Comments for evolve.

Comment on On Rothfork’s Review of Dreyfus’s On the Internet. (619) by Jason Dom

Jason Dom — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:28:18 +0000

yup yup yup. I felt the same way about the Dreyfus article and reluctantly finished reading it. Good find on the extra research. To answer you last question, I say no, there isn’t enough time to create community. I feel so strongly about this I’ve propped up some software to foster a community at my online U (30k students and 1k faculty) that exists outside of classroom - but can be accessed from every classroom and our respective portals. The problem creating communities in classrooms is that we are bound to the BB dbs which aren’t that good, our comments are only socialized within our class, everything is throw away, and just when we are getting to know each other, like you mention, the class is over. On the other hand if UMass had a community forum at the program or institutional level then we’d have our entire student career to foster community. For example I’d love to read Linda Bleith’s (sp) thoughts on some topics in this 619 class - but I can’t access her. During my undergrad I could socialize my thoughts with my professors at the local pub, in the Ram’s Dens, the library, etc… That is what I am creating at my U. It is to early to tell what the impact will be.

Comment on Minds on Fire by Learning 2.0: The Threat (and promise) of Social Interaction - Bokardo

Learning 2.0: The Threat (and promise) of Social Interaction - Bokardo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:26:32 +0000

[...] I hadn’t heard that idea articulated clearly until I read this post over at Brian Christiansen’s blog about social interaction in learning environments (I used [...]

Comment on On Rothfork’s Review of Dreyfus’s On the Internet. (619) by Robin Gabrielli

Robin Gabrielli — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:46:28 +0000

Love it.

It’s always good to consider the viewpoint of a naysayer like Dreyfus. There are certainly enough people out there who assume that more technology is always better. But Dreyfus seems to simply be at the opposite extreme, which is equally silly.

I think your question is a great one. In this course, obviously, we already *have* a community to some extent. Many of us know each other through previous courses, although there are a lot of long-distance learners. But the creation of class blogs alone, I think, is a really effective way to get us writing and communicating. For one thing, I can write as much as I want on my own blog and not worry about being seen as a spammer. Blogs also have a personal touch that makes it fun to look around and see what other people have done. I like yours *very* much, by the way. Very clean and a pleasure to read.

Whereas I, a lamer, used one of the blogspot templates.

Maybe what we’re building, for the purposes of this course, is not so much a “community” as a “network of individuals with a common purpose”. (Is there a difference?)

Comment on On Rothfork’s Review of Dreyfus’s On the Internet. (619) by Bob Bavis

Bob Bavis — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:13:18 +0000

Hi Brian,
It seems we may be on more or less opposite sides with regard to views on Rothfork/Dreyfus. I do however think the question you pose at the end of your post is a key question to ask/discuss. I look foward to your comments on my blog and discussion board posts.
Bob

Comment on The SMC Project Revealed by Jason Dom

Jason Dom — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:54:16 +0000

I look forward to the release Brian. At my online U we are always looking for tools to help support a community of inquiry at a distance and your project falls into this category. Looking forward to learning more from you.

Jason

Comment on Welcome by Jason Dom

Jason Dom — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:39:01 +0000

Hello David,

Glad to see you stopped by ediblechatter. I travel to Fredneck on a regular basis. I have a handful, ten or so, friends that live in the city or surrounding area. I be willing to bet that your friend knows some of mine friends! Not that big of a city.

I got a big kick out of that water skeeter / bass thing. Something I made up on the spot. For my blog I am experimenting with a few voices, and for now I am playing with the hill billy from WV voice.

On another note, I will take a peek around evolve. You have a bunch of collateral here which I will delve into.

Jason

Comment on Welcome by AK

AK — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:33:39 +0000

Excellent blog! Nice to see another mac user on board!

I’ve actually put all the class blogs on my google reader, so I can easily see if something has been updated.

The RSS in plain English reminds me of a demetri martin skit

Comment on Welcome by Joan Medlen

Joan Medlen — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:36:46 +0000

Hi Brian!

I found your many blogs and insights interesting. I’m going to pass it along to my brother, who is also a nerd/geek, and teaches science at our neighborhood high school. He has a blog he abandoned called, The Classroom Tablet. (http://classtablet.blogspot.com/). I loved his propsal. I think he became discouraged by the lack of response to a well-researched proposal at our admin building.

I am also a cyclist, needing to really get into training after a business trip I must take for a couple of weeks. I’ve signed up for the Crater Lake Century with a group of people….too many hills coming!

I”m looking forward to this class.

And…enjoy the pregnancy and the baby!

Joan

Comment on The SMC Project Revealed by evolve. » Howard’s First SMC Update

evolve. » Howard’s First SMC Update — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:54:50 +0000

[...] case you missed it, here was my latest update) This entry was written by brian, posted on Friday, 30 May, 2008 at 7:54 pm, filed under Social [...]

Comment on About by evolve. » Welcome

evolve. » Welcome — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:05:05 +0000

[...] About « Test Post for 619 [...]