Case Study 2
KnowledgeForum.com
Introduction
Next, after taking a look at all the virtual learning community websites suggested for this case study, I decided I wanted to take a closer look at the website called KnowledgeForum.com. This website claims to be a knowledge-based virtual learning community. I went into the website and listened to the testimonials from students and teachers. This website allows you to go into the site and update and play with a document. This document is set up to edit and construct concept maps and reports. In order to do anymore than this you must sign up for the free six month trial offer. I did not do this; I only played with the available document. In essence, I would be considered a lurker because I do not have a subscription and was only perusing the website for information. Renninger and Shumar (2002) describe a lurker as a non-contributor to an on-line virtual community site. I picked this website because I think it has great potential towards increasing student learning and active participation in an on-line virtual learning community which I would love to use with my students. However, this website is not free and the prices were ranging from $4,990.00 for group licensing to $400.00 for individual licensing of the product. Updates to the website also cost extra. This is more than I would be able to afford and probably more than the institution I work for would want to pay.
Type of Community
The information provided by KnowledgeForum.com claims this website is a knowledge-based community. I am under the impression though based on Riel and Polin’s definition of a knowledge-based community that this is more of a task-based community. I say this because although the acquisition of the license for this website and forum allows teachers and students to do on-line learning activities that can be updated, edited and shared, the lessons I believe would probably have an end point. According to Riel and Polin (2004), as previously stated, the “knowledge-building learning community does not complete a product, publication, or gallery as an end point of effort. Instead, members work on living documents or databases of ideas, which form a living, changing record of their shared mind” (p. 34). It appears to me that the data and information being shared and edited is at some point ending because they are in fact also measuring the learning outcomes of groups of students using statistical methods. Outcomes reflect an end. The definition of outcome according to Merriam-Webster (2004) is “something that follows as a result or consequence” which implies an ending. This website reflects a task-based community according to Riel and Polin (2004) as it exists to “assemble a set of people with a maximum diversity of perspectives that can be focused on a common issue or problem, and then, through the processes of group formation, discourse, and common work, create a common systemic understanding” (p. 21).
Structures of the Community
KnowledgeForum.com enables the users to start with an empty knowledge base and connect with larger knowledge bases offered on the internet where the users can build a community knowledge base and work on projects that can be edited by members of that community. There is a document format that offers the ability to construct papers and reports as well as design and construct concept maps and other information for sharing. Per one of the reviews provided by the website, this is described as a software program that “provides the organizational framework needed to support a classroom which truly functions as a knowledge-based entity” (KnowledgeForum.com, 2011). This then is a software program that allows access to the web. Members are granted access to the program through licensing and the member’s identities are defined through that existing group or membership. Based on the testimonials, the community purpose and projects are defined by the instructors or businesses using the software to enhance learning (KnowledgeForum.com, 2011). Examples given by the website are testimonials of students and instructors who’ve participated in the on-line forum and constructed various documents like research papers. The website allows the lurker to sign-in as a guest and use some of the features available to edit a document. That is what I did and I found it a bit difficult to navigate. I would probably need a tutorial before I would be able to use this software.
Design Features and Role of Technology
This website offers a software program that can be edited and used for group learning projects and interfaces with the web. It costs money to join and update the existing program. This is how it is sustained. Scaffolding is reported as a feature of this program as it allows members of the groups to interact and build on previous information, edit and construct data and interface with other on-line knowledge-based groups. KnowledgeForum.com reports, “Built-in scaffolds ‘cue’ students to the thinking strategies that characterize ‘expert learners’ while the structure of the database with its communal public notes, “build-on” to others’ ideas, and “reference” the work of peers. The ongoing practice of these advanced operations, combined with teacher support and coaching, helps students acquire the sorts of learning strategies that characterize expert learners” (KnowledgeForum.com, 2011). The above mentioned format along with built in strategies for analyzing and computing data either for statistical purposes or for measuring student learning contribute to the overall efficacy of this program for learning.
Conclusion and Implications
This program sounds like a wonderful format to organize and maximize on-line learning within designated groups or for individuals desiring to participate in an on-line virtual learning community. However, it is expensive and requires updating that would be even more expensive to maintain. Most learning institutions are under budget restraints so I don’t see this as a practical way to facilitate the learning objectives that I originally thought it would enhance. If money was no object, this would be a great program that offers opportunity to organize and build a virtual learning community that is task-based.
References
Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open how web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge- based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/
Outcome. (2004). Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities: learning and change in cyberspace. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.
Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Case Study
Case Study 1: Wikipedia
Introduction
I chose to take a look at Wikipedia. I decided to do this after reading Curtis J. Bonk’s book, The World Is Open How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009). Bonk dedicates a section of this book to Wikipedia and names it “Wikiwiki” (p. 235). Bonk mentions how Ward Cunningham came up with the name wikiwiki after taking a trip to Hawaii and heard the word wiki and was told that it meant fast in Hawaiian. Cunningham had been working on a web document that allowed participatory learning and allowed members to edit and update information but originally called it QuickWeb. After hearing the Hawaiian word, Cunningham then changed the name to wiki. Bonk doesn’t make it clear, but sometime after this Jimmy Wales came up with a search engine called Bomis in 1999. Bomis was designed to be a multilingual encyclopedia Web site. Bonk reports that this website was too slow so Wales then decided to launch a peer-reviewed open content encyclopedia called Nupedia. Editor-in-chief, Larry Sanger, came up with the name Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger departed Wikipedia in 2002. Bonk reports Sanger’s leaving as two-fold, 1) his position was no longer funded, 2) Sanger preferred a web encyclopedia edited by experts. The Wikipedia that is in use today is an open format that anyone can update. Wikipedia soon became the dominant website leaving Nupedia behind. Bonk states, “the new approach, like the wikiwiki, was quick!” (p. 237).
I found this interesting and decided to take a look at Wikipedia. Previously, I had not been interested in Wikipedia because of hearsay information I had heard about the website. After reading about Wikipedia in Bonk’s book, I thought it was important to take a closer look. What I found was quite amazing. I went into the site and decided to take a look at all the different possibilities. I was also curious how they keep track of all the different articles and information as well as how they maintain the website. What I found is that anyone is allowed to access and make edits to this information and the information is monitored by administrators (Wikipedia, 2011).
