StigmergicWeb

Alec Couros and I are in the midst of putting together a course for the University of Regina. Officially, the course number and name is EC&I 831: Computers in the Classroom: Appropriate Curriculum and Instruction Related to Computer Technology but Alec and I are referring to it as Open, Connected and Social Pedagogy. We’ll be offering it in the second semester, from January to April 2008.

The official outline is rather vague, but we will be focusing on the principles of learning being “open, connected and social” (full credit to Alan, D’Arcy and Brian for coming up with that pithy little phrase) and focusing specifically on open and social tools/software for the classroom, how they can be used and how pedagogy changes the way we perceive and guide learning and knowledge. Social learning and connectivism are two key pedagogical concepts that guide the course. The will be offered completely online. We’re planning to use a synchronous tool for once a week get-togethers, about 1.5 hours/week where we can discuss course goals, content and create collaborative opportunities.

That’s the elevator pitch. What we really want to do is get some educators and edtech folks together for some great conversations and opportunities to collaborate. There are two ways we’re looking for people to participate. Obviously we are looking for students since we need some enrollment for the course to run. If we get a high demand for the course, that will help to make sure we run it again next year. If you are interested in that way of participating, details are for registration are available at the Distance Learning Division of the U of R.

The other way you can participate is involved in the discussions and collaborations. If you’ve got some ideas about using social software/web apps/web 2.0 (ugghh), we would welcome your contributions in some way. We’re looking at a number of ways to get people involved in some way - maybe wikis, maybe doing some RSS mashup of blog feed, maybe podcasting. In the end, it will probably be a mix of all these things and more.

This is a new implementation of an existing course, so we’re still not exactly sure where it will end up. If you want to get involved to see where it goes, leave a comment or send me an e-mail (robwall at gmail dot com).

There is some irony in my being involved with this course but that’s another blog post that will have to wait.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 01:07 and is filed under educational technology, learning, education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.