Identity, Networks, & Connected Learning
Dr. Alec Couros Desire2Learn Fusion Boston, Massachusetts July 17, 2013

#d2lfusion

me

The Blur

professional identity

open boundary courses

~2000 participants from
~70 countries

personal identity

Photo-A-Day Project

change

the way we were ...

Gaming

Mobile Gaming

Multi-Player Gaming

Music Piracy

System Upgrade

Media Personalization

Troubleshooting

Publishing

“The Complete Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia”

our current context ...

atoms <---> bits scarcity <--->
abundance consuming <---> creating standardization <---> personalization individuals <---> networks significant shifts in media

Convergence
Ubiquity

i. tools

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alainbachellier/2572801898/in/photostream/ "To immortalize this moment,
the girl seems to forget the original pleasure."

ii. content

Instruction Practice Independent Study Public
Performance

George Siemens • “Informal learning
is a significant aspect of our learning experience. Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning.” • Informal Learning http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

iii. networks

NOT WHAT’S
IMPORTANT

Six Degrees of Separation “the
idea that everyone is on average six steps away, by way of introduction, from another person in the world.”

Strength of Weak Ties “There
is strength in weak ties. Our acquaintances, not our friends, are potentially our greatest source of new ideas and information.” (paraphrased from Gladwell, 2010)

Where Good Ideas Come From
“The trick to having good ideas is not to sit around in glorious isolation and try to think big thoughts. The trick is to get more parts on the table.” (Steven Johnson, 2010)

networks provide ... 1. affordances:
enable communication, collaboration & cooperation in ways that were once impossible with people who were once unreachable. 2. ideas/inspiration: connect us to new ideas & expand our thinking & potential for innovation. * ‘us’ meaning those who have access.

iv. participatory culture

how do we capture the
spirit of open, networked & participatory communities in our learning environments?

Open & Connected Learning

21st Century Learning Networks

“To answer your question, I
did use Youtube to learn how to dance. I consider it my ‘main’ teacher.” “10 years ago, street dance was very exclusive, especially rare dances like popping (the one I teach and do). You either had to learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS tapes which were hard to get. Now with Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

What’s your background in video
editing? I just do it for fun. I’m self-taught. How long did it take to film and edit? I started in November, but then I had to start from scratch a couple months afterwards, so I spent months and months on it. slide by @gcouros

How are you making your
learning visible?

How are you contributing to
the learning of others?

(Digital) Identity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3356252350/

Private Public
Closed Open

(Joichi Ito)

@barrywellman “The developed world is
in the midst of a paradigm shift both in the ways in which people and institutions are connected. It is a shift from being bound up in homogenous “little boxes” to surfing life through diffuse, variegated social networks.” (2002)

Making a Difference

“Martha shows every facet of
great learning: real world change, making the environment around her better, sharing her thinking with the world, having a conscious for the world beyond her immediate horizons, and robustness in the face of incredible media and social media pressure.” (McIntosh, 2012) original slide by George Couros

conclusion

“Some of the comments onYoutube
make you weep for the future of humanity, just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and naked hatred.” (Lev Grossman)@leverus

“One of the reasons social
media has grown so fast is that it taps into what we, as human beings, naturally love and need and want to do - create, share, connect, relate. (Notter & Grant)

Are we purposefully preparing students
for the type of world they currently live in, one that includes the prevalence of open spaces and networked possibilities?

How are you living &
learning in our connected reality?

http://couros.ca couros@gmail.com @courosa Don’t limit
a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time. ~Tagore