Thursday, April 16, 2009
OLE
This weeks readings proved very enlightening to me. My project is to develop a "lesson plan" on the Oklahoma Career Tech's LMS, icat, to present how to change learning activity packages (LAP) into a online learning environment. I knew that the text from Bonk & KeZhang would prove to be very useful to me and I read Chapter 5 : reflective and observational learners, to enable me to better create online discussion forums, and Chapter 7 to help me better understand what steps visual learners would benefit from. But the additional readings not only helped me better understand the process of changing a LAP into a online learning environment but also helped me better understand the dynamics of the self-paced PN program I work with. Bernice McCarthy best explained the retention problems I have tried to understand, by stating (in the 4MAT system) dynamic learners are primarily interested in self directed discovery. Could the retention problems my nursing school faces be related to the strength of steps in LAPS and how it relates to the other types of learners? We have always attempted to address different learning styles, but this article made me think differently about how LAPS are put together, and thus, how my online learning environment would be developed. The overview of OLE components and design heuristics was very instrumental in assisting me in this final project. This project meets a real need in technology education. Most programs in the state use LAPS as an instructional design. To have a template to assist in turning them into an OLE will be a good addition if done properly. I look forward to my classmates critique!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
my virtual community
Well, here we are blogging about our virtual community. I have put my objectives into blogs before, but as this conversation has progressed, I see that MAYBE my objectives are to broad to do a good job. In fact in this week's readings I have determined I am very unsure about my objectives completely. But wait, I get ahead of myself. First the task analysis. In chapter 4 of Morrison, Kemp and Ross I have identified the steps I need to conduct a solid task analysis. My global objective is to deliver professional development to my technology center and the 10 partner high schools in our district. From chapter 4 I think I need to work through a task analysis an a topic analysis. Beginning with the instructional goals derived from the definition of the instructional problem, I would say the goal is to deliver prof. dev. in an easily accessible form, ( online as opposed to face to face, taking time away from prep for first day of class) and to stimulate interest in the school improvement process. But I will learn more from a learner analysis. One neat feature that is offered ( as a generic assessment ) is the "comfort zone" assessment. The LMS I am using offers a generic prof. dev. assessment about how comfortable the person is in 11 different categories. This will help my topic analysis. I particularly enjoyed the section of chapter 4 that discussed how to be prepared to work with the SME. Then moving into objectives. I am unsure how to correct write the objectives for this training. There will be cognitive ( classroom management ) psycho motor ( fire safety ) and affective ( customer service ). This section will be a challenge. Finally the sequencing of the material. This chapter struck me as similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In professional development if the teacher cannot do the simple foundational classroom tasks, they are not concerned with how to provide advanced educational tasks or technology like SenseMaker or any of the other advanced classroom ideas we have seen in this course. I'll stick to one of the last comments in this section of reading "your task analysis will provide a general outline" and go from there. Comments?
Monday, March 9, 2009
summary
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Oops! I posted my summary as a reply.
In reading posts I keep going back to how these educational strategies could be used in nursing education. Then while working on my nursing ed. project I ran across these two articles. Ohio State University College of Nursing has constructed a virtual community called Mirror Lake. This community contains Mirror Lake Medical Center a virtual hospital.The hospital contains a fully automated electronic medical record and other technologies to enhance the student's abiltiy to learn in new and contemporary ways (Curran et al, 2009). Also featured in the Journal of Nursing Education February 09 issue was an article about using constructivist strategies in nursing education. These articles brought full circle this weeks discussion. We have all been able to verbalize the stratagies for 3-D learning and the constructivist theory based in de Jong's article, to visualize them in practice in our individual areas of expertise was a piece of the puzzle I had yet to grasp. As we have a good number of nursing ed. majors in this class I wanted to point out these articles.
