienced
members ready to share their knowledge, encourage the learning and
above all provide a safe environment for experimentation?
2009, Thula Thula Gme Reserve, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, and on my
wife’s and my very last trip to the bush before we returned to England
after 17 wonderful years in Africa, we sit on another Land Rover
watching a small family of elephants that have been brought back from
the threat of culling by Lawrence Anthony, a remarkable man known as
the Elephant Whisperer (The Elephant Whisperer - Lawrence Anthony ISBN
978-0-330-50668-7). Rogue, violent, unpredictable and dangerous,
Lawrence patience over nearly a decade had given Nan the matriarch and
the group a confidence and a security to lead a natural and peaceful
life. Again we were warned about needing to move quickly if Mabula, the
dominant bull, still scarred by his early life where he had seen his
parents and siblings shot, decided we were too close or threatened him
in some way. The fact that we were there at all was a consequence of
the Elephant Whisperer’s patience in learning about his client, winning
their confidence, providing a supportive environment and being involved
in their lives as the tiny herd learned that there was a life beyond
trauma and abuse.
What lessons are there for our L&D practitioners in Lawrence Anthony’s
remarkable success? He learned to “read” them as a group and as
individuals – spending countless hours with them, observing, listening,
interpreting, and eventually being able to respond by his actions to
what he came to understand of their language. It was at that point he
became able to truly help them to become a new, secure and strong
breeding unit. How able are we as learning practitioners, using the new
languages and environments of our technology enabled world, to get
close to our clients and to interpret to them and give them security in
the new networked and collaborative world so that they can take
advantage of the opportunities for learning that it offers?
March 2011, Pilanesburg National Park, South Africa, and I stand early
on a cold morning with Jane Hart, clutching a cup of hot coffee,
looking out over the waterhole at our lodge, captivated by a large herd
of elephants coming to have a drink. On the fringe is a young bull,
already becoming some kind of threat to the group, so distanced but
allowed to remain close for his own security. He jousts with one of his
erstwhile playmates, entwining trunks, jabbing with his forming tusks,
butting heads, until the matriarch of the herd decides he is getting
too familiar and gently but firmly intervenes and pushes him again to
the fringes. One day, in years to come he will return to the herd as
its dominant bull, responsible for the succession of the herd.
In the middle of the group a youngster is having difficulty climbing
over the dam wall that contains the waterhole. Both front feet on the
top, he raises one back foot but then cannot get up completely. Mum
gently puts a supportive trunk behind him and gives him an encouraging
heave – he still does not make it. He calls, she tries again but
success eludes the little one. Mum moves a few metres away and the
little guy struggles once more, secure in the knowledge that his
experimentation is only going to meet with encouragement and that when
the herd leaves he will not be left behind. Next time he will receive
the same support as he gathers strength and seeks to learn.
Is that a characteristic of our online learning communities that we
care enough for the fringe members to give them security while they
find their strength to eventually participate fully – perhaps as
thought leaders one day? Are we aware enough of those in our
communities who are struggling a bit – maybe it’s the technology, maybe
it’s that they just don’t get it yet, maybe they are being blocked by
something or someone in another circle about which we know nothing?
A fellow guest on that occasion, on her first trip to the bush and
after a drive during which we had seen little, asked me when was a good
time to come to the bush? As we stood entranced watching the herd and
their learning community in action - my response was “now is a good
time”. Are we interested and excited enough by our businesses and the
people who work in them to watch, listen, learn and then give back
through our encouragement, knowledge of the technology and desire for
the strength of everyone in the community? The elephant herd depends on
it – it is the way of learning!
Social learning is about giving and receiving – building a strength of
community at which others will gaze in awe at its power – but will not
be afraid to seek to participate themselves
(Thanks to Jane Hart – who later that day said to me “e” is for
ellie-learning!)
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