ETMOOC 10 Years Later: Ten wonderful things ETMOOC has done for me

 Hard to believe it has been 10 years since I first started ETMOOC.

Why after all this time do I still engage with this community and with the people I met along the way? 

Because ETMOOC was the beginning of giving me a space to learn and grow, to share ideas, to experiment fearlessly with people who were willing to let that happen. Not only let it happen, but encourage it, challenge constructed ideas of learning and open new windows to what can be a better way of learning and doing. 

It encouraged curiosity, creativity, openness and sharing, risk taking and fun! 

The first thing you have to understand about ETMOOC is the mastermind behind this course, Dr. Alec Couros, is a networking god. He got together a most superb team and enlisted the help of people everywhere to make an exciting, innovative course. It was obvious he thought very deeply about what he was trying to create and the people who supported the whole learning experience were equally onboard. 

This is not an extensive list by any means nor is it in any particular order except #1. 

1. My Professional Learning Network: This is the greatest gift I received from participating in ETMOOC. I may be a small voice in the wilderness, but the network I have grown started from the kernel sowed by my participation in ETMOOC. I have been engaged with this group for 10 years. From there to #CLMOOC and #Rhizo14, and #ccourses and #olcmooc to #TVSZ (all versions!) I've ended up interacting with amazing people that have been a part of my life since. We've all grown and changed, but we still connect. 

2. Personal Connection: It doesn't matter how often I am online, but I can still reach out to this networked group anytime I want to trial a new idea, comment about the world we live in, offer words of praise, support, enlightenment or have the same reflected back at me. Given the nature of my job and my home life, sometimes I have disappeared for months at a time. But that connection still exists. And I use it. Almost daily when I am online.

3. Self Awareness: I've learned a lot about myself as I took this 10 year ETMOOC journey, both as an educator and a student. Understood why sometimes learning new things is hard and frustrating. How sometimes that frustration is a good thing and sometimes a bad thing, especially if I allow it to turn me away from learning something new. I've also realised I am lousy at self care and won't really be good at it until I stop investing so much of my energy in my job. As a friend once said, "How are you going to use your precious energy?" So I am contemplating that a lot lately. 

4. People: As I look back at the spaces ETMOOC opened up for me, I have been lucky to interact with so many talented people. University professors, classroom educators, artists, instructional designers, graphic designers and other people who value creativity and expression. Sharing and supporting comes so naturally to people. And some of them have remained friends to this day. How often can you say, "I took this course and I still hang out with them 10 years later". Online?

5. Creativity: I enjoy creating silliness just because it is fun. Being introduced during ETMOOC to #DS106 was mind blowing for me. #DS106 Radio? A blast! I had so much fun creating sound content. Whether it was my own Halloween show, Headless DS106,  The 3Ts Cooking Show, Three Fingers of Gin for #DS106 Noir, it was all a mix of goofiness and learning how to use software like Audacity. Where would I be without it? It taught me the art of the possible with their amazing #DS106 handbook.  But also their amazing Daily Create! Do I do the Daily Create everyday? Not anymore but I love seeing what other people produce. Some of my best poetry and life reflections are on the DS106 website. Thank you Jim Groom (I am a True Friend) and Alan Levine! 

6. Being a Zombie (or a DragonBovine): #ETMOOC lead to #TVSZ. I am huge fan of games and #TVSZ 2.0-6.0 were so much fun!!! I created movies, wrote a ton, posted pictures to free myself from being eaten (or to entice people into allowing me to eat them...) and generally paid no attention to my paid employment for a few days in order to play. Created out of the fabulous brains (BrAIns!BRaInS!!!) of Pete Rorabaugh and Jesse Stommel, it was fast paced game with ever evolving rules and layers and always supported by Janine DeBaise and her students. Hugely enjoyable! 

7. The Impermanence of Software: As part of this reflection, I have been rereading my blog. So much of what I created is no longer there. Storify- shutdown 2018. Mozilla Popcorn Maker- video editing software-Is hosted at the Internet Archive as of 2016. Windows Movie Maker-Shut down in 2017. My projects didn't make it over. Piktochart is still here, and Audacity, but I am not sure what else will disappear with my content. DS106 is still there (thank goodness!) but it does make me think of the ephemeral aspects of creating. Maybe I need to learn how to be a stone mason so I can make a more permanent record. (oh wait, that doesn't necessarily last either!)

8. New Software: I have to admit I haven't kept up with all of the software changes. I think one of the reasons I do more writing and less video and photo oriented Daily Creates is I am a still a beginner with creating product using photo editing and video editing software. It takes some dedicated time for me to learn new programs and currently I have little to none. But when I finally have some breathing room (retire) I'll make the time.