Building a Virtual Community for Nursing Education: The Town of Mirror Lake. Journal of Nursing Education, January 2009
Constructivist Strategies in Online Distance Education in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, February 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Games and Simulations
Whew! what a week. In reading the required chapter Games and Simulations in Online Learning I reviewed some valuable information about the foundation for interactive or computer based learning. 3-D technologies have formed a basis for learning in the context of a online social environment in which the students share the role of creators and consumers of knowledge and learning. Following a constructivist theory, creating online social environments promotes equalities of communication and interactions, a key factor in learning. Transformation from individual participant to central member of community through apprenticeship and increased participation also plays a key role in supporting the social interactions among the community members. The theoretical rationales underlying this pedagogy is based on social constructivism. In this theory, knowledge is viewed as a human product and learning is a social process, meaningful learning occurs when people are engaged in social activities. The use of 3-D technologies basically turn learning into fun! Although authentic tasks must be developed to engage students, educational goals are achieved through the social web constructed by the community.
I also chose to read Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains as my second assignment. In this reading the use of simulations is discussed. Simulations are good interventions for the constructivist learner. Following Gesalt theory that a correlation exists between conscious experience and learning, computer simulations are useful tools in the knowledge acquisistion process. The instructional support that is neccessary include: Direct access to fundamental information required to do the simulation or experiment, support in hypothosis generation, desing of experiments, making predictions, support for regulative learning processes such as model progression, planning support, moniterinig support, and structuring the sicovery process. All of these supports are needed to make the discovery process valid.
I also chose to read Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains as my second assignment. In this reading the use of simulations is discussed. Simulations are good interventions for the constructivist learner. Following Gesalt theory that a correlation exists between conscious experience and learning, computer simulations are useful tools in the knowledge acquisistion process. The instructional support that is neccessary include: Direct access to fundamental information required to do the simulation or experiment, support in hypothosis generation, desing of experiments, making predictions, support for regulative learning processes such as model progression, planning support, moniterinig support, and structuring the sicovery process. All of these supports are needed to make the discovery process valid.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
reflective summary
I work in a Technology Center, that is, a school for technical based education that is related, in my case, to ten partner high schools. We provide secondary education and post secondary education in a rural area of south central Oklahoma. I see a lot of professional development, which in the past may have been done by attending seminars, be cut due to statewide budget reductions. In reading our texts I have envisioned a virtual professional development community that serves rural secondary schools, based in our technology center. In joining Tapped In, in response to the first assignment in this class, I enthusiastically envisioned how a community similar to this would benefit the schools my technology center serves. At first I thought it was possible to all join Tapped In and use rooms for the service I imagined. But I think the constraints of utilizing a structured existing community would hinder the outcome as opposed to using a tailor made community that would benefit the schools in rural Oklahoma. Hence I began dreaming of an ideal virtual learning community.
The virtual community would address issues that are important to rural Oklahoma schools. These topics might include:
Community sharing on how to improve instruction in the three main areas of English, Math, Science. The move to require Oklahoma high school students to pass End of Instruction (EOI) tests in these areas to graduate is ongoing. This initiative is also going to include mandatory remediation for students who do not meet the expected level of achievement. From this you might develop remediation programs that students could access.
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) initiatives for the High Schools That Work (HSTW) ten key practices.
North Central Association, (NCA) school improvement processes.
Required in service activities such as safety, blood borne pathogens, multi-cultural sensitivity, bullying and material safety data sheets (MSDS). These requirements are annual or semi-annual for any school employee. To provide this information in a shared environment would be a service that schools could employ.
The target audience would be secondary instructors from our ten partner schools, although many topics could relate to middle or elementary instructors. In addition, specific in service topics may be of interest to health care facilities or other industry that is required to provide annual training on specific topics. Providing information that matters and utilizing collaborative learning are two indices that makes virtual learning communities effective (Renninger and Shumar, 2002).
