The Major Project... an Update on Progress - Connecting My Thoughts on Connecting

by  topgold 

The first time I saw the title for Doug Belshaw's doctorial thesis, "The Never Ending Thesis", I had to smile at the originality. Now I get it. Thank goodness I am collaborating with Genna Rodriguez, if not because of the breadth and depth of the project, but just for the moral support! Over the past few days we have been gathering and remixing ideas for the 7C's. Please see Genna's post, "Holiday, What Holiday?" for the essential questions we have explored for 6 of the 7C's.



In exploring articles and videos on connectivism and rhizomatic thinking... I had the pleasure of extending this to our project. Yes this was beneficial, as it's always nice when ideas connect, but frankly it started to make my thought process a little convoluted. The more you learn, the more you have to incorporate, as your perceptions change. Learning can be such a pain!

Here is what I was able to pull apart and re-mix based on previous readings from Belshaw and Fullen to learning then re-shuffle with Illich, Siemens, Jenkins and Cormier. To further explain, this is a Scope and Sequence for Connect which is one of the 7C's we are developing. Fortunately, Citizenship (as in Digital Citizenship) is already completed by the Ministry!

Now keep in mind that the format is off, I was just copy/pasting into this post from OneNote and, it's a draft. Draft... so there is room for revising... lots of room!

Distracted Sidenote: By the way, OneNote is a fantastic tool for collaborating!

Here are the Essential Questions...

Do students make meaningful connections between their classroom learning, their personal lives, and the world around them?

Do students see relationships and overlaps between multiple streams of information? Do the look for connections between disparate ideas?

Can students identify and harmonize and draw connections to seemingly unrelated and/or conflicting concepts and information? 

Do students understand the power and benefits of connections in the globally-connected 21st century?

Can students create meaningful networks using various digital tools and social platforms?  These networks may include learning networks, social networks, activism networks, etc.

Are students given the opportunity to connect beyond the classroom walls with other peers or experts who help to support this learning process? Are these learning interactions as valued as traditional views of how learning takes place?

Are schools bridging the disconnect between traditional learning models and the realities of the connected 21st century learner?

What metacognitive processes would students utilize when they assess their own work? Are students tracking progress through e-portfolios and connecting with other members in their learning network?

 Are students given opportunities to engage in dialogue about their learning with teachers, peers or other members of their learning network/networked community? Are students able to engage in diverse learning communities (which include face to face and digital, as well as inter-generational)?

Are students learning in networks to exchange knowledge, collect and curate stories and ideas , as well as engage in collective activities such as crowdsourcing (at a HS level)?

Are students provided digital spaces where students can engage with inter-generational experts who help to make up their learning community and helping to develop social relations in a safe and mediated way?

Here are the Goals for Student Knowledge...

To enrich understanding in an informational age, students should actively look to make connections between information, their personal lives, and the world around them.

Students know how to find common ground to connect seemingly conflicting concepts and information.

Student achievement is enhanced when their learning is reinforced and supported in multiple settings.  These settings can be online networks where resources and connected conversations are abundant and accessible.

In the right networks, students can find a sense of belonging and purpose through shared interests and passions that will support their growth. 

Valuable information can be accessed through connections outside the school walls and can significantly support learning.  These networks allow for unprecedented cross-generational and cross-cultural learning as well.

Students understand how to access and the value of connecting with multiple people face to face or digitally to help guide student inquiry. Connected learning promotes life-long learning and is an opportunity to contribute to the learning of others.

There are various digital tools and platforms to connect with others.  Students need to carefully consider which connections will enrich their lives.

Students engage in metacognitive processes and actively reflect on their learning and connect with teachers in a meaningful and timely exchange of feedback face to face or through digital networks.

Students understand how to engage with systems of informal learning in connected learning environments.

Here is the Scope and Sequence for K - 12, broken into grade groupings...