Type of Community
Wikipedia is a knowledge-based website that is powered by over seventy-five thousand active contributors with participants from all over the world in more than 250 different languages (Bonk, 2009, p. 237). Follow-up on Bonk’s book, Wikipedia’s About section claims to have more than ninety-one thousand contributors and 270 or more languages with some seventy-eight million visitors in the month of January 2010 (Wikipedia, 2011). Riel and Polin (2004) state that the “knowledge-building learning community does not complete a product, publication, or gallery as an end point of effort. Instead, members work on living documents or databases of ideas, which form a living, changing record of their shared mind” (p. 34). The goal is knowledge as Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. “Members actively seek to evolve the practice of knowledge building as well as content” (Riel and Polin, 2004). The needs are met through continuous updating and editing of knowledge. This includes current information and new information as well as past information. It appears to have formatted and maintained a website that serves as a vital source of information. If you are an individual who likes history, news, events, or are an information maniac who loves to read and share your knowledge with others, Wikipedia is definitely a place you’ll love. Anyone who wants to can contribute. Under the About section explaining Wikipedia, they explain what Wikipedia is and what type of information they are seeking. It is also recommended under this section to read this information and become familiar with this information before submitting new information or trying to edit. (Wikipedia, 2011).
Structure of Community
This is an open on-line virtual learning community that is knowledge based. It is an open structured, editable encyclopedia. The definition of Wikipedia per the About section from Wikipedia defines Wikipedia “is a multi-lingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based on an openly editable model. The name “Wikipedia” is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”) and encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2011). Wikipedia is a not-for-profit trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, 2011).
Design Features and Roles of the Technology
Wikipedia’s articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information (Wikipedia, 2011). An example, the contents page for About Wikipedia is set up in ten parts. Those parts are 1) About Wikipedia 2) Making the best use of Wikipedia 3) Contributing to Wikipedia 4) Technical attributes 5) Feedback and questions 6) Related versions and projects, 7) Sister projects 8) See also 9) References 10) Further reading (Wikipedia, 2011). It has built in features to ensure reliability of the content. Those features include editors and administrators that are trusted and are approved by the community to edit and undo edits as necessary to maintain credibility. There are also bureaucrats who have technological “ability to add or remove administrative rights, approve or revoke “bot” privileges, and rename user accounts” (Wikipedia, 2011). There is an Arbitration Committee which is described as their Supreme Court and Stewards who retain technical permissions within the upper echelon along with a Wikimedia Board of Directors. (Wikipedia, 2011). The website has thoroughly described it purpose and also provides a detailed disclaimer. The features of this website make it reliable and trustworthy in my opinion. The administrators and Board of Directors have crafted an incredible on-line learning encyclopedia.
Conclusion and Implications
In conclusion, Wikipedia is an open content encyclopedia, knowledge-based virtual learning community emphasizing knowledge sharing. The goal is free open content information available world-wide. The implications are for access to and knowledge sharing for everyone everywhere. It is quite amazing!
References
Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open how web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge- based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/
Outcome. (2004). Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities: learning and change in cyberspace. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.
Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.
Introduction
I chose to take a look at Wikipedia. I decided to do this after reading Curtis J. Bonk’s book, The World Is Open How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009). Bonk dedicates a section of this book to Wikipedia and names it “Wikiwiki” (p. 235). Bonk mentions how Ward Cunningham came up with the name wikiwiki after taking a trip to Hawaii and heard the word wiki and was told that it meant fast in Hawaiian. Cunningham had been working on a web document that allowed participatory learning and allowed members to edit and update information but originally called it QuickWeb. After hearing the Hawaiian word, Cunningham then changed the name to wiki. Bonk doesn’t make it clear, but sometime after this Jimmy Wales came up with a search engine called Bomis in 1999. Bomis was designed to be a multilingual encyclopedia Web site. Bonk reports that this website was too slow so Wales then decided to launch a peer-reviewed open content encyclopedia called Nupedia. Editor-in-chief, Larry Sanger, came up with the name Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger departed Wikipedia in 2002. Bonk reports Sanger’s leaving as two-fold, 1) his position was no longer funded, 2) Sanger preferred a web encyclopedia edited by experts. The Wikipedia that is in use today is an open format that anyone can update. Wikipedia soon became the dominant website leaving Nupedia behind. Bonk states, “the new approach, like the wikiwiki, was quick!” (p. 237).
I found this interesting and decided to take a look at Wikipedia. Previously, I had not been interested in Wikipedia because of hearsay information I had heard about the website. After reading about Wikipedia in Bonk’s book, I thought it was important to take a closer look. What I found was quite amazing. I went into the site and decided to take a look at all the different possibilities. I was also curious how they keep track of all the different articles and information as well as how they maintain the website. What I found is that anyone is allowed to access and make edits to this information and the information is monitored by administrators (Wikipedia, 2011).
Type of Community
Wikipedia is a knowledge-based website that is powered by over seventy-five thousand active contributors with participants from all over the world in more than 250 different languages (Bonk, 2009, p. 237). Follow-up on Bonk’s book, Wikipedia’s About section claims to have more than ninety-one thousand contributors and 270 or more languages with some seventy-eight million visitors in the month of January 2010 (Wikipedia, 2011). Riel and Polin (2004) state that the “knowledge-building learning community does not complete a product, publication, or gallery as an end point of effort. Instead, members work on living documents or databases of ideas, which form a living, changing record of their shared mind” (p. 34). The goal is knowledge as Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. “Members actively seek to evolve the practice of knowledge building as well as content” (Riel and Polin, 2004). The needs are met through continuous updating and editing of knowledge. This includes current information and new information as well as past information. It appears to have formatted and maintained a website that serves as a vital source of information. If you are an individual who likes history, news, events, or are an information maniac who loves to read and share your knowledge with others, Wikipedia is definitely a place you’ll love. Anyone who wants to can contribute. Under the About section explaining Wikipedia, they explain what Wikipedia is and what type of information they are seeking. It is also recommended under this section to read this information and become familiar with this information before submitting new information or trying to edit. (Wikipedia, 2011).
Structure of Community
This is an open on-line virtual learning community that is knowledge based. It is an open structured, editable encyclopedia. The definition of Wikipedia per the About section from Wikipedia defines Wikipedia “is a multi-lingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based on an openly editable model. The name “Wikipedia” is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”) and encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2011). Wikipedia is a not-for-profit trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, 2011).
Design Features and Roles of the Technology
Wikipedia’s articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information (Wikipedia, 2011). An example, the contents page for About Wikipedia is set up in ten parts. Those parts are 1) About Wikipedia 2) Making the best use of Wikipedia 3) Contributing to Wikipedia 4) Technical attributes 5) Feedback and questions 6) Related versions and projects, 7) Sister projects 8) See also 9) References 10) Further reading (Wikipedia, 2011). It has built in features to ensure reliability of the content. Those features include editors and administrators that are trusted and are approved by the community to edit and undo edits as necessary to maintain credibility. There are also bureaucrats who have technological “ability to add or remove administrative rights, approve or revoke “bot” privileges, and rename user accounts” (Wikipedia, 2011). There is an Arbitration Committee which is described as their Supreme Court and Stewards who retain technical permissions within the upper echelon along with a Wikimedia Board of Directors. (Wikipedia, 2011). The website has thoroughly described it purpose and also provides a detailed disclaimer. The features of this website make it reliable and trustworthy in my opinion. The administrators and Board of Directors have crafted an incredible on-line learning encyclopedia.