To build a virtual learning community you must take into consideration four design details: support the actual practices and daily tasks of the participants; collect experiences and represent them in an accessible and equitable manner; provide a framework to guide the learning process; represent the identities of the community members (Renninger and Shumar, 2002). This relates to the questions in section (b) of this reflective summary. The virtual community I have proposed must meet the needs of the community participants. To do this a needs assessment should be performed. From this needs assessment goals can be developed which would define the purpose of the learning community. Although a needs assessment could prove to change the original goal, I see the purpose would be to improve professional development, assist our partner schools in meeting state mandated requirements and provide a collaborative environment to improve instruction overall. Leadership would be provided through the technology center with structure provided from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and partnering institutions such as SREB and NCA. Throughout our discussions, this class has cemented the idea that a virtual community must provide interesting, timely, accurate information actively led by someone with sound technological ability and the freedom to commit time to the community.
The readings and discussions this class has offered has helped me conceptualize this idea. Entering this class I could visualize classes, such as the ones I have taking with my masters program, existing on-line, but that was the extent of the concept of on line learning. Beginning with MediaMOO, moving through the study of social and professional development communities, use of virtual space opened up new possibilities. The contrast to the physical world, the lack of context in the virtual world enables imagination, identity and the kind of valuing that deepens interest and enables knowledge building (Renninger and Shumar, 2002). The readings defined success as in the discussion of communities of practice like Tapped In and discussed failures. Success and failure was very succinctly compared by discussion of the Huron Public School system in CSCL 2 by Koschmann, Hall and Miyake. In addition the classes’ summarization solidified the ideas that success is build upon interest, knowledge and time. I look forward to continuing this conversation and my efforts expanding the idea of virtual community for rural Oklahoma schools.
The virtual community would address issues that are important to rural Oklahoma schools. These topics might include:
Community sharing on how to improve instruction in the three main areas of English, Math, Science. The move to require Oklahoma high school students to pass End of Instruction (EOI) tests in these areas to graduate is ongoing. This initiative is also going to include mandatory remediation for students who do not meet the expected level of achievement. From this you might develop remediation programs that students could access.
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) initiatives for the High Schools That Work (HSTW) ten key practices.
North Central Association, (NCA) school improvement processes.
Required in service activities such as safety, blood borne pathogens, multi-cultural sensitivity, bullying and material safety data sheets (MSDS). These requirements are annual or semi-annual for any school employee. To provide this information in a shared environment would be a service that schools could employ.
The target audience would be secondary instructors from our ten partner schools, although many topics could relate to middle or elementary instructors. In addition, specific in service topics may be of interest to health care facilities or other industry that is required to provide annual training on specific topics. Providing information that matters and utilizing collaborative learning are two indices that makes virtual learning communities effective (Renninger and Shumar, 2002).
To build a virtual learning community you must take into consideration four design details: support the actual practices and daily tasks of the participants; collect experiences and represent them in an accessible and equitable manner; provide a framework to guide the learning process; represent the identities of the community members (Renninger and Shumar, 2002). This relates to the questions in section (b) of this reflective summary. The virtual community I have proposed must meet the needs of the community participants. To do this a needs assessment should be performed. From this needs assessment goals can be developed which would define the purpose of the learning community. Although a needs assessment could prove to change the original goal, I see the purpose would be to improve professional development, assist our partner schools in meeting state mandated requirements and provide a collaborative environment to improve instruction overall. Leadership would be provided through the technology center with structure provided from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and partnering institutions such as SREB and NCA. Throughout our discussions, this class has cemented the idea that a virtual community must provide interesting, timely, accurate information actively led by someone with sound technological ability and the freedom to commit time to the community.
