Connected Learning: Mobilizing Digital and Networked Media for the Longstanding Goals of Progressive Education

Mizuko “Mimi” ItoOne of the first things that Mimi asked us was to put together an estimate of the following question: https://twitter.com/evinsmj/status/833668773034987520Each table tweeted out their guess, which included…https://twitter.com/jmoreno8/status/833668775211835392https://twitter.com/CherHoov/status/833668728713773056https://twitter.com/veloffj/status/833668717477240832The answer was 83%, which is surprising. What she didn’t make clear was how much of this reading was forced, versus enjoyment. An interesting statistic though.Mimi’s 2nd question was, “In 2015, how many hours per day did US teens aged 13-18 spend with media (not including school and homework). As with the 1st question, the answers were all over the board, but the correct answer, according to Commonsense Census 2015, is 8 hours 56 minutes per day. The last question is How many US teens 13-17 have made new friends online? This question was very vague and had the widest range of answers. The answer, according to Pew Internet Teens and Technology Report 2015 is 57%, with 20% having met those online friends in real life. https://twitter.com/CherHoov/status/833670784031801344Of course, you have to love some of the fun responses:https://twitter.com/barrydahl/status/833670673285447680One of the concerns about higher education is that the learning that’s happening is not connected to life experiences, which is why ratemyprofessor.com is so big, as well as services that “take the class for you.” Mimi showed a statistic that 45% of college students indicate little learning during the first 2 years of college. That is certainly an alarming statistic…https://twitter.com/kutzkemike/status/833672805313028096One of the things that Mimi showed a statistic on is the rise of MOOCs. I honestly thought that the growth, demand, and interest had plateaued, but according to Mimi, this is far from the truth. It makes me wonder why we aren’t hearing more about MOOCs. I also wonder if I’m really that “out of touch” with MOOCs, not being in higher ed anymore.https://twitter.com/freednog/status/833672906945261568Mimi showed a case study based on her research about “Dave.” Dave had an interest in web comics, but his school didn’t offer any courses to show him how to get better at the skill. In leiu of formal education, Dave developed the skills based on a web community where he “connected” with other web comic developers. With this connected network, he was able to learn his skill and launch a website of web comics that he designed. This is just 1 example of connected learning where formal education falls short.https://twitter.com/QMBrenda/status/833674326394146817https://twitter.com/barrydahl/status/833674940633194497https://twitter.com/ajwms/status/833675346373402624Mimi had everyone think of their own “aquarium shop guy” – someone who took an interest in a topic and learned about the topic, developed skills, etc. on their own. Who was your “aquarium shop guy” that influences you to be a lifelong learner?Mimi talked a lot about connected learning (go figure, since that’s the title of her session), and how openly accessible courses can help facilitate connected learning. She’s not advocating for OERs (at least not in this keynote), nor is she advocating for MOOCs (again, not right now), but the notion of being able to engage with people outside of the class who can contriubte to the conversation. That’s why I love the use of Twitter in courses, it’s a great way of being able to engage with subject matter experts when participating in a course, either as an instructor or a student. https://twitter.com/DeanJimBerg/status/833678955538415616There really isn’t anything new in this keynote, nothing earth shattering. I feel like most of this session, while it was engaging, was a lot of preaching to the choir. It’s a common occurence with keynote sessions, but even though there was a lot of preaching to the choir, Mimi made it very engaging and fun to sit through.https://twitter.com/ksorensun/status/833682097093087233If you are interested in reading some more notes/thoughts on this presentation, take a look at Eric Kunnen’s notes.Let the concurrent sessions begin!