How to Successfully Participate in a MOOC

It's been a while since I signed up for a MOOC. A friend and I were recently discussing our early experiences and pretty much agreed that it had been chaotic and we'd gone away-- If I'd had Dave Cormier's advice, I think the experience would have been much different. His four minute plus presentation on successful participation advises us to "Orient, Declare, Network, Cluster, and Focus." Very helpful--I would include this as an orientation for anyone signing up for a MOOC. Now on to examining the experience of those teaching in one.

Dissident Voices

I am going to see this film tonight. Even with the trailer, a person gets the sense of risk for speaking out about subjects that a given country does not want to surface. We all have to ask ourselves how this plays out in our own countries. More after the actual viewing:

Happy Birthday Julia

Whether you are a foodie like @rffoodie, or a culinary educator, today is a day to celebrate the contributions and love of Julie Child on the occasion of her 100th birthday. View this short video about the Smithsonian's re-creation of her kitchen. Enjoy!

More Lip About Flip (Flipped Classroom)

This inforgraphic presents one study of how the flipped classroom model in a high school and how it improved success rates. It was link from a Twitter post by @sewsueme whether Flipped could work for higher ed: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2012/07/can-flipped-classroom-model-work-higher-education-infographic Again, the flipped idea is to have students view or be introduced to concepts they will work with in class.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

What will video or slideshows change for instructors and learners? What instructors (often?) did in class after you assigned the reading for the next class like going over the main points of the reading and asking questions/giving quizzes/taking questions over the reading. The next step was to have people start applying it in class or introducing them to the homework before they left the class. The flipped version would have people read and view the slides, take the quiz, and know what they will be doing with the content in the next class. Comments to the EdTech article reminded people that thumb drives and DVDs could still provide out-of-class content used by student who might not have internet access outside of class. That said, I know one thing. This model supports use of class time for valuable learning support. And it takes time to create the materials, and space for faculty to upload materials, and that we shouldn't shy away from trying flipped approaches, that we can do so iteratively.