The readings and discussions this class has offered has helped me conceptualize this idea. Entering this class I could visualize classes, such as the ones I have taking with my masters program, existing on-line, but that was the extent of the concept of on line learning. Beginning with MediaMOO, moving through the study of social and professional development communities, use of virtual space opened up new possibilities. The contrast to the physical world, the lack of context in the virtual world enables imagination, identity and the kind of valuing that deepens interest and enables knowledge building (Renninger and Shumar, 2002). The readings defined success as in the discussion of communities of practice like Tapped In and discussed failures. Success and failure was very succinctly compared by discussion of the Huron Public School system in CSCL 2 by Koschmann, Hall and Miyake. In addition the classes’ summarization solidified the ideas that success is build upon interest, knowledge and time. I look forward to continuing this conversation and my efforts expanding the idea of virtual community for rural Oklahoma schools.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
case study #1
Part A
This case study represents a compare and contrast view of two virtual communities, one with predominately social aspects and one with educational intent. I choose to research the virtual community known as “Second Life”. I wanted to look at a social network that was completely new to me and in reviewing the home page of the suggested sites I found Second Life intriguing. I did recreate myself as an avatar and join the community. I found maneuvering in the virtual world difficult, it would be a very timely endeavor to understand the entire process as in Second Life you can own property, build houses or businesses and make real and virtual money. While most of the time I did observe, I did chat with several of the other avatars in the couldn’t visualize and have a perception of their true self.
Second Life is a virtual world where people can interact. This interaction can be in the form of entertainment, exploration, and education. Although Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life recently hosted an Educational Support Faire, education didn’t seem to be a primary focus. My avatar was placed in a bar after completing her origination. The opening page states “(Second Life) is a global community where creativity, collaboration, commerce, and entertainment exist”. It appears that entertainment is the main purpose of the site. The goals of the participants were not easily identified but the stated goals of the creators are to bridge cultures, welcome diversity through free expression, compassion and tolerance. Imagination, opportunities and possibilities are innumerous. The characteristics I observed were dominated by the avatar’s actions acting outside of real world land boundaries and social boundaries.
The virtual community of Second Life appears to have no formal structure although in the marketplace you can sell and buy merchandise. This would lead you to believe there is some hierarchical structure similar to the real world, perhaps based upon the amount of land or businesses you own. Second Life operates on virtual dollars, the Linden dollar, and United States dollars (in the form of a credit card). USD is necessary for real estate purchase as well as purchases from people who have written technology programs to enhance your avatar. Communication within the Second Life community is accomplished through chatting, i.e. dialog boxes, as well as audio dialog. Interaction is possible through an amazing number of events and sites. I observed chatting occurring in different languages which surprised me. In checking the details I noted that 74,935 people were logged on at that time.
In reading the blogs regarding the community, it is supported and organized by a technologically capable staff. There was discussion regarding “grid stability”, particularly during high usage periods. It appeared that continual attempts at developing a large variety of interactions including educational activities.
Overall the experience I had entering the world of Second Life was unusual. I can see where it could become time consuming and possibly addicting to reside in a place where real world boundaries did not exist. The implications of this type of community are complicated. I can see where it would have an isolation factor in that you are not actually with other people, but also it could expand knowledge and experiences you are able to experience. The effect this type of game playing has on society will be interesting.
Part B
The second type of virtual community I chose to review was Tapped In. In reading the text Building Virtual Communities by Renninger and Shumar, I had an immediate interest in a community of educators whose mission was professional development. I did register and attempted to sit in on several meetings. The attendance was low and I did not find any conversations or interactions in these “classes”. I was immediately greeted in the reception room and found maneuvering within the site easy. This first impression of this community was that it was professional and goal oriented. Tapped In is defined as a Community of Practice as it is composed of people who are engaged in education and have a desire for professional development above what is required by their institution.
Tapped In is a practice based community that has been in existence for over a decade. Its purpose or goal is to “engage in professional development programs and informal collaborative activities with colleagues.” Tapped In accomplishes these tasks by employing the assistance of professional organizations such as Pepperdine and by organizing educators within the organization to build programs and presentations that have value and meaning to other educators. Any member of Tapped In can form a group which can perform tasks, communicate ideas or have dialog for the purpose of sharing information. This makes the opportunities and possibilities endless within the realm of the mission of Tapped In.
The structure of Tapped In includes a hierarchy of administrator and staff members that can alter the platform. The members can form groups that meet their particular needs which provides for growth and reinvention of the community. The activities of the site define what the community looks like and is constantly changing. I viewed the calendar one week and it predominantly had topics related to K-12, while the next time I viewed it had administrative topics such as “teach the teacher” and technology center topics as well.