9. Memories: It's been a while since I blogged. Three years. The pandemic has taken a toll and I feel like I work harder now than I ever have. Maybe it's because I've had to restart so many things, rewrite rules, review new policy, etc. It hasn't helped that my father became ill and died during the pandemic. But reading through my blog reconnected me with the joy of the journey, the giddy and heady fun of learning and creating, especially the silly stuff, when it seems I may have had a sense of humour. No ETMOOC, no blog.

But I've also recognized that I stopped writing my blog when I took my current position. I still write all the time, but it is historical, or museum related, or policy oriented, or analytical. Not for pleasure. Not for fun. I spend so much time writing that doing it for my own personal growth and enjoyment has become a thing of the past. And that is sad. 

What else is sad? I can see how safe I felt online back then. When I first got comfortable with Twitter it was a safe space. Much of the free software we were using at that time didn't seem too threatening. Now we all have to really think hard about the impact of social media on our discourse and our lives. Of how much we share. or if we should share at all. It's no longer feels like a safe space. Thanks to Chris Gilliard via Alan Levine who really opened my eyes.

10. Social Media Training: More than ever, students need to be able to  understand how they can be influenced by social media. This means that for the people in the classroom right now, student and teacher, media training is a must. We need an ETMOOC reboot more than ever. Not only how to use the software for making, but how it can be manipulated and made for creating disinformation and misinformation.

Thank you to everyone who created such hilarious, fun, illuminating and worthwhile offerings with me all those years ago. Thank you to everyone who continues to connect and share with me. Who reaches out to encourage me. You make being online uplifting. I hope I do the same for you. 

Thank you ETMOOC. You've been hugely influential on who I am today. And don't the best learning experiences always do that?

Remote Elementary and Secondary Teaching

It's been awhile so forgive me for the long post but I feel I have to write something in the age of Zoom and remote emergency teaching because I am hearing a lot of horror stories coming from parents about what has been sent home and how much screen time students at all grade levels are being asked to consume. About children crying, about parents crying and teachers too.

So let's all start by taking a deep breath. And then just read and breathe.

1) Online/remote emergency teaching is not going to mirror classroom teaching ever. So don't even think it will.

2) As a teacher, if you are relying on old lessons plans that you've used for years, stop. While the material might be solid the delivery method isn't. Forget worksheets, fill in the blank and colouring sheets.

3) How long are you expecting your students from Grade K-12 to be online? Here is a visual guide for the amount of screen time students should be consuming from all media. And you are now, as a teacher using online teaching, part of the time usage for consumed media. So don't expect to lecture for three hours to students and expect them to absorb this information. It's not going to happen.

4) Students are on lockdown. They are worried and they are scared. Their parents are worried and they are scared. And you are worried and scared. Remember everybody's emotional and mental health in this time.

So what are you going to do to deliver the curriculum?

1) Remember nested units? These are your friend. A little more complicated to deliver but much easier to have students work at from home. My advice? Nest art or ICT curriculum into every activity. Most students will find it easier to complete this way. Why art? Art actually has a huge amount of procedure and technique involved in developing competence. ICT curriculum is the same. And what is easiest to teach online? Procedure based tasks. So hang all work off of procedural based tasks. Remember when a student creates a video or audio recording of an assignment this requires creative thinking, problem solving and the understanding of procedure on their part.

2) If you are going to teach online create no more than 5 minutes of video of what you want students to learn. Show an actual example and walk your students through the procedure/task/concept you want them to master. Use lots of pictures, examples and diagrams. Send up a follow up email with all of the tasks you want then to do listed so if they didn't understand the visual /audio cues in the video, they have it in text form. If this is high school coordinate with your fellow teachers as to when an assignment is due so as not to overload anyone. Why do this rather than face to face through Zoom? Online meeting are exhausting both physically and mentally for both you and your students. By creating online videos and or PDFs this allows students and parents to make the decision on what time is right for them to do classroom work according to their schedule. And it means the student can review the video or text over and over again.

3) Use the time you were supposed to be teaching in a classroom to make one on one connections with your students and parents. Where are they having problems? Is there anything you can clarify? Be available by email, Skype or Google Hangout. Zoom unfortunately has privacy issues. Make a weekly or bi-weekly calendar and have parents and older students sign up for a 5 to 10 minute chat. Make sure you contact every student if only just to check in and maintain the bonds you have already forged.

4) Be creative. But there are lots of teacher created videos and material on the web. Not everything has to be created by you. You need to be kind to yourself too.

5) Take advantage of online supports that already exist. For instance, the National Writing Project in the USA is celebrating National Poetry Month in April.  The poetry prompts start April 6th. In Canada, Indigenous Arts and Stories provides resources for teachers at all grade levels. There are tons of great resources just waiting for you.