Conclusion and Implications
In conclusion, Wikipedia is an open content encyclopedia, knowledge-based virtual learning community emphasizing knowledge sharing. The goal is free open content information available world-wide. The implications are for access to and knowledge sharing for everyone everywhere. It is quite amazing!
References
Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open how web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge- based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/
Outcome. (2004). Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities: learning and change in cyberspace. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.
Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Blog 7 - April 23, 2011
This has been a difficult week. I have had way too many tasks to try and get done. I am going to blog now about our project AA3 and AA4 for class. Suzanne and I have chosen two displaying activities for our proposed VLC (NurseE-Port - Students Mentoring Students) they are Anchored Instruction with online video and Concept mapping key information. These both fit our design rationale to encourage critical thinking using the theoretical concept of constructivistism approach under cognitive theory. AA4 we have chosen online tutoring and mentoring for our doing activity under the R2D2 model by Bonk and Zhang (2008) as well as the online simulations. Both of these activities fit our theoretical and design rationale for the knowledge based virtual learnng community. Suzanne and I are enjoying putting this site together. We hope others will enjoy it too and that it might be something that can actually happen in the future!
Bonk, C.J., & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering online learning: 100+ activities for reading, reflecting, displaying and doing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Morrison
Bonk, C.J., & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering online learning: 100+ activities for reading, reflecting, displaying and doing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Morrison
Saturday, April 9, 2011
EIPT Week April 4-9
Hi everyone, I'd like to say that I have enjoyed so far working on the proposal project and hope all of us will be successful at whatever it is we are trying to communicate. I am not sure at this point and still feel a little insecure about the whole thing. But, as far as the reading is concerned, I would like to point out that the Bonk and Zhang, Clark and Mayer chapters that we've been assigned to read have been very helpful in trying to discern how to build a virtual learning community. Since I would like to move forward with Suzanne and my proposal even after this class, I feel these two books in particular will help us learn to design and format a VLC that has a better chance at meeting the goals we desire and possibly helping it move forward and be successful. Only time will tell. I found Clark and Mayer's chapters 7 about the extraneous audio and video particularly helpful. I don't think I would have realized the problems that occur with learning presented material if I had not read this chapter. I had not realized how important it is to link the audio with the video to help aleviate the brain from having to try so hard to assimilate both of these different mediums. I guess because I am so used to just viewing asynchronous text material it was eye opening for me. Good luck to everyone on our upcoming presentations!
Clark, R.C., Mayer, R.E. (2008). E-Learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Clark, R.C., Mayer, R.E. (2008). E-Learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Week 9 Blog
Well, I did not get to participate in last week's on-line synchronous meeting. Originally, Dr. Ge had said that I could read through the posting and blog about the details. I could not find the link so if anyone happens to read this and knows how I could find the link, please advise.
I have decided to go ahead and blog about the case studies that I chose. I decided to write about Wikipedia and KnowledgeForum.com. I was quite suprised to find that Wikipedia is a reliable encyclopedia source. Although the website does place disclaimers on the information, it has administrators and other members of this website that maintain and watch-over the content. There are over 270 languages in use at Wikipedia and approximately ninety-one thousand contributors to the website which receives millions of visits each month. I really found the website fascinating. The knowledgeforum.com website I visited was also interesting. It reports itself as being a knowledge-based community but in reality I believe it is a task-based learing community per Riel and Polin's definitions. Overall, I thought doing the case study was informative and it made me take a look at websites I would have otherwise not perused. I wish I could have participated in last week's discussion but due to my work schedule it will be impossible now for me to participate as I work on every Tuesday and Wednesday night now until 11 p.m. I seem to be running a little behind now on everything so I hope everyone will have mercy on me and realize my work schedule has changed and I will be scrambling to keep up. I look forward to looking at everyones blogs and will try and update this blog if I can get the link to the synchronous meeting. Have a good night everyone, I'll blog at you later!
KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge-based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/
Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.
Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.
I have decided to go ahead and blog about the case studies that I chose. I decided to write about Wikipedia and KnowledgeForum.com. I was quite suprised to find that Wikipedia is a reliable encyclopedia source. Although the website does place disclaimers on the information, it has administrators and other members of this website that maintain and watch-over the content. There are over 270 languages in use at Wikipedia and approximately ninety-one thousand contributors to the website which receives millions of visits each month. I really found the website fascinating. The knowledgeforum.com website I visited was also interesting. It reports itself as being a knowledge-based community but in reality I believe it is a task-based learing community per Riel and Polin's definitions. Overall, I thought doing the case study was informative and it made me take a look at websites I would have otherwise not perused. I wish I could have participated in last week's discussion but due to my work schedule it will be impossible now for me to participate as I work on every Tuesday and Wednesday night now until 11 p.m. I seem to be running a little behind now on everything so I hope everyone will have mercy on me and realize my work schedule has changed and I will be scrambling to keep up. I look forward to looking at everyones blogs and will try and update this blog if I can get the link to the synchronous meeting. Have a good night everyone, I'll blog at you later!
KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge-based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/
Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.
Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Blog 4 Update
Just wanted to update a bit from my previous post on Blog 4. I'm enjoying reading Bonk's book "The world is open" and I really enjoyed scanning through the power-point provided to us by Professor Ge. It reiterates the book and visually communicates to us how technology is changing the landscape of learning. The three trends we discussed in our meeting last Wednesday about pipes, pages and participatory learning are all taking place all over the world. In particular I found the links to the websites very interesting and informative.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Blog 4, Week 8
I am posting this blog tonite but will probably update later this week after I finish reading the assigned chapters in Bonk. So I hope my blog tonite doesn't sound too shallow. I was able to read Chapter one in the correct Bonk book and started on chapter two but I have a way to go before I complete the readings through chapter 8. For anyone reading this blog, realize I will update later this week. Tonite though, I did want to blog about our experience as a group with the chat format. I found the chat to be better after we switched to the other site. The first site we were on was difficult to follow. The pointer kept returning to the top of the list even after I tried to switch my formatting. I kept having to hit the clicker on the sidebar to move it back so I could see what was being communicated. Then, after we switched it seemed to go much better but I still had a difficult time trying to keep up with the discussion and it seemed like as soon as I would answer a question and then respond to a question I would somehow have missed something. I felt like I tried to keep up but that I wasn't sure what subject we were on. It was frustrating to me. I thought we were addressing one issue and then was questioned why I answered the way I did and then someone said well "yes" that was what we were talking about but now we've moved on to this other topic. It did not seem to me that there was a clear communication of this. It did seem though that towards the end we were on the same track and understanding that we had switched to talking about the learning perspectives and viewpoints that went along with the earlier discussion about the pipes, pages and collaboration in online learning. I was very appreciative too of the different sites that some posted that help us discern the validity of online postings. And, I appreicated the discussion of the activity theory and where it went and how it related it to the previous discussion. I felt like the discussion towards the end contributed to my online learning. I'm grateful to the other class members input. Thanks for sharing everyone. :)janine
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Reflective Summary
Reflective Summary by Phyllis Janine Kelley, Saturday, February 19, 2011
(a) Please describe an ideal virtual learning community based on the concept map generated last week from the class based on forum discussion and blogs:
The ideal virtual learning community based on the concept map developed includes the core concept of interaction and engagement. From there the core branches out into five concepts that included knowledge building, learning, change, community, growth. Each of these concepts had key components that were traced back to the core. Based on this and our readings, blogs and discussions of virtual learning communities, everyone seems to agree that an ideal virtual learning community needs to be interactive and engage the community. An underlying theme mentioned by class members was a need to feel accepted, welcomed and a part of the virtual learning community in order for it to be successful. This is evidenced by Haythornthwaite (2002) where she quotes (Granovetter, 1973, 1982; Marsden & Campbell, 1984; van der Poel, 1993; Walker, Wasserman & Wellman, 1994) related to CMC and learning communities saying “liberated from geography, community depends on creating and sustaining strong interpersonal ties, those based on multiple exchanges that include social and emotional content, intimacy, and self-disclosure” (p. 161). The need for interaction and engagement is further evidenced by Hunter (2002) where she reports that “a defining characteristic of a virtual community is this sense that a person or institution must be a contributor to the evolving knowledge base of the group and not just a recipient or consumer of the group’s services or knowledge base.” (p. 96) Based on this, I believe an ideal virtual learning community is one that includes all of these components and the description is as described above. See Dr. Ge’s Virtual Learning Community – Concept (shared document):
https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en
(b) Describe type of the virtual learning community (knowledge-based, task-based, practice-based, etc.) you would like to design and create: including the context, the subject matter, the target audience, etc. Use a concept map to represent your ideal model of a VLC.
The type of virtual learning community that I would love to see would be a combination of all three types of communities mentioned above, knowledge, task and practice. The context would be nursing education and the subject matter would be nursing concepts and skills with the target audience being baccalaureate nursing students. I believe in order for the VLC to be successful it would have to address knowledge, task and practice because in nursing education to teach it properly you need to base it on theory. Nursing currently uses behavioral and cognitive theory but if you added knowledge base and included experts you could potentially increase critical thinking from the novice to the expert and include constructivism. At the core my concept map would have the VLC which would be a baccalaureate level nursing program, the desired modules would include skills/task, practice and knowledge with outcomes being included. If a community could start out with the base of skills/knowledge using behavioral and cognitive exercises with online learning and then progress to online activities that include practice learning activities then the knowledge base would grow and become a key component in helping increase critical thinking and develop positive outcomes. The concept map might look like:
(Sorry, I couldn't get this to take my concept map).
but, it basically says:
VLC (Community Nsg. Ed - Baccalaureate Level) (core) then
Knowledge, Skills/Task, Practice, and Outcomes all connected
(a) Specifically describe the strategies you will use to build your virtual learning community, addressing the contextual factors, such as the needs, goals, purposes, interest, leadership, etc. (*Note: Please relate to the blogs and discussion assignments you have done in the past few weeks).
Based upon the readings and our discussions, the strategy I think would be most important is to construct a base and core concept that is interactive, engaging and flexible with the goal being knowledge enhancement and purpose being continuous learning. It would need to include leaders within the profession that are willing to contribute to the knowledge and interact with the novice learners and should include activities that allow the novice to progress to leadership roles when ready to contribute to the knowledge base. This is illustrated by discussion in week three of our course work between Melinda Stump and Sheryl Craig. Melinda responds “I believe that in order for maintaining or growth in a VLC, members need to feel like they are contributing to the other members and the other members and creators/owners are contributing information to them. A symbiotic relationship-everyone benefits.” It should also include an introduction that is welcoming and makes the new members feel like they are a part of something that will enhance their learning and that they will also be contributing to others increased learning. This is evidenced in Chapter One of our book Building Virtual Communities, Learning and Change in Cyberspace where it states, “The decline in the level of activity on MediaMOO coincides with a decline in the activity level of the community’s founder and lead administrator, Amy Bruckman. It is likely that the two are related.” (p. 30) Also, Fanderclai, an original member of MediaMoo, felt compelled to leave MediaMoo and states, “It was frustrating for people to learn all about MediaMoo only to find out they couldn’t bring their classes there.” (p. 25)
(b) Explain how each of the following: the literature (i.e., the textbooks), class discussions, and personal reflections (i.e. blogs), have helped you to frame your design ideas. In other words, how did the literature and the class activities help you to generate those ideas in (b)? Make sure you cite and refer to all the important, relevant literature in an appropriate format (i.e., citations and references)
The literature was very relevant in helping me to frame my design ideas as well as the class blogs, discussions and viewing, contributing to the concept map. Our book was very informative and explained the birth of the VLC as well as what contributed to the demise of MediaMOO. This historical information gave us the basic understanding of why MediaMOO was successful and then explained why it came to an end. The primary reason the MOO was successful was related to the personal attention and detail paid primarily to making sure that the community members felt welcomed and needed. This is evidenced in our book and discussions as iterated in question (c) above. This was accomplished through personal and direct interaction and engagement of each new member by the founder of Media MOO. The end of MediaMoo began to decline when the founder became too busy to remain engaged and interactive in the process and there were no built in safety nets to appoint others to assume the role. Lack of leadership to direct and facilitate learning became a factor. The blogs and discussions all reflected this understanding as well as our class concept map reflects interaction and engagement as the core concept for a successful VLC along with leadership and facilitation of knowledge. See Dr. Ge’s Virtual Learning Community – Concept (shared document). Further evidence of this can be found in Melinda K. Stumps blog for our class, Week 2 Reflections, dated Saturday, January 29, 2011, where she states, “What makes a VLC effective is that the leader and the members share the same mission and direction of the educational interests, values, communication, or connection building. They feel as if they are linked to something greater and have something worthwhile to contribute or receive from their association with the virtual learning communities.” Class member, Tanya Shamblin also asserts this point in her blog dated Sunday, January 30, 2011, where she states “The community must be tailored and continually adjusted to meet members’ needs. It is not simply to provide information. Interactive opportunities should be provided. Opportunities to apply knowledge gained and test what is learned should be available. Having a guide/moderator to assist learners in their time of need is also necessary to facilitate the learning process.” This emphasizes the importance of leadership necessary to facilitate learning.