A technological feature of the site from the user standpoint was that it was an easy platform to move about in. I did not try to create a group, but was impressed with the help feature which assisted me greatly in determining how to utilize the site. Farooq et. al state that the four main features that help sustain Tapped In are:. Build flexible, extensible gathering places, create and maintain feedback loops, facilitate member-run subgroups, develop a strong leadership program and design for a range of roles within the community.
Community developers work with on line leaders to support and improve their interactions and collaborative learning efforts. Tapped In has a wide range of services to both the group leaders and members all which help support the community and fulfill its mission.
Tapped In is a community of practice with researched, proven tactics. Its usability and flexibility are features that should ensure the life of the virtual community. The only suggestion I can provide is that the group leaders could be identified by either institution or area of expertise. This would better enable users to choose activities that best suit their needs. Overall Tapped In is a wealth of information and collaborative sites for educators.
Farooq, U., Schank, P., Harris, A., Fusco, J. & Schlager, M. (2007). Sustaining a community computing infrastructure for online teacher professional development: A case study of designing Tapped In. Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 16(4-5), 397-429. Norwell, MA: Klewer Academic Publishers. Retrieved February 5, 2009
This case study represents a compare and contrast view of two virtual communities, one with predominately social aspects and one with educational intent. I choose to research the virtual community known as “Second Life”. I wanted to look at a social network that was completely new to me and in reviewing the home page of the suggested sites I found Second Life intriguing. I did recreate myself as an avatar and join the community. I found maneuvering in the virtual world difficult, it would be a very timely endeavor to understand the entire process as in Second Life you can own property, build houses or businesses and make real and virtual money. While most of the time I did observe, I did chat with several of the other avatars in the couldn’t visualize and have a perception of their true self.
Second Life is a virtual world where people can interact. This interaction can be in the form of entertainment, exploration, and education. Although Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life recently hosted an Educational Support Faire, education didn’t seem to be a primary focus. My avatar was placed in a bar after completing her origination. The opening page states “(Second Life) is a global community where creativity, collaboration, commerce, and entertainment exist”. It appears that entertainment is the main purpose of the site. The goals of the participants were not easily identified but the stated goals of the creators are to bridge cultures, welcome diversity through free expression, compassion and tolerance. Imagination, opportunities and possibilities are innumerous. The characteristics I observed were dominated by the avatar’s actions acting outside of real world land boundaries and social boundaries.
The virtual community of Second Life appears to have no formal structure although in the marketplace you can sell and buy merchandise. This would lead you to believe there is some hierarchical structure similar to the real world, perhaps based upon the amount of land or businesses you own. Second Life operates on virtual dollars, the Linden dollar, and United States dollars (in the form of a credit card). USD is necessary for real estate purchase as well as purchases from people who have written technology programs to enhance your avatar. Communication within the Second Life community is accomplished through chatting, i.e. dialog boxes, as well as audio dialog. Interaction is possible through an amazing number of events and sites. I observed chatting occurring in different languages which surprised me. In checking the details I noted that 74,935 people were logged on at that time.
In reading the blogs regarding the community, it is supported and organized by a technologically capable staff. There was discussion regarding “grid stability”, particularly during high usage periods. It appeared that continual attempts at developing a large variety of interactions including educational activities.
Overall the experience I had entering the world of Second Life was unusual. I can see where it could become time consuming and possibly addicting to reside in a place where real world boundaries did not exist. The implications of this type of community are complicated. I can see where it would have an isolation factor in that you are not actually with other people, but also it could expand knowledge and experiences you are able to experience. The effect this type of game playing has on society will be interesting.
Part B
The second type of virtual community I chose to review was Tapped In. In reading the text Building Virtual Communities by Renninger and Shumar, I had an immediate interest in a community of educators whose mission was professional development. I did register and attempted to sit in on several meetings. The attendance was low and I did not find any conversations or interactions in these “classes”. I was immediately greeted in the reception room and found maneuvering within the site easy. This first impression of this community was that it was professional and goal oriented. Tapped In is defined as a Community of Practice as it is composed of people who are engaged in education and have a desire for professional development above what is required by their institution.
