Thoughts on My Digital Project - Change is Good!! Right??

I got an idea for my Major Digital Project... Again!!

   by  Mycatkins 

Like many others in this course, I too have changed my mind. I started off excited to explore a MOOC on Flipped Teaching. Examined the resources, found them a bit dry and too theoretical, so I went in search of another MOOC. Found one on Coursera via University of Houston (looks like a few people found the same one) and decided that although I will use the resources and share the great site that MOOC contributes to, Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling,  I don't want to get bogged down with just learning this one tool for on-line sharing and learning. Then, I thought that I would participate in on-demand video on Mimio Lesson Development and Training via MimioConnect and Mimio "Ask a Master" Videos via Youtube and share my progress, but that plan didn't seem right either. So... I have decided that instead I am going to construct a blog or a Weebly website that reflects different digital integration strategies that I want to promote and support in my school system. As I'm sure you have gathered, or perhaps you have read in past blog posts, I will not have my own classroom this year, instead I will be assisting other teachers with integrating technology with their "digital endeavors". So to support those teachers I will be curating resources (some of my own, others I have curated from other sources) to support learning in the form of  a Weebly Website.

So, to further the work of our past Technology Coach and promote the same initiative for digital integration, I will still use the name "Teaching With Technology" to maintain consistency within my school division, But of course the work will of course be my own....

Digital Integration Initiatives that I hope to promote and support will include:

1. Skype in the Classroom - What's the Hype with Mystery Skype? How to "play" geographical 20 questions around the globe. How can use the "Skype in Classroom" resource.
2. Blogging 101 for Teachers  & Classroom Blogs - How can classroom blogs increase communication and engagement and why it's worth the time.
3. Student Blogging - How to get started and the benefits to learning... from reflection, to collaboration to metacognition. Plus, blogging initiatives such as Quad blogging and Global Blog Challenges.
4. Digital Assessment Possibilities - Portfolios and the integration of digital tools available to teachers in RCSD, like apps such as "Explain Everything", "Pixie" and "Aurasma".
5. Inquiry and Genius Hour - Information on how to manage Genius Hour, curricular connections and how to connect with a Community of "Reasonably Intelligent Teachers Who Teach Geniuses"
6. TED Talks Regina Catholic - Why students should share their Genius Hour projects and how to do it in the form of video TED talks.
7. Office 365 - Learning and Sharing in the Cloud for Teachers in Students - How to do more than share files with Microsoft Office 365...
8. Interschool Book Blogging - How to set it up, manage the discussions and assess. Plus a sample unit that I initiated and co-created last year, titled, "The Interschool Digital Dystopian Book Club Project". I could also help to coordinate Interschool Blogging Buddies...

In Weebly the 8 Initiatives above will be "static" pages. The blog roll will be "Classroom Connections" where individual teachers could share photos or ideas with me, then I can report on these initiatives in the blog roll.

Now I just need to think of a place where my Genius Hour Teachers can collaborate. I could set up a Google Community... or a shared folder with Office 365. I need to think further about this one.

So what will I call this project???? Maybe the "Teaching With Technology Hub"... Other ideas??

Rhizomatic Learning Easy to Understand, But Hard to Spell

   by  Tony Fischer Photography 

In Dave Cormier's blog, he states importance of acknowledging that "learners come from different contexts, that they need different things, and that presuming you know what those things are is like believing in magic.”

As I was reading up on Rhizomatic learning, I came across a blog, Teach Thought who shares a definition of Rhizomatic learning. “...knowledge can only be negotiated, [and is] a personal knowledge-creation process with mutable goals and constantly negotiated premises.” The part of this somewhat complex definition that really caught my attention was the "knowledge can only be negotiated" - meaning that the learner will decide on what they want to take out something. The learner can take as much or as little as they wish... they can dig deep or scratch at the surface. The other aspect of the definition that grabbed my attention was the "personal knowledge creation process". Seems kind of obvious, right? Students developing their own understanding based on prior knowledge or experience and that this understanding would continue to be shaped through interactions.

Last week's discussion with Dave Cormier and Rhizomatic Learning really resonated with me. Why? Because it really focuses on the student as an individual who comes with all kinds of experiences and that these experiences can shape the way they learn. Hmmm... Kind of seems obvious, right?? It also emphasizes the importance of looking LESS at "THE DATA" and more on how teachers need to explore, experiment and examine many ways of learning. There is also an emphasis less on the teacher as the center or the "Sage on the Stage" but instead on the learner and how he or she learns best. (What?? Imagine that??)

