CCK08 - Groups and Networks

I have been a really bad student lately. I have missed too many live meetings, skipped too many readings and I haven't been blogging for a long time. True, I had a problem with Technorati - they didn't update my posts regularly and I only realised that when I couldn't find my latest post under CCK08.
I have resolved my problems with Technorati now (or so I hope) and I am ready to blog again. Plus, I would really like to sink my teeth into the groups and networks issue. I have recently read Group Dynamics in the Language Classroom by Zoltan Dornyei and Tim Murphey. I loved the book and I must admit I have been using some of the techniques to better manage my classes.
The book argues that a coherent group is considered to be a good thing in the classroom. It raises student motivation and helps resolve discipline issues. It is all about cooperation and focusing on the common goal - in this case learning.
Of course, the learning context is completely different on the Internet. I guess what we have in CCK08 is not a group, but a network - over 2000 people who don't know each other at all, but are willing to learn from each other and discuss different issues. This is great for introverts like myself, who don't need to belong in order to learn. Yet, this way of learning might be too aloof for some people.
Groups go through four stages of formation before they become coherent: Norming, Storming, Forming and Performing. Observing our CCK08 network, I can see there is a lot of norming going on (what exactly is connectivism, what is the difference between networks and groups, etc.). I can also see a lot of storming, but I'd rather not go into that. So, what if a network is a group which got stuck in the norming stage? If this is the case, how do we stop networks from evolving into groups? And is it always a good idea to do so?

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Motivation

What can connectivism do for me

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CCK08 - What can connectivism do for me?

I have been trying to write a post on connectivism for a week. I am new to connectivism and I am still struggling with the concept. So I am not going to write about the theoretical part. Instead, I am going to talk about why I am here.
I started the course out of shear FOMS (Fear of Missing Something) that so many compulsive online students have. I am a Webhead and, when more and more Webheads started joining the course, my FOMS became acute. Once I hit the Join button, I started suffering from another fear I am familiar with – the Fear that I Won’t Be Good Enough (no abbreviations here). But what connectivism is all about, as far as I understand it, is joining, connecting to others and choosing (or letting your brain choose) what you will learn. As a teacher, I am aware that what I teach will be very different from what each individual student will write down and what they write down will be very different from what they will learn. But the end product will be the same – they will (hopefully) be able to speak English more or less fluently. So, no matter how they choose to travel – on foot, or by a racing car – they’ll eventually get there. But to be able to understand in more detail what it feels like to be on the road is really useful for the teacher. So, that’s one thing I am hoping to get from connectivism.
Secondly, it seems to me that connectivism offers tools for dealing with the information overload that we are suffering from nowadays. Because of new technology, the way we are learning has changed, whether we are willing to admit it or not.
Finally, there are the social networks themselves. The reason why I am such a big fan of new technology is that it enables us to form connections with other people that will no longer be based on geography, but on our true interests.

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Groups and Networks
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Van Gogh's Museum in Second Life

Now I understand how embedding works

My Global Neighbourhood

When I was a little girl, television sets were not a common thing. It was quite usual for the whole neighbourhood to gather in front of a single TV. We had a TV and we always had guests when there were important events - football games, figure skating, Saturday night comedy programs and music competitions. And when there was a good film on, the people gathered in front of the TV set would comment on the film.

On Saturday evening a couple of Webheads gathered in Tapped In and watched Pangea Day together. We commented on the films and the music. The emotions and images on the screen spoke a universal language of love, hatred, pain, friendship, fear and more love. Each film was a masterpiece. The music was lovely. The highlight of my evening was "the heartbeat of the world" - an amazing global drum circle. Imagine drummers from all over the world performing at the same time. That was the moment when I really felt the presence of all those people on the Internet who were watching the event at the same time.

