iLearner on CCK08

Now another week passed, too fast. I have spent too little time creating connections and converting connections into valuable relations. I have had a few comments and reactions on my participation, but I still feel ‘alone’.

My new strategi will be

• to give more and take less
• write more read less
• follow up on connections
• follow up on cck08forcredit-group
• be brave

How are you doing with your connected learning? Are your connections growing into valuable relations? What did you do?

I have an assignment and some cMap postings to manage today. From the forcredit-group I heard that I’m not the only one doing a late job. But I think it’s positive to make assignments to keep things going, focusing on your own thoughts, although it’s difficult to fit it into my “NewDaily”

According to cMapping: It’s beginning to work for me, after some technical problems. It’s giving a lot to my learning proces, though it costs on timespending, an investment not so well scheduled on days  where  timeaccount is low. I think ROI is positive!

/Jørgen

Filter then publish? or Publish then filter!

I just finished reading “Here comes everybody”,  by Clay Shirky. About the impact on society of networked communication-tools. It’s easy, entertaining readings and  it’s presenting many examples and good stories from real, networked life.

One of his points related to my cck08-course has to do with publishing online. In the context from before internet-publishing it was a difficult, expensive task to publish your thoughts. Your material had to go through different reviews before it might end at a professional editors desk, and it was then up to him to edit, turn down or print. Your work was filtered before anyone would get access to it. Filter, then publish!

In the times with online-publishing tools for everybody, you don’t have to wait for others to approve your work before you publish. It’s the opposite way round: publish, - then filter.

I do too much filtering of my work ( at least I feel so, but this one went through. I have  many ideas and thoughts when I wake up in the morning, but they are caught by the filter before noon and never published. But who will point fingers at you if you write something half-finished inanities?

The logic of publish-then-filter means that new social systems have to tolerate enormous amounts of failure. The only way to uncover and promote the rare successes is to rely, yet again, on social structure supported by social tools.  Clay Shirky, Here comes everybody, p. 233

He says: “Failure for free”. How does that work in this online course?

Well, this is another meta-post, talking around the subject of the week. I have to get into it very soon! But remember: perfect is the enemy of getting things done.

/j

The good: I managed to attend the session on Elluminate today. The bad: A flue forced me to stay away from ITU-course in Copenhagen.

I have heard the name Valdis Krebs in connection to network. But I have never read or seen anything that he made. A couple of weeks ago I tryed to learn to use program for analysing  network, especially Social Network. Pajek and UCINET  were the tools we used. It very interesting, and difficult, but I’m still turned on. It’s very fascinating to draw the diagrams and discover some sort of meaning out of very simple data.

I think the point that Valdis Krebs presented near the end of his talk: the drawings are very good as an introduction to conversations about networks. What can we understand about our business, costumers, schoolclass by viewing the network maps? It’s not “the truth” about a network!

George Siemens asked Valdis about a special picture that he thought might be a picture of cck08-course-network. The one with a dense center with many paticipants and connections, 60% of participant very spread.  And he was a little concerned about the value of this kind of network.

And that’s a central subject of SNA, to evaluate the value of networks, connections. And how do you do hat properly? I think that its important to ad more information about the network, than what the networkdiagram tells.

How do we evaluate the value of a network?

Is it a problem that many participants only have  loose connections? I am working on getting ‘more connected’, and its an ongoing proces, but more difficult than expected.

/j

I spent some time reading on posts from in the General forum on Moodle. It was some job to go through all these postings and comments, and,- admitted, I didn’t finish the job. The overflow of debate, information,  concepts difficult to understand, stressed me a lot.

I recently read about Flow-theory in relation to learning, introduced by Hans Henrik Knoop. In his article: “The art of finding Flow in a world that hinders it” (my own translation), he points out some factors to promote the probability of encoutering ‘flow’:

• the possibility to take initiative, to govern your self with respect to the surroundings
• exact, precise and  energiseing objectives
• non-bureaucratic rules
• challenges must fit abilities
• distinct, non-humiliating feedback
• ability to remove distracting factors to lever concentration

If these factors are present you should find a better learning-environment.

I can see many aspects of a setup like this cck08-thing enabling good learning. But it is very important to create confidence and good relations in the network.

When I followed the discussions around Cathrins ‘the sceptic’ it didn’t work well for me. That chick did not send me high

How will a connectivist-approach deal with ‘the flow-problem’?

I am still working on my study-blog. It is going to be the place where I reflect on my learning in a connected setup.
In the first days I was confused and looking for some anchor, some of the right people with lots of insight, and opinions worth reviewing. I was looking, searching and forgot to work out my own thoughts.

I’m part of a network, many networks, on this course, if I create a relation. Yesterday on Twitter, someone wanted to follow my Twitter. I have an account on Twitter, but i have never found a purpose for it. So it was a surprise, when someone became a ‘follower’. I don’t know Blanche Maynard (yet), but to find out if we have some common interests, there has to be a connection which is established now.

I must learn to publish my thoughts without being limited by the audience. I’m the master in this forum, still wanting to interact establish conversations.

Do you have any advise conserning personal blogging? How did your take of on CCK08 go?

“When someone calls to a telephone that is hardwired into the telephone network, the phone rings at the place, no matter which person is being called.” Barry Wellman, p.5

In my family we recently had a discussion on this subject. Every family member has his own cell-phone. And, the house has a hardwired and rather expensive, phone fixed to a common space, where everybody has to answer incoming calls. The question is if we should put down the hardwired phone?
1. The economic man says, that it’s very expensive, very few calls the phone, everybody uses her own individual phone
2. The girls will miss the calls for the house’. It gives you the opportunity to talk to ’someone you didn’t ask for’. Someone with a relation to other members of the house. (ex. when some of the parents friends call, and one of the children answer the phone, they talk to someone they wouldn’t choose to connect to by themselves)
We have closed the old phone and are now all individuals with our own cellphone-account. But did we loose something worth keeping? Did we get something better instead?

I just checked my mailbox looking for The Dayly
In the past week I have worked on getting ready to study on the on-line course: Connectivism and Connective Knowledge. Lots of information and instruction has helped me create the environment for my personal learning.

I’m very curious about the subject of the course, and‚ I think its very exciting to work the theories ‘live’‚ To learn something I feel that there is a lot I need to “unlearn” at first.

I thought that I could easily write posts in english, for an audience. But when I sit in front of my wordpress-dashboard, thinking of all potential readers, I get nerveous and can’t find the right words. I read a lot in english‚ but my active vocabulary has been schrinking. I need the practice I hopefully will get‚  from this reflexion -blog.

The Dayly, monday, dropped in the mailbox. I am starting out.

My name is Jørgen Carstensen. I live in Odense, Denmark.
This is my blog for the cck08-course.
Untill november i stay in my summer-cottage by the northern beach of Fyn. I’m looking forward to move into my new apartment on Odense harbour.
I usually write in danish. But thats not adequate when I’m the only person on the course to understand this language. On this blog I write in english! And thats a challenge for me.