In many ways Rhizomatic Learning seems to emphasis the Multiple Intelligences or "The Many Ways of Knowing". What I also really appreciated was not only does it emphasize that learning is NOT a linear lock-step process, but sometimes chaotic and messy. As we participated in the discussion I kept thinking of how the brainstorm is often the most natural way of thinking of connections and ideas. I also started thinking that Cross-curricular teaching also fits in with this model. Aside for the ease of scheduling or assigning marks, it's unfortunate that subjects are so compartmentalized. It's not the way our jobs or our lives are organized. The skills that one needs or accesses in a day overlap. Teachers of primary and middle years have the benefit of being able to cross curricularly plan for the most part, but unfortunately at the high school level there is still the compartmentalization of learning. I suppose this issue could be somewhat alleviated through more collaboration and cross-curricular planning among teachers - which can take some coordination and time.

Rhizomatic learning embraces the way learning naturally occurs and that is it sometimes is messy and a bit random. I think perhaps the key role of educators is helping students to fully understand how they learn best, how their own experiences can change their perceptions on what and how they learn, and to understand the importance of appreciating how different experiences can change our perceptions. I also think that with this philosophy there is greater importance placed on teachers in examining the inquiry stance and the importance of asking questions, critically evaluating and analyzing, then asking more questions.

I have been exploring the importance of asking questions in the context of Genius Hour. As you can tell I am pretty excited about Genius Hour and it's connections not only to digital learning, but it's roots in inquiry. Genius Hour is giving students the opportunity to explore their passions and interests, but more importantly how to form "big" questions, examine the best sources to locate answers, critically evaluate and analyze and form more questions. So, going back to the definition that I started with in this post on Rhizomatic learning, "...personal knowledge-creation process with mutable goals and constantly negotiated premises." One could say that Genius Hour would allow for students to engage in that "personal knowledge creation" and that using the inquiry framework, the student would be "negotiating" or deciding on the direction of the learning, based on their questions.

   by  andresmh 

However the part that I think could be more fully explored with Genius Hour is finding opportunities for collaboration. Although making meaning or "knowledge-creation" is personal, I think that there are great opportunities for collaboration and sharing. In giving students opportunities to share what they've learned and ask each other questions, students can see questions that perhaps they hadn't thought of all because of other perspectives. Thereby allowing for greater understanding and social development.

 Anyways.... this is how I would add a collaborative "tweek" to a great idea.

 



Sugata Mitra TED 2013 winning talk

It's an Open World... Where there is a will, there is a way to learn

Recently in our ECI 831 Community I posted a TED talk from Sugata Mitra on "Building a school in the cloud" or learning in the cloud. It's premise is that when given the opportunity kids will teach themselves - without teachers, without classrooms, without background or prior knowledge. (Kind of makes you wonder about our role as educators when you see the video).

What motivated thes kids from the streets of New Delhi was the drive to learn and the opportunity to do so via the "Hole in the Wall". In our schools we provide so much more than a hole-in-the-wall. We look at pedagogical needs, multiple intelligences, resources, cross curricular teaching and teaching strategies... I'm barely exploring all aspects that are considered in education... but I must get to the point... We work so hard to "get through" to kids, to capture their interest and engage. Then when I watch Mitra's TED Talk, I wonder how do we allow for those windows into student self discovery into their own learning? How we create opportunities for students to be so engaged that they want to figure it out for themselves?

Another aspect that I loved about Mitra's project are the Granny Cloud of Tutors. When you think of the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child". The Cloud Granny Tutors are examples of how with access to Skype that village becomes the Global village. The project is an example of how intergenerational boundaries and socioeconomic boundaries can be conquered with new ways of thinking.

Another thing that this video got me thinking was the role of the teacher. Perhaps as teachers we need to "back off". This does not mean that I'm advocating teachers assigning random projects to the kids and providing no direction... it would be pretty hard to justify the hands off hole the wall concept when teachers are there to do a job - teachers must be accountable! But perhaps we need to explore helping students develop the skills to think and persevere, even when things get complicated or tough - deepen that "grit" and the drive to learn. Sounds good, but how do we do that??