From there, our book discussed various virtual learning communities along with their constructs and purpose and gave very good detail related to some of the successful designs. Our book also directed and encouraged us to view some of the virtual learning communities (as well as our syllabus/Dr. Ge) and afterwards our discussion and blogging focused on what we had learned when we visited the various sites. Some of us were more pleased than others with our experience and as our book indicates, it reflects some of the problems that arise with VLC when newcomers visiting sites aren’t sure whether or not they will benefit or learn from the site. This speaks to the knowledge aspect of the VLC and our blogs, discussions and concept map reflected this.
Granovetter, M.S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-80.
(1982). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. In P. V. Marsden & N. Lin (Eds.), Social structure and network analysis (pp. 105-30). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Marsden, P.V., & Campbell, K.E. (1984). Measuring tie strength. Social Forces, 63, 482-501
MK Stump. (2011, January 29). Week 2 reflections [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://myjourneyintotechnology.blogspot.com/.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002).Learning in the virtual community depends upon changes in local communities. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 96- 126). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002).Building social networks via computer networks. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 159-190). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002). The mystery of the death of MediaMoo, seven years of evolution of an online community. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 21-33). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Stump, M.K. (2011, February 4). Summary of wk 3 discussion& gr questions [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://learn.ou.edu/d2l/orgTools/ou-Home/ou-Home.asp?ou=1729174.
T Shamblin. (2011, January 30). Reflections on Week 1 [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://tanyastome.blogspot.com/.
Van der Poel, M. (1993). Personal networks: A rational-choice explanation of their size and composition. Lisse, Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Walker, J., Wasserman, S., & Wellman, B. (1994). Statistical models for social support networks. In S. Wasserman & J. Galaskiewicz (Eds.), Advances in social network analysis (pp. 53-78). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
X Ge. (2011, February 5). Virtual learning community – concept [Online forum – Shared Document]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en.
Walker, J., Wasserman, S., & Wellman, B. (1994). Statistical models for social support networks. In S. Wasserman & J. Galaskiewicz (Eds.), Advances in social network analysis (pp. 53-78). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
X Ge. (2011, February 5). Virtual learning community – concept [Online forum – Shared Document]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en.
(a) Please describe an ideal virtual learning community based on the concept map generated last week from the class based on forum discussion and blogs:
The ideal virtual learning community based on the concept map developed includes the core concept of interaction and engagement. From there the core branches out into five concepts that included knowledge building, learning, change, community, growth. Each of these concepts had key components that were traced back to the core. Based on this and our readings, blogs and discussions of virtual learning communities, everyone seems to agree that an ideal virtual learning community needs to be interactive and engage the community. An underlying theme mentioned by class members was a need to feel accepted, welcomed and a part of the virtual learning community in order for it to be successful. This is evidenced by Haythornthwaite (2002) where she quotes (Granovetter, 1973, 1982; Marsden & Campbell, 1984; van der Poel, 1993; Walker, Wasserman & Wellman, 1994) related to CMC and learning communities saying “liberated from geography, community depends on creating and sustaining strong interpersonal ties, those based on multiple exchanges that include social and emotional content, intimacy, and self-disclosure” (p. 161). The need for interaction and engagement is further evidenced by Hunter (2002) where she reports that “a defining characteristic of a virtual community is this sense that a person or institution must be a contributor to the evolving knowledge base of the group and not just a recipient or consumer of the group’s services or knowledge base.” (p. 96) Based on this, I believe an ideal virtual learning community is one that includes all of these components and the description is as described above. See Dr. Ge’s Virtual Learning Community – Concept (shared document):
https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en
(b) Describe type of the virtual learning community (knowledge-based, task-based, practice-based, etc.) you would like to design and create: including the context, the subject matter, the target audience, etc. Use a concept map to represent your ideal model of a VLC.
The type of virtual learning community that I would love to see would be a combination of all three types of communities mentioned above, knowledge, task and practice. The context would be nursing education and the subject matter would be nursing concepts and skills with the target audience being baccalaureate nursing students. I believe in order for the VLC to be successful it would have to address knowledge, task and practice because in nursing education to teach it properly you need to base it on theory. Nursing currently uses behavioral and cognitive theory but if you added knowledge base and included experts you could potentially increase critical thinking from the novice to the expert and include constructivism. At the core my concept map would have the VLC which would be a baccalaureate level nursing program, the desired modules would include skills/task, practice and knowledge with outcomes being included. If a community could start out with the base of skills/knowledge using behavioral and cognitive exercises with online learning and then progress to online activities that include practice learning activities then the knowledge base would grow and become a key component in helping increase critical thinking and develop positive outcomes. The concept map might look like:
(Sorry, I couldn't get this to take my concept map).
but, it basically says:
VLC (Community Nsg. Ed - Baccalaureate Level) (core) then
Knowledge, Skills/Task, Practice, and Outcomes all connected
(a) Specifically describe the strategies you will use to build your virtual learning community, addressing the contextual factors, such as the needs, goals, purposes, interest, leadership, etc. (*Note: Please relate to the blogs and discussion assignments you have done in the past few weeks).
Based upon the readings and our discussions, the strategy I think would be most important is to construct a base and core concept that is interactive, engaging and flexible with the goal being knowledge enhancement and purpose being continuous learning. It would need to include leaders within the profession that are willing to contribute to the knowledge and interact with the novice learners and should include activities that allow the novice to progress to leadership roles when ready to contribute to the knowledge base. This is illustrated by discussion in week three of our course work between Melinda Stump and Sheryl Craig. Melinda responds “I believe that in order for maintaining or growth in a VLC, members need to feel like they are contributing to the other members and the other members and creators/owners are contributing information to them. A symbiotic relationship-everyone benefits.” It should also include an introduction that is welcoming and makes the new members feel like they are a part of something that will enhance their learning and that they will also be contributing to others increased learning. This is evidenced in Chapter One of our book Building Virtual Communities, Learning and Change in Cyberspace where it states, “The decline in the level of activity on MediaMOO coincides with a decline in the activity level of the community’s founder and lead administrator, Amy Bruckman. It is likely that the two are related.” (p. 30) Also, Fanderclai, an original member of MediaMoo, felt compelled to leave MediaMoo and states, “It was frustrating for people to learn all about MediaMoo only to find out they couldn’t bring their classes there.” (p. 25)
(b) Explain how each of the following: the literature (i.e., the textbooks), class discussions, and personal reflections (i.e. blogs), have helped you to frame your design ideas. In other words, how did the literature and the class activities help you to generate those ideas in (b)? Make sure you cite and refer to all the important, relevant literature in an appropriate format (i.e., citations and references)
The literature was very relevant in helping me to frame my design ideas as well as the class blogs, discussions and viewing, contributing to the concept map. Our book was very informative and explained the birth of the VLC as well as what contributed to the demise of MediaMOO. This historical information gave us the basic understanding of why MediaMOO was successful and then explained why it came to an end. The primary reason the MOO was successful was related to the personal attention and detail paid primarily to making sure that the community members felt welcomed and needed. This is evidenced in our book and discussions as iterated in question (c) above. This was accomplished through personal and direct interaction and engagement of each new member by the founder of Media MOO. The end of MediaMoo began to decline when the founder became too busy to remain engaged and interactive in the process and there were no built in safety nets to appoint others to assume the role. Lack of leadership to direct and facilitate learning became a factor. The blogs and discussions all reflected this understanding as well as our class concept map reflects interaction and engagement as the core concept for a successful VLC along with leadership and facilitation of knowledge. See Dr. Ge’s Virtual Learning Community – Concept (shared document). Further evidence of this can be found in Melinda K. Stumps blog for our class, Week 2 Reflections, dated Saturday, January 29, 2011, where she states, “What makes a VLC effective is that the leader and the members share the same mission and direction of the educational interests, values, communication, or connection building. They feel as if they are linked to something greater and have something worthwhile to contribute or receive from their association with the virtual learning communities.” Class member, Tanya Shamblin also asserts this point in her blog dated Sunday, January 30, 2011, where she states “The community must be tailored and continually adjusted to meet members’ needs. It is not simply to provide information. Interactive opportunities should be provided. Opportunities to apply knowledge gained and test what is learned should be available. Having a guide/moderator to assist learners in their time of need is also necessary to facilitate the learning process.” This emphasizes the importance of leadership necessary to facilitate learning.
