I’m so thrilled to extend a heartfelt invitation to all my fellow learners and educators out there who are intrigued by the proposition of “open education”. “Connected Courses” is a new online learning experience being put together by a group of amazing educators from the Connected Learning community. We are a collaborative community of faculty in higher education developing networked, open courses that embody the principles of connected learning and the values of the open web. Starting September 15th we’re going to be talking about openness and blended learning in a 12 week course that aims to help people run their own connected courses. The course is free, open, and you can jump in at any time. Everyone is welcome and no experience is required.
Jim Groom, Howard Rheingold, Gardner Campbell, Lisa M. Lane, Kira Baker-Doyle, (yours truly), Kim Jaxon, Helen Keegan, Michael Wesch
A group of inspired (and inspiring) educators met about two weeks ago at the Digital Media & Learning Research Hub in order to brainstorm the vision and planning of this important undertaking. You might have called this moment a transformative “summit” where we all committed to the notion of turning the ship of a “HigherEd in Crisis” around. Can we imagine HigherEd connected learning experiences that reach above and beyond the immediate goals of certification or better job prospects? Can we engender lifelong learning while making learning interest-driven and relevant (for both individuals and our society as a whole)? ….I can’t understate what a special week it was. Meaningful connections were made, plans were hatched, a vision emerged. I think it is safe to say that we all feel that this is going to big. We all feel we are part of a movement that will ultimately be world changing. We want to invite everyone along with us.
Connected Courses selfie: myself, Kira Baker-Doyle, Helen Keegan, Mimi Ito
In Connected Courses we will discover and learn together while demystifying the tools and trade of openness. We will explore why you might want to run a connectivist learning experience, how to get started, how to connect online and offline participants, and how to MAKE things that support this kind of learning. We will talk about building networks, maintaining networks, and diversifying networks. Let’s start to make action plans together for connected teaching in the 21st century.
Amazing femtechnet minds: Lisa Nakamura, Liz Losh, Anne Balsamo
The first unit starts on September 15th, but you can sign up now and find more details about the topics we’ll be exploring at http://connectedcourses.org.
See you there!