Tapped In is a practice based community that has been in existence for over a decade. Its purpose or goal is to “engage in professional development programs and informal collaborative activities with colleagues.” Tapped In accomplishes these tasks by employing the assistance of professional organizations such as Pepperdine and by organizing educators within the organization to build programs and presentations that have value and meaning to other educators. Any member of Tapped In can form a group which can perform tasks, communicate ideas or have dialog for the purpose of sharing information. This makes the opportunities and possibilities endless within the realm of the mission of Tapped In.
The structure of Tapped In includes a hierarchy of administrator and staff members that can alter the platform. The members can form groups that meet their particular needs which provides for growth and reinvention of the community. The activities of the site define what the community looks like and is constantly changing. I viewed the calendar one week and it predominantly had topics related to K-12, while the next time I viewed it had administrative topics such as “teach the teacher” and technology center topics as well.
A technological feature of the site from the user standpoint was that it was an easy platform to move about in. I did not try to create a group, but was impressed with the help feature which assisted me greatly in determining how to utilize the site. Farooq et. al state that the four main features that help sustain Tapped In are:. Build flexible, extensible gathering places, create and maintain feedback loops, facilitate member-run subgroups, develop a strong leadership program and design for a range of roles within the community.
Community developers work with on line leaders to support and improve their interactions and collaborative learning efforts. Tapped In has a wide range of services to both the group leaders and members all which help support the community and fulfill its mission.
Tapped In is a community of practice with researched, proven tactics. Its usability and flexibility are features that should ensure the life of the virtual community. The only suggestion I can provide is that the group leaders could be identified by either institution or area of expertise. This would better enable users to choose activities that best suit their needs. Overall Tapped In is a wealth of information and collaborative sites for educators.
Farooq, U., Schank, P., Harris, A., Fusco, J. & Schlager, M. (2007). Sustaining a community computing infrastructure for online teacher professional development: A case study of designing Tapped In. Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 16(4-5), 397-429. Norwell, MA: Klewer Academic Publishers. Retrieved February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Discussion questions week 3
I have found the chapters and research done for module three very interesting. After wandering around in the social sites, such as Second Life, I think the statement from the text that virtual interactions can be interpreted as social transformations is true. The rapid transformation in economic, family, technology and culture have evidently has been a field day for social and political theorists. How do virtual communities impact individuals in information seeking and knowledge construction? I think both positively and negatively. Depending on what techniques or avenues the individual uses to gather knowledge, the result can be the difference of sound knowledge or junk. I feel that virtual communities can lead to social isolation due to the stimulation the community provides replaces interaction with actual people.
In looking at building a virtual learning community I have considered a professional development community between my technology center and the 9 partner high school. What are the specific implications that you have drawn that can be applied to your project of building a virtual learning community? Chapter 10 offered a framework to work with, which started with assessment, which could be the beginning or the end. I have also considered whether a virtual community would be a better communication process for a group of like instructors ( PN Directors?), would this be better than face to face meetings or even distance supported meetings? Just some thoughts......
In looking at building a virtual learning community I have considered a professional development community between my technology center and the 9 partner high school. What are the specific implications that you have drawn that can be applied to your project of building a virtual learning community? Chapter 10 offered a framework to work with, which started with assessment, which could be the beginning or the end. I have also considered whether a virtual community would be a better communication process for a group of like instructors ( PN Directors?), would this be better than face to face meetings or even distance supported meetings? Just some thoughts......
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cognitive Apprenticeship OMG!!!
