Threefold reflections

This course and the End of Module Assignment (EMA) addresses three areas:

1. Project - the creation of an artefact (either a case study/paper, a multimedia presentation or a learning activity/workshop) as the culmination of a short term project.
2. Presentation - a 10 minute presentation about the project at the H818 online conference.
3. Networking - our development as networked practitioners, particularly using online environments.

At this stage of the module, the tricky bit for me, is finding the right balance between the three different areas. It's hard not to get focussed on one thing and forget the others.

My Project

A couple of weeks ago, I updated my Gantt chart so that I would have a clearer idea of what needed doing and when. Here's where I was:

Gantt Chart

During the last couple of weeks, I've been focussing on getting the eILP finished and starting the screencasts. I was having some sound issues with the ActivInspire screencasting tool, so today I switched to Screencast-o-matic and I love it! The clarity of both sound and images is great! Today, I also started putting together my multimedia presentation, for which I am once again using Sway. I've still got quite a bit of work to do and the actual artefact may not be completely finished in time for the presentation but I should have an acceptable version that I can show.

My Presentation

I've finally made a start on the PowerPoint presentation that I will give at the conference. I liked the style of the planning PP that I made months ago, so I've used that as a basis for it. I'm trying to use lots of visually stimulating images to keep people interested but I always find that I start well and then trail off. I need to work in short bursts and try to maintain the flow right through to the end.

My Networking

Throughout the course, I have found the networking aspect both enjoyable and easy to engage with. I've mostly managed to maintain regular contact with various colleagues on the module and have found it really helpful commenting and reviewing each other's work. 

Now we're all trying to focus on a handful of projects, though, I'm finding it more difficult. We're all juggling various aspects of working and family life alongside our studies and this leads to sporadic postings. That didn't matter when we were just commenting on anything but I feel like I'm only really posting occasionally now. Of course, Open Studio is now only part of the networking. We are also working a lot in Cloudworks and small groups are getting together in the OU Live rooms for practices.

My participation in Open Studio

Activity 7.2 - Feedback and Motivation

Task:  When sharing and commenting on resources in OpenStudio take note of the ‘My participation’ image. How does it change? Reflect and make notes on this feedback and consider whether it impacts on your usage of the tool in a positive or negative way.

Here is the 'My Participation' image from Open Studio:

And if I open up the +

How does it change?

Open Studio has been updated since we started using it. Originally there was a 'sad face' between 'My participation and the progress bar in the first image. It seemed to remain as a sad face indefinitely. I had posted several things on 'My Pinboard' and had responded to other posts but the sad face remained. Then, one day, I decided to post something in 'My Project' and suddenly I had a smiley face. Otherwise not a lot changed.

In the second image, the number of comments made keeps going up but I don't comment in order to gain points, so I don't tend to look at this. In fact, today is the first time I have consciously taken note that I have made 94 comments.


The 'My Project' area had two slots already created for us to populate: work in progress and EMA. Well, until we start on the EMA, that final slot won't get filled. Does that mean my participation is only 50%? I don't think so.

In the second image, the '1 empty slots' sounds like negative feedback but really it's just that we haven't got to the EMA yet.

I would have preferred more control over the slots and sets in the 'My Project' area. I would have liked to separate it into more slots for each TMA, the poster and work towards my artefact. I will probably use the 'My Pinboard' section more over the next few weeks because that can be used however we like.

Regarding feedback requests, I switch this on and off so that my colleagues know when I want feedback and when I'm sharing something just for interest. That's not to say they can't feed back on interesting posts but at busy times, it might help them prioritise. I find it impossible at times to look at everything but if someone is requesting feedback, I'm more likely to have a look. I think the '0 feedback requests' is inaccurate because it doesn't keep count of the number of times I have requested feedback. When I switch the request off, it goes back to zero.

A newish feature in Open Studio is that it now tells us about new activity - comments and feedback on our posts. That can be helpful but it only works for individual sets, not slots. So on the image to the left, I would have to open the folder to see if there is new activity.

If I'm honest, the feedback panel at the top has absolutely no impact on my participation at all. I find it quite negative and not accurate, so I no longer even look at it. I like Open Studio as a concept but at the moment it still seems to be in its infancy and needs a lot of work to make it fully functional. You can't even edit your posts, which is really irritating!

Reflections on my development as a networked practitioner

Now that the first two assignments are out of the way, I've been thinking towards the conference and the EMA (End of Module Assignment). One part of the EMA is a critical reflection on my development as a networked practitioner. For those outside of H818, that means I have to consider how I've learned to use communication with my fellow students and other peers and colleagues to help me in producing my materials and resources.

Suddenly, three stars and a wish spring to mind. That's the primary school teacher rearing up again!

