Why Networks Matter
In Teaching & Learning
Dr. Alec Couros
PLE Conference
Melbourne, Australia
July 12, 2012

#pleconf

me

Last Updated 2006

The Blur

“Web 2.0 tools exist that might allow academics to reflect
and reimagine what they do as scholars. Such tools might
positively affect -- even transform - research, teaching,
and service responsibilities - only if scholars choose to
build serious academic lives online, presenting semi-
public selves and becoming invested in and connected
to the work of their peers and students.” (Greenhow,
Robelia, & Hughes, 2009)

Visualizing Learning

Open/Connected Teaching

network mentors

non-credit students from #eci831
20 credit students with 200 ‘official’ mentors

Open Tenure/Promotion App.

“The Open Scholar is someone who makes their
intellectual processes digitally visible and who invites and
encourages ongoing criticism of their work and secondary
uses of any or all parts of it -- at any stage of its
development.” (Burton, G., 2009)

“People don’t buy what
you do. They buy why you
do it.” (2010)
@simonsinek

changes in media

mobile

Real World

School World

tools

content

“72 hours of video are uploaded every
minute.”
“Over 3 billion hours of video are
watched each month.”
“Over 800 million unique users visit
Youtube every month.”
“More video is uploaded to YouTube in
one month that the 3 major US networks
created in 60 years.”

Free/Open Content
“describes any kind of creative work in a
format that explicitly allows copying and
modifying of its information by anyone, not
exclusively by a closed organization, firm, or
individual.” (Wikipedia)

“Today knowledge is free.
It’s like air, it’s like water...
There’s no competitive
advantage in knowing
more than the person next
to you. The world doesn’t
care what you know. What
the world cares about is
what you can do with what
you know.” (2012)
@drtonywagner

Access to the world’s content anywhere,
anytime is enough to create significant
changes in learning.
Engagement, conversation, &
transparency around the development &
acquisition of knowledge is necessary.

networks

intro to PLNs/PLEs

MYOB Learning

shifts in edtech Group growth
Individual growth
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
(Leinonen) (Schwier) Social Learning

PLE: Tools, artefacts, processes, and
connections that allow learners to control
and manage their learning.
PLN: The sum of all human/social capital
and connections that result from the
development and facilitation of a personal
learning environment.
PLEs can be seen as a subset of PLNs.

crowdsourcing

@dlnorman

@giuliaforsythe

@noiseprofessor
@noiseprofessor

@noiseprofessor

@timlauer

@guiliaforsythe

Kindness in Networks

God bless you and your family
through this difficult time.

My best attempt, I only
removed the tubing, left
colors and levels alone. I
am sorry for your loss.

I color corrected the
skintones a bit as well.

minor lighting, a 6 x 4 crop for printing in standard size &
removed some of the background.
well done fellow redditors !!!!

Fixed
the
chair

OK black background gone. Sorry it took so long, had
to start over. Thanks again to wahoorob for doing the
hard part.

Sorry for the late help. I went
for simplicity. Enjoy - and I
hope you remember her well.

Crowdsourcing

@shareski

#whynetworksmatter

process

+

@dlnorman

1. collective intelligence

You are what you eat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyntyger/
My PLN Let’s Me Eat Their Brains
@cfanch

The smartest person in the room,
is the room. Dave Weinberger
@shareski
cc licensed flickr photo by torres21: http://flickr.com/photos/torres21/484675706/

@trilia

2. sociality & support

Why Do Students Go to University?
Content Degrees
Social Life Support Services
(Wiley, 2010)

Why Do Students Go to University?
Twitter PLoS
GCT
Wikipedia MCSE
Google Scholar ACT
OCW
Content Degrees
Flatworld K arXiv.org CNE
CCNA
Open Courses Badges
Facebook Twitter Twitter
Skype
Social Life Support Services
MySpace Yahoo! Answers
MMOGs
Quora
ChaCha
(Wiley, 2010)

@malynmawby

@klhellerman

“... here's the thing: the professional growth couldn't
have happened without the personal interaction. It took
time to build trust and to get to a place where I could be
vulnerable. The random photographs, the silly tweets,
the heated debates, the commentary on music and
sports - these all led naturally to professional growth. I
went online hoping to share some ideas. Instead, I've
found a community of teachers who I can share my life
with.”

@shareski

@thecleversheep

3. expanding community

@elenelli

@glassbeed
@hdurnin

Networks aren’t about the tools and platforms you use,
they will change as our communities grow. They are
about connecting with others, developing relationships,
supporting and mentoring, sharing, laughing, caring,
encouraging and participating. Educators don’t need to
feel isolated in their busy workplaces where transient
conversations occur on the way to class and professional
development is difficult and expensive to organise. We
don’t need to reinvent the wheel and feel reluctant to ask
for help. Our voices can be heard beyond the noisy and
sometimes threatening atmosphere of the staff room.
Social networks matter.

networked learning

@jonmott

This is what I know.
This what I want to know.
Help?

“To answer your question, I did use
Youtube to learn how to dance. I
consider it my ‘main’ teacher.”
“10 years ago, street dance was very
exclusive, especially rare dances like popping
(the one I teach and do). You either had to
learn it from a friend that knew it or get VHS
tapes which were hard to get. Now with
Youtube, anyone, anywhere in the world can
learn previously ‘exclusive’ dance styles.”

Matt
Kirk
Nick

the future

“The developed world is in
the midst of a paradigm
shift both in the ways in
which people and
institutions are connected.
It is a shift from being
bound up in homogenous
“little boxes” to surfing life
through diffuse, variegated
@barrywellman social networks.” (2002)

fixed to place
fixed to person

“The person has
become the portal.”
Wellman (2002)

Thinning Walls
Private Public
Closed Open

how are you making learning visible?

how are you contributing to
the learning of others?

Don’t limit a child to your
own learning, for he was born
in another time. ~Tagore
http://couros.ca
couros@gmail.com
@courosa