The article Cognitive Apprenticeship Making Thinking Visable caught my eye because in scanning it seemed to address how to better instruct reading, writing and math. My technology center participates in Technology Centers That Work a initiative that supports high schools in instructing these three key elements. But this article offered so much more. A must read for all of the nursing education majors in this class, this article detailed how to help students critically think, an issue all nursing programs struggle with. Using the framework of apprenticeship i.e. modeling, scaffolding, fading and coaching, the authors translate this model to cognitive applications. The suggestions for teaching reading were especially important to me as many of our students come in reading at less than the 12 grade level. Although this article stimulated alot of ideas that I will use in my current position, I wondered throughout the reading, how it fit in the course we are taking. The conclusion cleared up any doubt of that association by reviewing the four dimensions that constitute any learning environment, listing the set of characteristics that should be considered in constructing or evaluating learning environments. It answered several of the questions my group had posed in determining characteristics of virtual communities. A good read, definitely recommended by me!!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
compare and contrast
Linda Sanford Jan 28, 2009 12:10 AM
In comparing and contrasting MediaMoo and Tapped In I think you see two different types of success. Even though MediaMoo did not continue, its success can be measured by the germination of ideas and the foundational work it accomplished. In this case success was not measured by the length of time the virtual community survived but by the stimulation it provided. Its life could be seen in other MUDs. In contrast Tapped In is a virtual community that has exhibited success by growth and longevity. As it is a CoP the text points out that success is most evident when the CoP is outside of the specific organization. This particular CoP fulfilled a variety of roles encouraged the learning process for educators while stimulating collaboration and innovation. Major factors that appear to facilitate and sustain success are strong facilitation/leadership, support the actual practices and daily tasks of the group,provide a framework to guide the process and main point the text made in the Tapped In community was that it was imperitive that the participants had decent knowledge and ability to use the platform. Amen to that!
In comparing and contrasting MediaMoo and Tapped In I think you see two different types of success. Even though MediaMoo did not continue, its success can be measured by the germination of ideas and the foundational work it accomplished. In this case success was not measured by the length of time the virtual community survived but by the stimulation it provided. Its life could be seen in other MUDs. In contrast Tapped In is a virtual community that has exhibited success by growth and longevity. As it is a CoP the text points out that success is most evident when the CoP is outside of the specific organization. This particular CoP fulfilled a variety of roles encouraged the learning process for educators while stimulating collaboration and innovation. Major factors that appear to facilitate and sustain success are strong facilitation/leadership, support the actual practices and daily tasks of the group,provide a framework to guide the process and main point the text made in the Tapped In community was that it was imperitive that the participants had decent knowledge and ability to use the platform. Amen to that!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Virtual communitites
Community traditionally has a connotation of a group of people who share a common set of different things. In your home community it may be a locale and as the text points out, physical resources. In a virtual community you still are sharing a set of something, be it goals ( to complete a program of study), beliefs, or interests. Shummar & Renniger indicates that virtual communities lack contextual boundaries that open ups imagination, identity deepening knowledge building. In my master's program we have had several online communities. Not all have led to a deeper sense of building knowledge. To be thrown into a virtual community with little orientation sometimes isolates the members. The knowledge obtained in this unit would have helped me personally understand the virtual community and possibly would have improved what I got out of it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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Oops! I posted my summary as a reply.
In reading posts I keep going back to how these educational strategies could be used in nursing education. Then while working on my nursing ed. project I ran across these two articles. Ohio State University College of Nursing has constructed a virtual community called Mirror Lake. This community contains Mirror Lake Medical Center a virtual hospital.The hospital contains a fully automated electronic medical record and other technologies to enhance the student's abiltiy to learn in new and contemporary ways (Curran et al, 2009). Also featured in the Journal of Nursing Education February 09 issue was an article about using constructivist strategies in nursing education. These articles brought full circle this weeks discussion. We have all been able to verbalize the stratagies for 3-D learning and the constructivist theory based in de Jong's article, to visualize them in practice in our individual areas of expertise was a piece of the puzzle I had yet to grasp. As we have a good number of nursing ed. majors in this class I wanted to point out these articles.
Building a Virtual Community for Nursing Education: The Town of Mirror Lake. Journal of Nursing Education, January 2009
Constructivist Strategies in Online Distance Education in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, February 2009