From there, our book discussed various virtual learning communities along with their constructs and purpose and gave very good detail related to some of the successful designs. Our book also directed and encouraged us to view some of the virtual learning communities (as well as our syllabus/Dr. Ge) and afterwards our discussion and blogging focused on what we had learned when we visited the various sites. Some of us were more pleased than others with our experience and as our book indicates, it reflects some of the problems that arise with VLC when newcomers visiting sites aren’t sure whether or not they will benefit or learn from the site. This speaks to the knowledge aspect of the VLC and our blogs, discussions and concept map reflected this.
Granovetter, M.S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-80.
(1982). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. In P. V. Marsden & N. Lin (Eds.), Social structure and network analysis (pp. 105-30). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Marsden, P.V., & Campbell, K.E. (1984). Measuring tie strength. Social Forces, 63, 482-501
MK Stump. (2011, January 29). Week 2 reflections [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://myjourneyintotechnology.blogspot.com/.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002).Learning in the virtual community depends upon changes in local communities. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 96- 126). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002).Building social networks via computer networks. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 159-190). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (Eds.) (2002). The mystery of the death of MediaMoo, seven years of evolution of an online community. Building virtual communities, learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 21-33). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Stump, M.K. (2011, February 4). Summary of wk 3 discussion& gr questions [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://learn.ou.edu/d2l/orgTools/ou-Home/ou-Home.asp?ou=1729174.
T Shamblin. (2011, January 30). Reflections on Week 1 [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://tanyastome.blogspot.com/.
Van der Poel, M. (1993). Personal networks: A rational-choice explanation of their size and composition. Lisse, Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Walker, J., Wasserman, S., & Wellman, B. (1994). Statistical models for social support networks. In S. Wasserman & J. Galaskiewicz (Eds.), Advances in social network analysis (pp. 53-78). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
X Ge. (2011, February 5). Virtual learning community – concept [Online forum – Shared Document]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en.
Walker, J., Wasserman, S., & Wellman, B. (1994). Statistical models for social support networks. In S. Wasserman & J. Galaskiewicz (Eds.), Advances in social network analysis (pp. 53-78). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
X Ge. (2011, February 5). Virtual learning community – concept [Online forum – Shared Document]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/a/ou.edu/drawings/edit?id=1f2GPR6jXHjKBSPVpYWnVuZnJo19TfoTTqseUIOR8IVU&hl=en.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Week 6-Blog (February 21-27, 2011)
This week's reading along with our discussion questions have helped facilitate the learning objectives for me. I believe that Professor Ge's questions, though time consuming, have helped me to reflect on what I am learning and thus increased my understanding of the objectives. Learning the difference between the objectivist and constructivist theories has helped me begin to understand the different learning theories/philosophies and place them in a better "perspective." ...Reflective learning-Constructivism (Adult Learning Theory, Nursing).
Having background knowledge of the theory and philosophy that guides e-learning (online learning) has helped me comprehend even more clearly the theory and philosophy that guides my nursing profession. Although educational psychology and nursing education have different theorist, it is comforting to know that many of our theories and beliefs stem from these basic concepts, philosophies, and theories. What I think is important is that e-learning or online learning can integrate different contextual perspectives (frameworks) under the same theory, constructivism. This enhances and promotes understanding and learning and enriches our lives.
I found after reading thus far that there are bits and pieces from each theory that I believe fits every learner depending on the learner's objectives, state of knowing, need and perspective. I think it will be a matter of taking a look at these theories and finding what fits our students' needs most appropriately given the contextual framework of the assigned material.
Having background knowledge of the theory and philosophy that guides e-learning (online learning) has helped me comprehend even more clearly the theory and philosophy that guides my nursing profession. Although educational psychology and nursing education have different theorist, it is comforting to know that many of our theories and beliefs stem from these basic concepts, philosophies, and theories. What I think is important is that e-learning or online learning can integrate different contextual perspectives (frameworks) under the same theory, constructivism. This enhances and promotes understanding and learning and enriches our lives.
I found after reading thus far that there are bits and pieces from each theory that I believe fits every learner depending on the learner's objectives, state of knowing, need and perspective. I think it will be a matter of taking a look at these theories and finding what fits our students' needs most appropriately given the contextual framework of the assigned material.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Reflections of Week 5, Saturday, February 19, 2011
I appreciated the online conference we had on Wednesday this week. I like the constructivist theory and agree with its summation provided in our power point by Dr. Ge. It states, "Meaning cannot be imposed on an individual; but rather learner must actively construct knowledge and skills based on one's experience, past or current knowledge." This goes along with cognitive psychology and is familiar to me because we use the cognitive theory as part of faciliation in nursing education. Nursing students progress through traditional learning and behavioral theory in learning the concepts and constructs of nursing and then progress to more reflective and applied learning (experiential theory and learning) as they assimilate into the nursing practice through clinical rotations. It was interesting because during the video conference I referred to my graduate learning requirement as a "practicum" and one of my classmates Melinda responded and said they call it "apprenticeship" in education. This was a reflective learning experience for me because it made me realize that we too as nurses go through an apprenticeship which is more active learning as opposed to a practicum that can be more passive and doesn't necessary require teaching or demonstration of knowledge required. In my case it does because during my practicum I have had to facilitate or help teach in two different class environments. I appreciate how our readings all relate to theories and concepts that will be necessary for us as students to utilize as we begin to learn how to teach. It helps to have the input of other too who are more experienced in this process and helps with our reflections and increases our learning.
