MobiMOOC Week 2: Am I a Wonderful Participant?

This fall is the first time I’ve not been teaching online, face-to-face, or working in the training field since I can remember. I’ve been describing this fall as “a sabbatical” with the intention to read and continue learning about the recent developments in cognitive science and learning, and technology for learning. It has been a luxury to have time to read and think, though I would admit, I’m not doing much writing online, and ascribe this to the amount of online facilitation and communications from which I was taking a break. When I saw the MobiMOOC opportunity at https://mobimooc.wikispaces.com/General+information+on+the+course, I thought “Great, this is a great opportunity to learn more about mobility AND better understand how MOOCs work. This said, I was already a one-time MOOC drop-out.

Initially, I had admirable intentions: I sought out Dave’s Cormier’s advice on successful MOOC participation: “Orient, Declare, Network, Cluster, and Focus.” (View my post on his earlier slideshare on this topic.) And before the course even started, I posted a note communication my anticipation to meet and learn with and from colleagues.

WEEK 2
By the end of week one, I thought, “I’d better get in there. As I read through more of the intros, I was energized by the good will, the experience, and the global assembly of peers in the course. Ignatia’s general discussion prompt for Week 2 was inviting—asking us what tools we used. I liked the word tools—it allowed the spectrum, devices, browsers, services, applications—which is also a lot of landscape.

TOOLS FOR MLEARNING
Devices: I use a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet.
Apps, Sites, and Services: These include Evernote, Dropbox, Skype, all things Google, Kindle Reader, Goodreader. Twitter, Conjuverb, The Wasteland (Ipad), Jazz Timeline (Ipad). I love resources at Smarthistory and Open Culture, YouTube, Linked In Groups, Searches w/ Google and Wikipedia are used for a quick sense of background on a given topic. And I learn from experts and peers through live webinars in Google Hangout, Blackboard Connect, WiziQ, or Adobe Connect.

Today I participated in Bijay’s webinar on single source design for web-learning. If you missed it, the recording is available here: http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/954534-raptivity-single-source-multi-device-learning.

At this point in Week 2, I won’t say I’m such a wonderful participant as the badge promises, but I really do feel connected and engaged and am happy I attended the webinar today by Bijoy Banerjee on universal platform design for multiple devices. We joined from various locations such as Australia, England, India, and the U.S. Not only did he reinforce the categories involved in mLearning, he explained how html5 allows for universal design across devices. He used screen share to provide examples and demonstrate their learning activities for both K-12 and post-secondary students.