In order deepen understanding we need to explore what it means to question, or learn how to inquire and dig deeper into issues. Inquiry doesn't just mean asking questions and quickly coming to the answer. If this is the case, then the exploration is pretty shallow and you haven't really aimed at finding out real answers. With inquiry, when one piece of information is found, more questions will invariably come up. To me this is very close to some of the points that were explored in our discussion with Dave. The whole Rhizomatic learning is about when you think you got to the root of your question, another question pops up. This is the kind of thinking we want to develop with students... to dig deeper, find other questions or perspectives and make our own meaning... and this is where Genius Hour comes in... students would be able to examine their own questions about a problem, issue or question. Ideally I think it would be beneficial for them to blog and collaborate on their questions, as it is proven over and over that although one does need internal drive, most learn best when we can collaborate and hear other perspectives. In some ways, this is how I would change the Genius Hour model (if there was a "model" to follow) - organize a method for students to also share their questions or findings. The question I'm now exploring is the forum for this communication for students - Kidblog? Edmodo? Video logs? Wikis?? What would be the best place for individual logging of learning - but also a shared space for collaboration.

I also believe that there is so much potential for sharing and collaboration, that as educators we should also take the time to learn from each other in a community. Teachers could collaboratively explore the format, expectations, curricular outcome connections and assessment... As with any project we can accomplish more or increase our depth of understanding when we explore something together. I suppose this would be the true nature of the potential outcomes of using the Google Plus community and Twitter platform for this class. When I think about it, it's nice to explore some of these platforms as "learners" and take this experience and knowledge into the classroom.

What it all comes down to is... ACCESS.
Has access to digital technologies and the Internet become one of the cornerstones to quality education?
In our world where we have Internet access, are schools doing everything to push past the boundaries and explore what is available?

Educational Technology is like being on the Starship Enterprise...

This week's session with guest lecturer, Rick Schwier provided some interesting insight into the history of educational technology and the role it has had in propelling the direction of learning.... As I was examining his slides of the "movers and shakers" of educational technology, I couldn't help but wonder if any of these individuals in the middle of their research realized that they were really shaking up and shaping education. I mean did they think... "Wow, this project is really going to blow everyone's socks off!"? 

Another aspect of the discussion that caught my attention was when Rick explored common misconceptions about Educational Technology.... The three points that stuck with me included:

Computers can replace teachers

DATA = KNOWLEDGE =UNDERSTANDING= WISDOM

ET = Computers + Internet + Schools

The first misconception regarding computers replacing teachers is a joke. I think that anyone who has ever taught or been in a classroom, knows that this will not happen. Anyone who believes this, is just being argumentative and silly. I'm not even going to explore this misconception, it's so ridiculous. Sorry.

The second misconception that got me thinking was the DATA = KNOWLEDGE =UNDERSTANDING= WISDOM... So if this misconception is actually believed that would make computers super smart. Or perhaps the Internet super smart, as there is access to tons of data. Or that if a person can quote lots of facts it makes them individuals who are certainly wise. Well if you have ever watched the show, "Cheers" and heard of the character, "Cliff Clavin", you would know that the ability to know many useless facts definitely does not equal wisdom. So is this really a misconception? Did I not get the whole point?? In teaching we see evidence of true understanding everyday, with our students' ability to evaluate, analyze and synthesis information... (you know all the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy). So this would not be a misconception held by many educators.

The third misconception that educational technology is mainly just a combination of computers, the Internet and schools, is one misconception that is not so surprising. With so much pressure on schools and divisions to increase the number of devices to students, the  argument as to what the device brand should be (Apple or Android), and whether or not we should rely on BYOT or BYOD - it seems like we kind of lose site of what effective integration is about. 

Now don't get me wrong, in order to effectively allow students to explore digital learning they need to have the hardware and the infrastructure (wifi etc) in place to make it happen. But even when classrooms have all the technology they could ever dream of, it comes down to the teacher. How is he or she going to help students use the technology? How are they going to remove themselves from the role of the "Sage on the Stage" (sorry to be cliche) highlighting the bells and whistles of technology -  to that of the facilitator guiding the student as they use digital tools to answer questions or collaborate? Divisions can't just supply the devices and expect that students will innately know what to do... or that teachers will know what to do with the students and those devices. There has to be a time for teachers to explore, take risks, collaborate and learn how to use the technology. Not to repeat something that has been stated so many times... but we need to look at the goals or outcomes for learning... then how the tools will help to achieve the outcomes. However, in order to make it happen, teachers need time. (Which is a currency always lacking in schools!)  Time to plan, time to explore and time to collaborate with other teachers. 

Educational technology is not just providing the infrastructure with devices.  It's about creating communities of individuals who look at ways of using technology to bring education further than where it has been. Without sounding too Star-Trek like ... 

Educational Technology is about boldly going where education has not gone before...

