Richard Schwiers last blog post..Top 13 Horror Films

This is an issue I’ve considered several times, and I guess it is worth mentioning my current thinking (while reserving the right to change it, of course). This isn’t a defense… just want to be transparent, and maybe I haven’t been. In my case, the decision to house the formal class discussions inside a LMS was deliberate, in order to promote a safe and comfortable environment for those who might be concerned about making public everything they might want to say in the class. As you know, several people in our class are new to online conversations, and some are also new to a graduate program after years of being away from the academy. The class invites people to address issues and to take risks in examining those issues – and I’ve found it takes time to build the trust necessary to be open with each other even when everyone is “known” to each other. And while there are some people in the class who would relish the soap box and extended conversations, there are just as many whose voices will be modified or silenced if they think they are talking publicly. There are also some people in the class who are very protective of their privacy (not new, there always are), and that has to take precedence over the preference for some students to hold conversations in public. Doing so might also restrict my voice – to address student conversations in a way that might be misinterpreted by people outside the learning contexts–and I’m trying to get everyone talking. I’m a believer in building learning environments that are inclusive and intimate. This, however, comes at a cost: it means that students who want to engage their wider PLN in conversations about things in the class need to do it in their own spaces—when and where they choose—not when and where I require. I see that as a problematic, but reasonable trade-off for now.

But I try to make my own stuff as available as possible. For example, the course content (my stuff) is open to the public and has been for a long time. Take a look for yourself at <a href=”http://edxserveg5.usask.ca/rick/classes/ecmm802″ http://edxserveg5.usask.ca/rick/classes/ecmm802, and help yourself. The discussions are in the silo, but there is a door where you can scoop out your own grain and share it with whomever you like. You’re not trapped; you just don’t have permission to scoop out everyone else’s grain and put it on the open market.

The most interesting part of all of this for me is the language we use around open learning. We often use language that glorifies one stance and by extension, vilifies another. I’m a big proponent of open learning, but I just haven’t found it to be the only answer. I’m feeling a blog post coming on this topic, but maybe not tonight. I can’t pinpoint when, but @Ingenuity once mentioned that it is important to give full comments in others’ blogs. That struck me as very Canadian – respectful of the person who opened the conversation. I hope that’s what comes across.

Richard Schwiers last blog post..Top 13 Horror Films