Connected Education | Read Write Collect

Bookmarked i am sorry by Pernille Ripp (Pernille Ripp)

So it is time for me to step back a bit. To do less work publicly, to share less, to not be so immediately available. To be just Pernille, the person who doesn’t have all of the answers necessarily. That only creates something because she cannot help it. That gives all of her when she is in a public space, but then steps back when she is private.

Pernille Ripe reflects on life as a connected educator. She discusses the stress, anxieties and perceived responsibilities that come with being an educelebrity. Although we often talk about the technicalities associated with being (digitally) literate, what is sometimes overlooked are the social consequences. This is something that Austin Kleon also recently reflected upon.

Liked The Disconnect amid so much Connection by Sherri Spelic (edifiedlistener)

Let’s stay connected and let’s address the core of the topic: how do we help each other achieve our professional best? Whether in person, on the phone, by e-mail, or online, let our connection, above all, be human, compassionate and genuine.

Liked The Edublogger’s Guide To Global Collaboration (The Edublogger)

Like the idea of connecting with classes around the world but not sure where to begin? Our new guide breaks down different entry points with lots of tips and ideas!

Bookmarked Open Web Stories – for DMLL @ Coventry (Reflecting Allowed)

On the open web, we implicitly consent to more than I think we mean to.

Maha Bali reflects on her open education story. This involves responding to three questions:

What does the open web mean to you?
Why should we care about the open web?
Who are you?

She talks about the challenges of doing a PhD remotely, participation in MOOCs such as Rhizo14 and the creation of Virtually Connecting. She also shares some of the limits to open education, especially in regards to those who are vulnerable.

Bookmarked Communities or networks? – Matthew Esterman – Medium by Matthew Esterman (Medium)

The most useful network or community is the one you can build with your immediate team and colleagues in your school. They’re in the context and in the ‘know’. They’re accountable with you and they know the support structures — especially if it’s them — and can act on them. If you don’t feel you’re getting that support, find a mentor outside the context and learn to build relationships within. We need to be an active participant in those networks we choose to belong.

Matt Esterman reflects on the place of associations. Beyond reviewing our assumed attendances to such communities, Esterman recommends forming local networks. I have tried this in the past. The challenge I found with ‘local’ is catching up and being proactive.

Replied to Writing to connect: knowing the “other” outside time & space (Reflecting Allowed)

Writing across each other’s blogs, I love how in some MOOCs, when people are focused on the same topic, one writes a post connecting ideas from multiple other posts, taking the ideas further, grabbing comments from elsewhere, and making something new, then recycling the ideas again. It’s a kind of “distributed” collaborative writing.

This is an intriguing reflection Maha. I like your points about writing across blogs, as well as connecting beyond ourselves. The one question I was left wondering is whether you would right the same post now? I too have written myself about the benefits of connected education. With both posts written a few years ago, I wonder if anything has changed? Would you still have the same outlook?

Bookmarked The True Power of Technology (pernillesripp.com)

the true power in technology is not just the readiness. The skills. The playing around with tools to create something impossible. It is the power to be seen. To not be alone. To feel that in the world, someone values you. That someone out there gets you.

A like your point Pernille. My only concern is that connections are not always guaranteed. As Bill Ferriter explains in regards to audience, connections are not a given, especially when we expect them to have certain comments. Here I am reminded of Clive Thompson’s argument about it being harder to write for ten than ten thousand:

Going from an audience of zero to an audience of ten is so big that it’s actually huger than going from ten people to a million.

Although connections are powerful, it is important to not over-hype the hoped for outcomes. All that we can do is create the conditions for comments. A point Kathleen Morris makes.

Replied to The path to Twitter is paved with … by IaninSheffield (Marginal Notes)

Can you remember the route by which you came to use Twitter to support your professional learning?

Ian, your post (and visual) raised many questions. I think my own experience of Twitter was somewhat multi-pronged. There was quite a bit of inadvertent nudging, during a course on thinking, while I also had a few friends on it. I have documented a part of my story here, as well as created a short video documenting it:

I really wonder if it is ever one thing, rather than an assemblage of parts. This has me thinking about blogging as well and how the take up of Twitter might compare with the early days of educational blogging? Would there be similarities? Do these things change? Would someone starting out on their path now be different to yourself starting out in 2009? How does it differ from a wider discussion of connected education? Always so many questions.

Replied to Detritus and Debris: Weeding My Social Networks (dogtrax.edublogs.org)

My criteria was: does I recognize this name, even remotely? Do I ever see or notice this person in my timeline? If not, the likely result was an unfollow. I haven’t yet made it to the bottom of my follower list, so more are likely to go.

Thank you Kevin for providing the impetus to weed my account. There is so much written about leaving Twitter and although I am not at that point, I have been feeling somewhat indifferent about it of late, so it was good to stop and reflect.

For so long I followed any educator who followed me. It just seemed right. But I have noted the consequence within spaces like Nuzzel. Although I have used lists in the past, but with my tendency to use Twitter on my phone, this can be tedious.

I went through and removed two thirds of follows. I basically kept those who I have had some conversation and connection with. I am not sure what difference this might make to how I use Twitter, especially with my dive into the #Indieweb. Time will tell.