Elementary K-3 Knowledge & Skills	Middle Years 4-8 Knowledge & Skills	High School 9-12 Knowledge & Skills
Students make connections between information learned and connections to own personal experiences and other events in the community or around the world.  Students understand that there are many places  where they can find information to their questions, which includes a variety of sources which include print, digital and interactions with people. They are able to identify and notice overlaps of information from sources.   Shares resources from outside the classroom to the activities of the classroom.   Students understand that there are people who can provide information to their questions. These individuals help to make up their learning community.   Students  engage and discuss learning experiences in settings which include at school, home and other communities of which they interact face to face or online through teacher mediation, making up the student's learning network.   Students actively engage in different forms of communication to reach out, connect to explore and share their questions and ideas with teacher digital support. Teachers would provide opportunities for whole class connection with other learning "experts".	-Students make connections between information learned from digital sources and connections to own personal experiences community or global connections.     Students understand that there are many places  where they can find information to their questions, which includes a variety of sources which include print, digital and interactions with people. Able to identify and notice overlaps of information, as well as identify reasons for differences.   Contribute online information and resources from outside into the activities of the classroom or learning community.     -Students engage and contribute to an online dialogue with several posts and comments with other students as part of a teacher-led task.    Students  give and act on feedback from multiple perspectives in teacher created digital networks. Student incorporates ideas from network into own learning.   Students actively engage in different forms of communication to reach out and explore ideas from multiple diverse perspectives  with teacher mediation. Communication may be face to face or  teacher mediated digital connections with peers or other "experts" -  depending on student selection for learning project.   Students identify instances  and describe benefits of digital technologies being used for the creating and sharing of knowledge.   Students engage in dialogue about learning with teachers, peers or other members of their learning network in face to face as well as digital. Feedback is captured in digital form for student to act upon.	-Students independently develop their own personal learning network, based on the student identified learning needs, then develop meaning and co-construct new information or understandings, drawing on personal experiences, community or global connections.      -Students understand the value of different types of information/media, (includes print, digital and digital interactions with people). Able to analyze reasons for informational overlaps from sources, as well as identify differences in information based on perspective and type of information.   Contribute online information and resources from outside into the activities of the classroom or online learning community. Able to work effectively within digital community, by identifying and responding to expectations or goals of community (such as timelines).   -Students engage and contribute to an online dialogue with multiple in-depth posts and comments with other students as part of a teacher-led task, with the goal being to co-constructing knowledge and new understandings.   -Students give and act on feedback from multiple perspectives in digital networks. Connecting with peers significantly shapes the student's learning which is evident by process and product. Student effectively incorporates comments from network community into learning.   -Students actively engage in different forms of communication to reach out and explore ideas from multiple diverse perspectives using social media platforms. Able to communicate voice or opinions appropriately as a member of the learning community.     Students identify instances  and describe benefits of digital technologies being used for the creating and sharing of knowledge as a means of exploring various perspectives and expertise.     -Student demonstrates the ability to use a variety of online contacts and social networks to find out information, and able to distinguish between different online communication tools for usefulness for enabling teamwork and collaboration.   Student participates in learning networks to exchange knowledge, collect and curate stories and ideas , as well as engage in collective activities such as crowdsourcing  as a means of making connections for student inquiry.   -Students connect with other learners by collaborating online, use social media to interact with peers around the globe, engage in conversations in safe online spaces, and bring what they learn online back to their classrooms.

The areas highlighted in green are areas I'm unsure about. The yellow areas potentially should be designated to another "C". 

This week we will have the Scope and Sequence completed, then we start the fun stuff... building the website. To make our lives easier, we are going to create in Weebly, then transfer the HTML code from Weebly over to Drupal. This way we can get the benefits of drag and drop, as what is afforded in Weebly but not in the Drupal interface. Basically... our goal to make our site "pretty" may be realized. Yay!

Being that we hope to use these Essential Skills at a school division level, we're starting to feel a little pressure. We need feedback. We need our learning community. But... that's tough to ask when everyone is feeling the pinch of report cards, major projects and regular assignments. Really, I'm not complaining or trying not to... Anyways, if you have time to offer feedback, we would love some!