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.