At the beginning of the course, I was consciously blogging, posting, commenting and tweeting about as much as I could. I tried to make friends with my H818 peers and together, we tried to build a supportive environment, where we could share our work and evaluate and critique it, in order to make it better.

Then, work and the amount of study gradually increased and maybe participation became harder to maintain. Also, at the beginning, only a handful of us leapt straight in and that was manageable, whereas now, trying to keep up with and network with 24 people and their projects is impossible.

Around TMA times, there were peaks and lulls in the amount of network activity in general but we were all focussed on the same basic tasks. Moving forward, it's going to become more about our individual projects and creating our artefacts and conference presentations. The only way I can see to manage this and make the networking valuable, is to select a handful of projects to remain actively involved with. I've chosen five, of which two will be my contrast projects for the EMA.

So this seemed a good time to reflect on what I'm doing well and what I need to do better. I think I've been quite open in posting my work, even early drafts and I've used feedback to make improvements. I have given feedback to others but it's been rather sporadic and dependent on when people post, rather than what. Today, I've looked on Open Studio at the two projects I'm following closely and checked out my participation thus far. I was a bit disappointed really, as I'm very interested in these projects but haven't given them my best attention.

My main action, going forward, is to set aside time each week to read the blogs, tweets and other posts of John and Chris, whose projects I am following, and post some better quality feedback as their artefacts develop. I'll also try to keep up with the other three that I'm interested in and respond more to those than to people who happen to have posted just before I logged in.

Block 2 Activity 7.1

Purpose of the activity: To apply and critique a typology of networked practice, drawing on your experience of H818 networking for examples. This activity will provide one possible basis for addressing Part 3 of the EMA.

1. Read Agoraphobia and the Modern Learner by Dron and Anderson (2014). Note the differences that these authors suggest exist between groups, nets, sets and collectives.
2. Identify in your own practice an example of a group, a net, a set and a collective to which you belong or of which you are aware. Try to select examples with some link to H818 where possible. If moving outside of this context, choose examples which will be easy to describe to other H818 students.
3. This is information that you can draw on in writing your EMA so make reflective notes of your opinions and revisit them later.

The first thing to say on this is that the article is well worth a read. I found it very interesting and it prompted me to think about what we choose to share in which circles. This is something that we discussed a little in the tutor group forum a month or two back.

Groups

Dron and Anderson (2014) define groups as "intentionally convened collections of people that have leaders, hierarchies of control, and formal or informal processes that define how they operate." I immediately could identify several groups that I am in:

• Tutor group (H818)
• Module group (H818)
• OU disabled students group (though this could also fall into other categories)
• MAODE group
• Management team (at work)
• Befrienders group for parents who have children with additional needs (voluntary work)
• BSL class (evening class/work)

Nets

"Networks consist of and may be described by the connections between people," (Dron and Anderson, 2014). Social media plays a significant role here but it is not the only facilitator of networks. I had to think about some of these more but here are some networks that I find myself in:

• Blogs (I follow several special interest blogs)
• Facebook
• Twitter
• BETT (going there in just over a week and it is one of my favourite networking opportunities)
• Family (especially extended family)
• Spring Harvest (annual networking with other Christians)
• Open Studio (H818)

Sets

"Sets are simply collections of people and their creations that share a common attribute," (Dron and Anderson, 2014). They go on to explain that there is no social commitment or connection. You can just belong to a set because you share something in common but you don't have to communicate or do anything about it. I like sets. They are probably my favourite because there's a mutual understanding there but no expectation. Here are just a few of my sets:

• Christian
• Disabled
• Manager
• Web developer
• Geek
• Driver
• Returning expat

For many of these, I'm in some kind of relevant group on Facebook. Some of these have morphed into networks and others are almost groups.

Collectives

Finding an understandable definition of a collective was more difficult. As I understand it, it's about groups, sets and nets that become so powerful that they define behaviours. I think these are the big picture things, such as:

• Democratic society
• The church
• The education system
• The NHS
• The law

If all this is going to be of use in my EMA, I need to think about how these relate to my project development and networking within the context of H818. For me, the most influential social form has been Open Studio. I'm still deciding whether this is a group, set or net and that dilemma also opens up the question of whether it is a collective. To my mind, it has to be more than a set. There is an expectation of social commitment and communication. We are expected to actively network. I didn't put it in groups because I don't think it has a hierarchy of leadership. Obviously the tutors look in and sometimes comment but it feels more like an equal forum, where we share, with varying degrees of willingness and vulnerability, our work in progress. For now, I've included it in my nets but I think it does go beyond being just a network. 

So I'm going to have to give this more thought. I'd be interested in hearing/reading what others think.