Week 25: Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning and Community


Announcements

Knowledge, Learning and Community: Elements of Effective Learning
Recording from Stephen Downes's presentation delivered to Change 11 Online Course, Moncton, via Blackboard Collaborate. week25
[Slides]
[Audio]
[]Elluminate Recording]

Week 25: Stephen Downes
This week we welcome Stephen Downes to the #Change11 open online course. week25

Stephen Downes is a senior researcher for Canada's National Research Council and a leading proponent of the use of online media and services in education. As the author of the widely-read OLDaily online newsletter, Downes has earned international recognition for his leading-edge work in the field of online learning.

There will be two online sessions this week:

Wednesday February 29 at 12 noon Eastern (Check your time zone)

Wednesday: We will talk about the implications of the principles outlines in this introduction. In particular, we will describe the elements of language, the principles for effective communities, and the pedagogy of connectivism.

Friday March 2 at 12 noon eastern (Check your time zone)

Friday: We will receive and discuss your activities for this week. Participants will be asked to present their artifacts, as described below. Then we will discuss them from the perspective of the principles discussed on Wednesday.

Both sessions will be held here.

Week 25 Activities
1. Create a learning artifact

Keep your learning artifact simple and to the point. For example, describe how to add two numbers. Describe how to use Mr. Potato-head. Describe the major cities of France.

2. Present your learning artifact

The simpler your artifact is, the easier this section will be. In the presentation of the artifact, consider explicitly the three major elements and how communication talks place throughout them:

- How does your learning artifact instantiate knowledge? And what is the knowledge the artifact represents? Focus not simply on the statement or expression of that knowledge, but also on the organization that constitutes a deeper and more complex knowledge.

- How does a student use your artifact to learn? In what way does the artifact replicate or emulate the experience and performance of a person who already has this knowledge?

- What is the community around that knowledge – is it a community of language speakers, or practitioners, of adherents of a faith? What would characterize the community – does it revolve around an object, set of beliefs, way of looking at the world? How does the community learn?

On Friday I will ask participants to present their knowledge artifacts. At that time, in addition to considering the three elements described here, I will consider the artifact in the light of the principles introduced and discussed on Wednesday. week25

Resources

Knowledge, Learning and Community Article by Stephen Downes February 27, 2012
These three are intended to be represented as a cycle. Knowledge informs learning; what we learn informs community; and the community in turn creates knowledge. And the reverse: knowledge builds community, while community defines what is learned, and what is learned becomes knowledge. week25

Stephen Downes: Resources
Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, February 27, 2012.

The Purpose of Learning
The Role of the Educator
Deinstitutionalizing Education
Agents Provocateurs
What Is Democracy In Education
A World To Change
Connectivism and Transculturality
An Operating System for the Mind
The Cloud and Collaboration
Critical Thinking in the Classroom
The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On week25