Yes, images are a powerful weapon. Can they bring us closer? Can they help us to see the world through the eyes of the people living at the other side of the globe? Well, there is hope. I am old enough to remember Live Aid and, while it didn't solve the problem of famine overnight, it did help. The real problem is that those who need to learn from events like these never watch them. I am sure that everyone sitting in front of their computers that night already knew that "people are the same wherever you go", as the good old song says.

Still, if we keep telling each other stories, singing to each other, laughing and crying together, we might wake up one morning and find out that our world has changed overnight. Call me a dreamer, but keep those films coming.

Other posts about the Webheads:

My online seminars

I have graduated as a Webhead

How to become a Webhead
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Technorati Tags: Pangea Day, WebheadsinAction

Motivation

I need to prepare a short talk on motivation for my school, so, if you don't mind, I'll think aloud here.
Motivation is a difficult topic. On a good day, motivation should be seen, not heard. You are a really good teacher, right? Right. You always prepare your classes thoroughly, right? Right. So, your students are always motivated, all of them, right?
We all know this is not always the case. Teachers are often ashamed to talk about this problem, because, more often than not, they blame themselves.
How do you know your students are not motivated?
You walk into the classroom full of enthusiasm. You have been preparing your class the previous night and you have a killer activity that's going to fascinate them. Or it is an old activity, the one that's never failed you. Everything seems to be working fine on the surface, but by the end of the class, you, the teacher, are bored to death. In your own class. That's how you know. If this happens once, or even twice, you shouldn't worry much. Maybe they are tired or it is spring time and they are all in love. If it keeps happening, though, you probably have a class that has a problem with motivation.
There are different reasons for this, of course, and sometimes it is hard to find out what the problem is. I believe that, to motivate a particularly unmotivated class, you first have to find out why they are not motivated. A possible list of reasons:
1. Maybe they don't really want to be there at all. Maybe someone - their parents or their employers - want them to learn the language. Maybe all they want is a diploma.
2. They expect too much. They want to be fluent by the end of their elementary course, they want everything at once. And they thought it would be easy.
3. The course is too difficult for them. They refuse to go one course below the one they are attending (sometimes even two courses below), because they believe that, with hard work, they'll catch up.
4. The course is too easy for them, but again, they won't listen to you.
5. They want you to teach them. Whether they learn or not is your responsibility, not theirs.
6. The classmates don't like each other too much. I am fascinated by group dynamics and it is interesting to watch how everything in the class changes if there is a new student or if one or two students leave the class.
7. They don't come to their classes regularly. They usually have a good reason for this, but it is a big problem.
8. They don't have enough time to study at home.
The list goes on.
Now that we have defined our enemy, we should start working on the solution.
So, how do you motivate a particularly unmotivated class?
End of part one.
In the meantime, feel free to add your ideas and comments here.

You can see Part Two here.

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Groups and Networks
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Technorati Tags: Blogging4Educators, Motivation

My First Voicethread Message

Hi. Long time, no blog. My mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything worthwhile to blog about. I was thinking of inflicting injuries on myself, so that I could get blogging ideas.
I did something very similar. I recorded my voice. I used Voicethread and the software part is all right, but...
I lived under the illusion that I had this very pleasant, melodious, deep voice. Only yesterday someone at the Zoo told me I sang beautifully (Yes, I am afraid I sang at the Zoo). So, after such a compliment, I decided I should finally tackle Week 4 assignment. I left a short listening comprehension exercise in my class blog (Coffee Time).
Somebody should have told me I had a lisp before. I would have refrained from speaking in public. I mean, of course I knew about the lisp. What I didn't know was that I actually sound like Daffy Duck.
Our time on Earth is short. The idea was that we should spend it listening to ourselves through that beautiful resonance box our body creates. So what business do we have recording ourselves?
Lucky I didn't try leaving a singing Voicethread message.
By the way, I didn't know how to post Voicethread as a regular message, so I added it to the footer of my page. There has to be a way, but I haven't worked it out.

You might also like: My first Podomatic podcast
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