Ge, X. (2010). Situated learning and constructivist perspective [Power-Point Presentation]. Retrieved from http://learn.ou.edu/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp?ou=1729174
M. Stump. (2011, February 16). [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://ou.na5.acrobat.com/p62596951/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
Ge, X. (2010). Situated learning and constructivist perspective [Power-Point Presentation]. Retrieved from http://learn.ou.edu/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp?ou=1729174
M. Stump. (2011, February 16). [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://ou.na5.acrobat.com/p62596951/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Why Should an Administrator Use Twitter?
Why Should an Administrator Use Twitter?
Repost....
I haven't done this from one blog to another; hopefully it turns out right.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Blog 2 - Saturday, February 12, 2011
Hi everyone, below are my thoughts on the questions from this week's readings by Renninger & Shumar, Chapters 9 through 12.
Question 1: How do virtual communities impact individuals in information seeking and knowledge construction? What are the possibilities for learning and change in this case study? (Ch. 9)
In chapter 9 we see that virtual communities and in particular self-help communities have impacted knowledge seeking and construction through sharing and networking of individuals who are seeking information. It is not necessarily positive. Individuals are questioning authoritative data and relying on others who have experiential data and this might not be where they would find the best answers. However, it supports the social networking ability of internet connectedness to facilitate learning and sharing and empowers individuals to assess the data they receive and decide to take or leave it. It has also encouraged individuals to look more closely at what government and professionals are asking them to do or expecting them to follow instead of following them blindly without question. It shows that there is a huge potential to disseminate accurate information if instituted properly and make positive changes.
Question 2: How does technology support a knowledge-building community? (Ch. 12)
In chapter 12 the authors have taken a look at the different forms of knowledge building communities and embarked on building a knowledge building community that will support a collaboration of ideas and hopefully succeed. CILT is still in the process of being built but so far it appears that it will continue to grow and one reason why is because it provides networking information that will make knowledge building easier to access and disseminate among it users. This will make collaboration in learning and building learning communities more user friendly and hopefully help sustain this site.
Question 3: What are the specific implications that you can draw and apply to your specific context (e.g., your own online course in which you are an instructor) of building a virtual learning community? (Ch. 10)
The project would need to incorporate the needs of the community. This would require looking at the available resources and time and curriculum and whether or not a virtual community would actually benefit the users. But, if you were going to go to the trouble of building such a site it seems you would also want to incorporate some kind of system where information could be shared with new users even after the original users are done with the community. For instance, in nursing, a virtual community could include discussion of patient outcomes and experiences of students (leaving out the names to ensure confidentiality) and then store that information somewhere that could be accessed and used as discussion material for future students. It would also need to have open ended questions about patient care where students could collaborate and explore nursing interventions, experiences, etc. This would be very helpful as our book in various places and other learning theories point towards experiential learning as being perceived positively by students and also known to increase knowledge. It would also help assimilate acculturation of new students into the community of nursing as perceived by the nursing student. This would all precipitate professional growth and learning.
Question 4: What do you see as the possibilities of virtual communities for learning and change in a specific context, which may be your school, school district, college, institution, or organization, after reading all the chapters so far?
I see endless possibilities. I love the fact the people are forming communities that help provide learning and increase education. Education is power and individuals would be entitled to continued learning and growth if internet access and learning community access was distributed among everyone. In particular, I would love to utilize a virtual learning community like described above to help nursing students and all nurses to increase their knowledge and skills.
Renninger, K. A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities learning and change in cyberspace. New York: Cambridge University Press
Question 1: How do virtual communities impact individuals in information seeking and knowledge construction? What are the possibilities for learning and change in this case study? (Ch. 9)
In chapter 9 we see that virtual communities and in particular self-help communities have impacted knowledge seeking and construction through sharing and networking of individuals who are seeking information. It is not necessarily positive. Individuals are questioning authoritative data and relying on others who have experiential data and this might not be where they would find the best answers. However, it supports the social networking ability of internet connectedness to facilitate learning and sharing and empowers individuals to assess the data they receive and decide to take or leave it. It has also encouraged individuals to look more closely at what government and professionals are asking them to do or expecting them to follow instead of following them blindly without question. It shows that there is a huge potential to disseminate accurate information if instituted properly and make positive changes.
Question 2: How does technology support a knowledge-building community? (Ch. 12)
In chapter 12 the authors have taken a look at the different forms of knowledge building communities and embarked on building a knowledge building community that will support a collaboration of ideas and hopefully succeed. CILT is still in the process of being built but so far it appears that it will continue to grow and one reason why is because it provides networking information that will make knowledge building easier to access and disseminate among it users. This will make collaboration in learning and building learning communities more user friendly and hopefully help sustain this site.
Question 3: What are the specific implications that you can draw and apply to your specific context (e.g., your own online course in which you are an instructor) of building a virtual learning community? (Ch. 10)
The project would need to incorporate the needs of the community. This would require looking at the available resources and time and curriculum and whether or not a virtual community would actually benefit the users. But, if you were going to go to the trouble of building such a site it seems you would also want to incorporate some kind of system where information could be shared with new users even after the original users are done with the community. For instance, in nursing, a virtual community could include discussion of patient outcomes and experiences of students (leaving out the names to ensure confidentiality) and then store that information somewhere that could be accessed and used as discussion material for future students. It would also need to have open ended questions about patient care where students could collaborate and explore nursing interventions, experiences, etc. This would be very helpful as our book in various places and other learning theories point towards experiential learning as being perceived positively by students and also known to increase knowledge. It would also help assimilate acculturation of new students into the community of nursing as perceived by the nursing student. This would all precipitate professional growth and learning.
Question 4: What do you see as the possibilities of virtual communities for learning and change in a specific context, which may be your school, school district, college, institution, or organization, after reading all the chapters so far?
I see endless possibilities. I love the fact the people are forming communities that help provide learning and increase education. Education is power and individuals would be entitled to continued learning and growth if internet access and learning community access was distributed among everyone. In particular, I would love to utilize a virtual learning community like described above to help nursing students and all nurses to increase their knowledge and skills.
Renninger, K. A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities learning and change in cyberspace. New York: Cambridge University Press
Friday, February 4, 2011
Think Career: Course Enrollment
Think Career: Course Enrollment
I've run across another state's effort to provide flexible professional development for their teachers. Looks interesting. Graduate credit is offered through some universities for completion.
Blogging
Hi to my team mates Sheryl and Angie. Just wanted to be able to let Sheryl know I was able to post to your blog but not Angie's. Wondering if anyone else is having that problem? Angie, I sent you an email hoping we can put our heads together and figure out why I can't post to your account. We need to be able to respond to one another so I'm getting a little worried.
Journal EIPT 6433 Spring 2011: Week 2 - Questions to ponder
Journal EIPT 6433 Spring 2011: Week 2 - Questions to ponder
Hi Angie - still working on how to comment on your blog. I'm seeing if this works.
