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Graduation 2008

Activity 24: Considering open learner literacies

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Edited by Amanda Harrington-Vail, Thursday, 24 Apr 2014, 14:27

I've based my list on the skills identified by Jenkins et al. (2009), upon which I’ve added some explanation and examples based on my experience and research during this block:

 

  1. 1.      Play – the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem solving. This is valuable for children and adults and my examples identify an open element.

http://sharpbrains.com/brainteasers/

http://www.tryengineering.org/play-games

 

  1. Performance – the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery. Again equally applicable to children (with support) and adults as an open element.

    http://www.chamberofchat.com/

    http://secondlife.com/?gclid=CLGHypL0870CFQUFwwodVRcAuA

     

  1. Simulation – the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes. Another aspect of the list that is appropriate for children (with support) and adults as open content.

    http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html

    http://simulation.freeonlinegames.name/

     

  1. Appropriation – the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content. I've been aware of mashups within previous MAODE modules but these are newly researched examples of open content.

    http://www.remixthebook.com/the-course/appropriation

    http://mashup.mixedinkey.com/

     

  1. Multitasking – the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details. I focused on computer processing for this research, the first item is open content and the second is a free extract of a book available for purchase.

    http://www.slideshare.net/iampencilbox/multitasking-5176772

    http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/information-technology-and-software-development/9788131733097/operating-system/ch07lev1sec3

     

  1. Distributed cognition – the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities. These are open content to support accessibility.

    http://distributedcognitivesystems.net/?page_id=14

    https://sites.google.com/site/512group04/Home/distributed-cognition/applications-of-distributed-cognition

     

  1. Collective intelligence – the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others  toward a common goal. These open content provide information on PLN etc.

    http://cci.mit.edu/

    http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ibv-collective-intelligence.html

     

  1. Judgement – the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources. An appropriate open content from JISC followed by OU open content which my students use for literature review.

    http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/digitisation/SixStepsHandbook.pdf

    http://www.open.ac.uk/libraryservices/beingdigital/accessible/accessible-pdf-13-evaluation-using-prompt.pdf

     

  1. Transmedia navigation – the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities. Open content by Jenkins himself and the BBC on this topic.

    http://henryjenkins.org/2010/06/transmedia_education_the_7_pri.html

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/article/art20130702112135506

     

  1. Networking – the ability to search for, synthesise and disseminate information. Open content tips to support this.

    http://www.nrg-networks.com/nrg-10tips.html

    http://www.sitepoint.com/social-networking-sites-for-business/

     

  1. Negotiation – the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms. Open content tips.

    https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/persuading.htm

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2013/12/05/six-surprising-negotiation-tactics-that-get-you-the-best-deal/

     

    This list applies to all learners and my examples refer mainly to open learners based on collaborative learning online based on the key concerns of participation, transparency and ethics identified by Jenkins et al. (2009 p. 3).

     

    Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. and Weigel, M. (2009) Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, Chicago, IL, The MacArthur Foundation. Also available online at http://digitallearning.macfound.org/ atf/ cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/ JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF (last accessed 22 April 2014).

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Graduation 2008

The benefits of blogging

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Edited by Amanda Harrington-Vail, Thursday, 24 Apr 2014, 14:39
I am a huge fan of Weller - following his blog and Twitter. I also bought his book as soon as it was published. He highlights that academic blogs "compete with traditional means of public engagement" (Weller, 2011 p. 49). An example of this is where blog web-links are shared automatically via Twitter. Blogs are an invaluable tool to share ideas.
 
Conole demonstrates how blogs and reflection link together. "Use of the site during the conference is a perfect example of how we are actively co-developing the site, watching and reflecting on user behaviour to fine tune and tailor the site specifically for educational professionals" (Conole, 2010 p. 11). I follow Conole on CloudWorks and Twitter.
 
This is succinctly summed up by Kirkup as "The kind of academic blogging which seems to produce the greatest sense of subjective well being, and is best at enhancing professional reputation, is the blog of ideas. In this kind of blog authors engage in conversations with their own ideas and the ideas of their peers. Blogging is both a process where ideas are developed and expressed, but often in a concise and accessible form quite different from the traditional long, analytical, and discursive academic texts that are the products by which most academics are assessed" (Kirkup, 2010 p. 21). I've come across the work of Kirkup in previous MAODE modules.
 
References
 
Conole, G. (2010) ‘Facilitating new forms of discourse for learning and teaching: harnessing the power of Web 2.0 practices’, Open Learning, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 141–51.
 
Kirkup, G. (2010) ‘Academic blogging, academic practice and academic identity’, London Review of Education, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 75–84.
 

Weller, M. (2011) The Digital Scholar: How Technology is Transforming Scholarly Practice , London, Bloomsbury Academic.

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