I liked this
quote that Josie shared. It is the idea
that collaboration changes and that this change is something better. Josie challenged us to think about our best
collaborative experience and some of the obstacles from those experiences. I think that giving up a part of my own ideas
is the greatest obstacle. Let me
explain.
I am taking an
online course this summer through the Ohio State University (OSU) called
Fundamentals of Teaching Adults Online with Dr. David Stein, Ph.D. Part of this course is actually participating
in an online group project, so we get to learn about and experience
collaboration in an online environment.
Many scholars have recently written about and studied the challenges of
online teaching. Our group decided to
use CarmenConnect (OSU’s version of
Adobe Connect), a technology platform that allows participants to meet in an
online space.
As a group we
experienced difficulties from finding a common time and making sure the
technology tools were working properly.
My personal challenge was deciding when to talk and when to be quiet.
Things Go Wrong
Things started
going wrong at our very first meeting.
After many emails back and forth, we decided on a date and I sent out
links to information about CarmenConnect meetings, equipment requirements, and
to the actual meeting. It became quite
apparent during the CarmenConnect meeting that mics were not working properly.
Fortunately a text-based chat space is part of the platform and members were
able to use this as a back up. I noticed
that one of the members would cut off another member in mid-sentence. I really
wasn’t sure what to do or say. Another participant typed in the chat box that
she thought her mic wasn’t working properly.
Our chat box helped again and technology highlighted that the difficulties
with collaboration can often be due to communication problems.
More Than Just Me
Our goal was
to create a memo to our imagined colleagues who were skeptical about online
courses. The final paper was a complete
surprise! It was different and more than
I would have said alone. This is a part
of our project that describes additional online experiences to a skeptical
colleague who thinks online work involves posting answers to professors’
questions. You be the judge about becoming better.
Mary Kate – original:
I have
read articles and study notes, participated in interactive and collaborative
assignments, viewed videos, shared both technical and content related
resources. I have not only learned from the instructors, but also the
varied experiences of the students.
Mary Kate – combination of other’s responses:
My experience with
this semester’s online course has been more than just posted material and
instructor’s questions. I have been involved in individual and group
projects as well as complex online discussions through discussion boards,
synchronous meetings, and email. The interesting backgrounds of the other
learners created a dynamic learning environment where we all learned from each
other’s perspectives and experiences. I learned about new technologies that
I had not used with before our course started (i.e. Voki, Doodle Poll, etc.). I
have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to communicate with both
my instructors and the other learners. Texting and messaging has been a
powerful method for giving everyone a voice.
Final submitted version – completed by another group
member after our online CarmenConnect meeting:
Our experiences have been that online
teaching and learning is much more than just posted material and instructor’s
questions to an online portal. Each of us has been involved in individual and
group projects as well as complex online discussions through discussion boards,
synchronous meetings, and email interactions. The interesting backgrounds of
the other learners create a dynamic learning environment where we all learn
from each other’s perspectives and experiences. Several of us have had
particularly positive learning experiences resulting from new technologies.
Especially as educators, learning about what technological tools are available
to integrate in our classes is tremendously valuable. The course that we are
enrolled in now, revealed a few new ones, as an example, Prezi, Voki, Doodle
Poll, etc. We have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to
communicate with both instructors and the other learners. Texting and
messaging, in addition to the Carmen interface and its discussion boards and
messaging capabilities, has been a powerful method for giving everyone a voice.
Group meetings have been held through CarmenConnect that allows for real-time
face-to-face meetings as well as a chat function. Overall, we have been very
satisfied, and in fact, pleased with our experiences online.
Let’s
imagine how can we do this in children’s classrooms. I will keep
thinking about this as students start school this fall.
Being Quiet, Being Open
It’s almost
the end of summer vacation and I’m working with a group of teachers to plan our
beginning of school retreat. Once again
I found it difficult to be quiet and listen.
When do I speak and what will help the entire group, not just me? I like reflection, so I volunteered for that
part. It’s small, but I think it will be
important for our yearlong work with teachers.
I started listening when I heard about the Corkculus App.
I’m not sure
what it is, but it is being used to bring the ideas of small groups together as
a whole group. Yet another collaboration tool! I can’t wait to see how it works
and I know that I will be listening. We
have quite a collaborative agenda planned!
It’s definitely better than I could do alone.
It’s funny
that this quote comes from the comedian, Amy Poehler, but it’s how I’m being
challenged to view collaboration.
As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to
collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your
own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time
with them, and it will change your life. ---Amy Poehler
I actually have two
questions this week. What collaboration
tools do you use? When do you listen and
when do you speak?
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