As I have reflected, and more succinctly, incubated with my reflections these past few weeks, I have come to more fully realize and appreciate what an amazing and rare opportunity this has been. Those of us in the Moodle for Teachers Workshops have had the opportunity to accumulate and articulate a wealth of tips, techniques and tintinnabulations of blended learning methodologies.
From my personal perspective, I have accumulated unrivaled riches in the collaborations and connections that evolved throughout the three month learning journey. Social constructivism is alive and thriving in this community of learning facilitators and learners ... beyond the Moodle constructivist learning platform.
A wealth of research and application resources are contained in one compendium (glossary) that also includes explicit how-to videos, discussions and hands-on explorations ... at no cost to the curious and creative consumer. The list is growing daily as Alumni continue their collaborations and research journeys and contribute their findings for all to add to their own compendiums.
A team of amazingly patient and supportive facilitators have made the often frustrating learning journey a joyful and fun challenge. Their encouraging applause as we reached our goals helped us to reach ever further in our quests for learning new techniques and technologies.
My heartfelt thanks to all of the facilitators and colleagues who joined the journey ... while we have reached most of our immediate and current goals, journey has only just begun and the creative collaborations and contributions continue into the future ...
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
ToolTime Testing
Google Docs rocks! and Authorstream makes it potently portable
Having created my record of my SL Journey in Google Docs, it has now been published in a more portable package. I now have another notch on my Web 2.0 Toolbelt
This is my Swan Dive on this collaborative project.
Thanks to all for their support and patience.
Couki Carol's SL Journeys
Having created my record of my SL Journey in Google Docs, it has now been published in a more portable package. I now have another notch on my Web 2.0 Toolbelt
This is my Swan Dive on this collaborative project.
Thanks to all for their support and patience.
Couki Carol's SL Journeys
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Journey to Second Life
Mark Twain said that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness ~ and I love to travel !!
This is a portion of my M4T-A adventures in travel to Second Life. Take a wee bit of time and travel to Virtual Reality for some not-so-virtual learning opportunities ~
and here but one of the travell images for a visual preview ... I will follow a tad later with a film version ... moving pictures so you do not have to do the work ~
Glen Gatn invited us to build our presentation in the sandbox outside of Conviviality Corners.
This is a portion of my M4T-A adventures in travel to Second Life. Take a wee bit of time and travel to Virtual Reality for some not-so-virtual learning opportunities ~
and here but one of the travell images for a visual preview ... I will follow a tad later with a film version ... moving pictures so you do not have to do the work ~
Glen Gatn invited us to build our presentation in the sandbox outside of Conviviality Corners.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Regression for Progress as a Learning Endeavor
 |
| Progress in Play: Glen made the beautiful colored cubes; Sam made the comfortable chair to sit in; we engaged in SL Sandbox play and found so much more than we anticipated. We laughed and learned ~ Ludmila, Carol, Silvia |
 |
| See Sam's Chair; listen to and watch Carol and Silvia's book review in Second Life |
 | |||||||||||
| Glen, Ludmila, Carol, Magda, Sam and Silvia of M4T-A via IT4ALL in Second Life |
Friday, September 3, 2010
Life is our Learning Laboratory
During our formative years, it is our guardians (usually parents) and siblings that are our "models". Our surroundings and experiences are all parts of the learning process 
. It is during these times that our willingness to explore 
, to discover 
connections with the worlds around us and foster our risk taking 
and creative abilities flourish. 
And then ... the academic institution generally takes over and the process of "conformity" and reduction to more extensive elimination of creative exploration starts.
By the time we are in our teens, and beyond, most of us have lost the enthusiasm and willingness to follow creative paths; have lost the abilities to find joy in new discoveries of the familiar; to have fun learning. We have been driven to conform 
; to be controlled by social, academic and business structures. 
Second Life is an opportunity
to return to a more carefree, joyful, and less conformity driven life experience (although many choose to drag all the baggage with them anyway). We are free to explore, discover, create new personnas and businesses and redefine how we become knowledgeable and "educated". Second Life offers us a brand new laboratory for life.
Can Moodle support learners acquiring an "institution free" education?
That depends upon the Moodlers and whether they use the tools and philosophies as an outgrowth of prior learning about teaching and learning,
or, if we are willing to take risks and go where most others have not dared to go before. Moodlers have the opportunity to open education to creative exploration and discovery. Will we accept that challenge ? Or, will we return to those paths that many have come to know and be accepted by the rules and expectations of prior institutions of education.
My hope is that enough Moodlers will continue to explore, make new discoveries and add to the sense of learning as fun while we all play in the sandbox of Second Life
Thank you Glen for opening the doors and sending us out to play
Now, what might be all the ways that we can contribute to making learning fun again ?
. It is during these times that our willingness to explore , to discover connections with the worlds around us and foster our risk taking and creative abilities flourish. And then ... the academic institution generally takes over and the process of "conformity" and reduction to more extensive elimination of creative exploration starts.
By the time we are in our teens, and beyond, most of us have lost the enthusiasm and willingness to follow creative paths; have lost the abilities to find joy in new discoveries of the familiar; to have fun learning. We have been driven to conform ; to be controlled by social, academic and business structures. Second Life is an opportunity
to return to a more carefree, joyful, and less conformity driven life experience (although many choose to drag all the baggage with them anyway). We are free to explore, discover, create new personnas and businesses and redefine how we become knowledgeable and "educated". Second Life offers us a brand new laboratory for life. Can Moodle support learners acquiring an "institution free" education?
That depends upon the Moodlers and whether they use the tools and philosophies as an outgrowth of prior learning about teaching and learning, or, if we are willing to take risks and go where most others have not dared to go before. Moodlers have the opportunity to open education to creative exploration and discovery. Will we accept that challenge ? Or, will we return to those paths that many have come to know and be accepted by the rules and expectations of prior institutions of education. My hope is that enough Moodlers will continue to explore, make new discoveries and add to the sense of learning as fun while we all play in the sandbox of Second Life
Thank you Glen for opening the doors and sending us out to play
Now, what might be all the ways that we can contribute to making learning fun again ?
Moodle, Life and Learning ...
1. What does "Education" mean nowadays? What are challenges and perspectives for the future of education?
SUNY Empire State College’s dedicated faculty and staff use innovative, alternative and flexible approaches to higher education that transform people and communities by providing rigorous programs that connect individuals’ unique and diverse lives to their personal learning goals.
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
3. What is your experience with creating a Learning environment for Moodle users? Outside Moodle?
4. Suggest your ideas for creating a framework for the course design that reflect the benefits of Moodle pedagogy.
5. Create a podcast using one of your answers.
SUNY Empire State College’s dedicated faculty and staff use innovative, alternative and flexible approaches to higher education that transform people and communities by providing rigorous programs that connect individuals’ unique and diverse lives to their personal learning goals.
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
3. What is your experience with creating a Learning environment for Moodle users? Outside Moodle?
4. Suggest your ideas for creating a framework for the course design that reflect the benefits of Moodle pedagogy.
5. Create a podcast using one of your answers.
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