6) Use this time to master a few online tools that will make your life easier. Where I learned a lot of the tools I currently use now was here and here. Seven years later I am still using many of the tools that were taught in these two courses and I am still in communication with many of these brilliant people. When you look at the list of who put these courses together some of the best educational thinkers today were way ahead of the curve. It wasn't just mastering the technology, but showing how to incorporate it into my practice that was so useful. It's okay to try and fail with this stuff, because it is how we all learn.

7) Embrace the online design experience. To teach online content you need to be very clear in your own mind about what the outcome is to be. What do you want the students to learn? Good online design means thinking about what you want to achieve first, then how are you going to measure that achievement and then creating the content that will get students to the place they need to be. It will actually improve your face to face classroom teaching when you get back.

And if your stuck? Don't know what to do or how to do it? Sign up on Twitter. And then post a tweet to someone in the #etmooc #clmooc world. A Great Teacher will get back to you soonest and help. I know. I reach out to them all the time.

Be safe and stay at home. 

Etmooc Third Anniversary Challenge Part 2

Okay, I love Etmooc and how it continues to morph and change. Just read a post from Alan Levine (two posts actually) and as usual they were a hoot! The CMOOC that wouldn't die! and the accompanying poster looking at the long life of Etmooc. Well, there is a reason for that and today's nominee is one of those reasons.

Rhonda Jessen has influenced my thinking, kept me engaged (even when I want to curl up under a blanket and read rather than post) and is one of the founders of Post Etmooc, a fellow zombie and a DS106 cooking partner.

Little did I know when I started Etmooc, that I would find a great educator to share the experience of immersing myself in multiple online communities. Sometimes I think that is the secret to collaborative learning; that of finding not necessarily like minded people, but people who are willing and giving of themselves, to share an exploratory journey fearlessly. Three years later I know I can send an email and ask, "Do you have time to do a radio show?" "Feel like being a zombie this weekend?" or a "I am swamped and can't make it!" and know that I will get an encouraging response. This has been especially important this year as I have not been engaged online as much as in the past. Knowing that I can still reach out, even after a few months of no contact, allows me to be present fully in both the physical and digital space without it impacting negatively on each other, without stressing about performance and participation. Once again, it comes down to remaining engaged positively and keeping a good life balance.

Thank you Rhonda for that positive engagement!

Etmooc Third Anniversary Challenge Part 1

So Susan has sent us all a challenge.

My first selection is Alan Levine and his post All A-mazing.

Why this post and this Etmoocer?

First because this post speaks to me about the importance, not just of elementary teachers and the first years at school, but the power of setting goals for students and demonstrating that you, as a teacher, believe that every student can succeed and meet goals with support, encouragement and love. I truly believe that this magic formula works. I saw it happen in the schools I taught in. I also saw when it didn't happen, when teachers didn't embrace the joy of learning, or as the blog mentions, when teachers have discouraging, self-defeating outlooks about their students.

Students all know when you don't think much of them.

Second, Alan Levine was a presenter in Etmooc and introduced us all to DS106. I'd like to say that I DS106 everyday (I don't, wish I did!) but I value the time I do spend on any project with fellow DS106ers, particularly radio projects! He has been generous with his time to his students and fellow DS106ers and is a living, breathing embodiment of all of the great qualities a teacher should have. Thank you Alan.

Finally, this post struck a chord with me because I didn't have a Miss Apple Daisy of a teacher for Grade 1, in fact I had one of the discouraging types of teachers. I never have forgotten her name. And maybe it is time I say "thank you" to Mrs. Lynch because I have made sure throughout my teaching career (and all of its twists and turns) that I teach in a positive, uplifting manner and respect my students and their learning.

Why I am Headless this fall

Yesterday I posted about Design Thinking Action Lab on the last day of that particular course. I didn't get as much out of it as I had hoped. However, I have enormously high expectations of Headless DS106. Why? Because I've been mucking about on the sidelines of DS106 even before I took ETMOOC. I try to do the Daily Creates when I have the opportunity as it's fun, stimulates my creativity and I'm always amazed and delighted at the creativity of others. I do the writing assignments, I occasionally do the photo assignments and I rarely do the video assignments. This is a reflection of both my access to the tools for these various creates and my level of comfort with each of the methods of creation. And I have no clue about how to do radio but I will learn! (I'm still figuring how to take/make video with my new laptop for example and my desktop computer is still sitting in pieces. I don't even have my desk up yet let alone my clothes in my drawers. And please let's not talk about my kitchen and bathrooms-I'm still waiting for countertops!)

I've been dipping in and out of the DS106 daily creates and assignments off and on this year, flirting with making the commitment to an actual course, but after reading and watching Christina Hendricks have such a blast with DS106zone, I knew that I would sign up for the next offering of DS106. At this point, with my house still in shambles, I can't guarantee how much time I can put into the course but that's the beauty of open education- I won't have to feel guilty for not getting everything done, nor am I constrained by set deadlines. It's very liberating. And that makes learning much more pleasurable.

So here's to being headless for the next few months!