Hi Angie - still working on how to comment on your blog. I'm seeing if this works.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Reflections Week 3
As, I read through all the information and begin to understand how all this works, I have started to grasp how important it is to continue to learn. I realize that if I had not chosen to go back to school and become an educator my perspective on many things would not be what it is now. I'm really excited about joining the Tapped-In site and I joined the nursing education group under that site. I plan on taking the tour and really trying to become a member. The possibilities of on-line education is limitless and I am amazed as I read through our book and the other assigned readings of how much the web and computers can assist us in learning and teaching. Now my brain is really wondering all the possibilites and all the ways this could help me learn and teach. I am already involved in a program at UCO where I have to go on-line to grade my students' evaluations of their clinical experience and I am giving them feedback but now I wonder how we could use a similar program to teach in a synchronous manner and be able to discuss and facilitate the groups' learning through a process like what we are learning in class. It is all very cool!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Greetings EIPT Class!
Hi Everyone, glad I'm kinda figuring this out now. It took me forever to figure out the photo thing!
Week 2 things to think about
1. What is a community? What is a virtual community? What is a virtual learning community (VLC)?
In our book by Renninger and Shumar the Introduction gives the original definition of community as defined by sociology as "gemeinschaft and gesellschaft" the first meaning the "coherent community in which culture and family are intact, and social life is whole because of this." (p. 3) and the later is where modernity replaces traditional community with "impersonal relationships and fragmented cultural values." (p. 3) A virtual community then is somewhere between these definitions as many internet connections like facebook and myspace do link people still with families and relations and can be on a very personal level and then other applications available on the web are impersonal and have no connection with a person physical community. So virtual communities are enterprises created on the web where individuals can interact with and become a part of a virtual community. A virtual community is one where individuals come together for various reasons to communicate thought.
2. How is the power of the virtual community illustrated through the TIME's articles? Please provide a couple of examples to demonstrate the power and the endless possibility of of virtual communities for learning.
This was a great article that pointed out the importance of the internet and virtual communities. In the past it was noted that only great men/women were our examples because they were who we read about and aspired to become. Now we have the ability to inspire others and create and re-create ourselves through the use of virtual communities. The article points out the communities like youtube, facebook, myspace, blogging. If you listen to the news you will here stories where people have become overnight sensations because of a video or something they posted on the internet through YouTube. People to not have to be well read or influential to become overnight sensations and become successful. They only have to know how to market themselves or their pets or their loved ones or their talents and millions will watch in amazement and wonder.
3. How can a virtual learning community (VLC) be designed and implemented to make it successful? What are the implications for sustaining an effective VLC? (Chs. 1-3, Building Virtual Communities)
In our book, Building Virtual Communities, it talks about how MOO became extinct because it accomplished what it set out to do which was to encourage and promote learning the web for teaching and instructing others. It seems once the individuals got good at what they were doing they moved on. It also pointed out that the personal interaction of the author of MOO decreased as time progressed and she got busy on other things. The book points out that the more successful websites usually have individuals either paid or otherwise appointed to continue the personal greeting of new individuals interested in using their site. So, with that said, it seems that in order for a VLC to be successful it has to be interesting and personal to some degree to keep participants engaged and feeling welcome and a part-of as well offer different degrees or areas of participation where individuals who are new can learn from those who already understand the site and applications and those who understand can still benefit and make connections they need with others that may benefit them.
4. What are your reflections upon this week's readings?
I am enjoying learning about this subject. I found it interesting that the girls in chapter 2 use and view the internet different than their male counterparts. I also thought is was encouraging to see the change of attitude the students had when given direction in learning and "relational learning" techniques. So it seems we understand how to enhance female participation in on-line learning but how do we increase male participation in on-line learning when it doesn't involve a game and it involves more intimate and personal sharing of thoughts? I wonder this because as we teach nursing to male students it seems based on this information it may be easier to teach to males the hands-on information but maybe more difficult for them to grasp the interpersonal part of nursing (caring).
In our book by Renninger and Shumar the Introduction gives the original definition of community as defined by sociology as "gemeinschaft and gesellschaft" the first meaning the "coherent community in which culture and family are intact, and social life is whole because of this." (p. 3) and the later is where modernity replaces traditional community with "impersonal relationships and fragmented cultural values." (p. 3) A virtual community then is somewhere between these definitions as many internet connections like facebook and myspace do link people still with families and relations and can be on a very personal level and then other applications available on the web are impersonal and have no connection with a person physical community. So virtual communities are enterprises created on the web where individuals can interact with and become a part of a virtual community. A virtual community is one where individuals come together for various reasons to communicate thought.
2. How is the power of the virtual community illustrated through the TIME's articles? Please provide a couple of examples to demonstrate the power and the endless possibility of of virtual communities for learning.
This was a great article that pointed out the importance of the internet and virtual communities. In the past it was noted that only great men/women were our examples because they were who we read about and aspired to become. Now we have the ability to inspire others and create and re-create ourselves through the use of virtual communities. The article points out the communities like youtube, facebook, myspace, blogging. If you listen to the news you will here stories where people have become overnight sensations because of a video or something they posted on the internet through YouTube. People to not have to be well read or influential to become overnight sensations and become successful. They only have to know how to market themselves or their pets or their loved ones or their talents and millions will watch in amazement and wonder.
3. How can a virtual learning community (VLC) be designed and implemented to make it successful? What are the implications for sustaining an effective VLC? (Chs. 1-3, Building Virtual Communities)
In our book, Building Virtual Communities, it talks about how MOO became extinct because it accomplished what it set out to do which was to encourage and promote learning the web for teaching and instructing others. It seems once the individuals got good at what they were doing they moved on. It also pointed out that the personal interaction of the author of MOO decreased as time progressed and she got busy on other things. The book points out that the more successful websites usually have individuals either paid or otherwise appointed to continue the personal greeting of new individuals interested in using their site. So, with that said, it seems that in order for a VLC to be successful it has to be interesting and personal to some degree to keep participants engaged and feeling welcome and a part-of as well offer different degrees or areas of participation where individuals who are new can learn from those who already understand the site and applications and those who understand can still benefit and make connections they need with others that may benefit them.
4. What are your reflections upon this week's readings?
I am enjoying learning about this subject. I found it interesting that the girls in chapter 2 use and view the internet different than their male counterparts. I also thought is was encouraging to see the change of attitude the students had when given direction in learning and "relational learning" techniques. So it seems we understand how to enhance female participation in on-line learning but how do we increase male participation in on-line learning when it doesn't involve a game and it involves more intimate and personal sharing of thoughts? I wonder this because as we teach nursing to male students it seems based on this information it may be easier to teach to males the hands-on information but maybe more difficult for them to grasp the interpersonal part of nursing (caring).
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