It's worth taking the risk to go boldly even if the journey might be treacherous!

Contribution to Learning and Visibility

Questions to ponder this week...

a) How are you contributing to the learning of others?

b) How are you making your learning visible?

 

In response to the first question, I think I have made good strides this week in contributing to learning of others with digital literacy  - particularly for teachers. Then again, I better, my job kind of revolves around that! Seriously, I think that the last couple weeks have been primarily focused on assisting teachers in Regina Catholic with becoming more comfortable with the technology being rolled out. I've discovered through my sessions that teachers really mirror the students in so many ways. Although honestly, I must say that most students, regardless their "Tech Comfort" are far more willing to take risks with learning how to navigate new technology. This could be attributed to the whole "digital native" (reality or myth... however you wish to look at it) or the fact that they are far more willing to just "jump" or dive in. In the past couple weeks, it's apparant that most teachers are truly positive and willing to learn something new, and are willing to work through a few growing pains associated with a system-wide roll out of technology. However, there are other teachers - and usually there is one in every school, that is "grumpily-resistant" to change. And it usually means a little bit of grumbling or frustration...But with a little assistance and boosting of confidence, by telling them they know way more than they think they do... they come around. Being that my sessions are not mandatory for staff members, I'm always impressed that even though some of these resistant users are hesistant to learn something new... they are there, trying their best. For this reason, I truly respect their initiative and effort. I'm impressed that regardless much experience most users have, they are willing to learn something knew, as they know it is imperative that as teachers of the 21st century, we have to ensure that we are reaching our students any means we can... which includes the digital realm for which so many of our students "exist".  I hope that my contribution to the learning of others is one of reducing frustration and building confidence. So that the teachers I work with make the effort to try new ways of teaching students so that they in turn can see what digital tools have allowing them to shape their own learning. 

Now in response to the second question, how am I making my learning visible?? Well, by blogging one can see what I'm reflecting upon in my own Edtech pursuits. I am not a stranger to sharing my thoughts in a digital forum. Now this doesn't mean I'm sharing my innermost thoughts with the world or a collection of autobiographical poems, I just like to share my thoughts on using technology in education (as in this blog), as well my classroom lessons and units (as in my classroom blog). For me, teaching is not a private endeavor... far from it. I like keeping a classroom blog, as it gives parents the chance to see what were learning, which is even more important being that I have taught primarily grade 7/8's, and it also gives students a chance to further reflect on our units of study. I like the collaborative opportunity that maintaining a classroom blog offers. 

Anyways, before I go to far in this direction talking about the benefits of blogging, I should make a further effort to answer the question. Well perhaps in maintaining a classroom blog, parents and students can see not only what were learning, but my quick reflections on how the students are doing or what we need focus on in our learning. A reflective comment on my part here and there in my blog,  goes a long way in terms of parents seeing my professional engagement with teaching and learning. Parents can see that the classroom blog is more than a place to see what's for homework, but videos and links that connect and extend what we are studying. One of the best compliments and memories I once had was that a student told me that he and his parents enjoyed reviewing the links and the videos I had posted on different world cultures in my blog for a Social Studies unit. And by visiting my resources, they were motivated to find others. They were so into this exploration, that a couple days later, they sent me an email of other links they found that they thought I could use in teaching. So by making learning visible via a blog, a student was able to take what we were studying into their home. Of course this is kind of a once-in-a-career scenario, but cool nonetheless.

Finally, other ways I make learning visible is through my use of Twitter to connect with my PLN's (Personal Learning Networks). Honestly I have found that with Twitter and by following the right people, it's done more for my own professional development than any inservice or teacher's convention session. Twitter is PD on the fly - explore and take what you want. Quick snippets of what's relevant now from "average teachers" to infamous edtech gurus. I find that if there is something I want to learn more on based on a quick tweet that I scanned, then I research further. Really I can't say any more about Twitter, or people will start to think that I have shares in the company!

Am I making my learning visible? Somewhat...Hmmm, perhaps I could offer more transparency. I need to consider this further. So on that note, is there anyone in the group an expert on Garage Band?? I have to do a session with a class in the next week and I'm pretty green!! Any advice on using it with a group of grade 8's?? :-)

Genius Hour - an EdTech Project that I Want to do Right Now!!!

CALLING ALL TEACHERS WHO MAY WANT TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY OF EDUCATORS WHO TEACH GENIUSES...

This spring I happened to come upon a tweet about Genius Hour. After further research into the concept and watching a video, I immediately started to think about all the potential it had particularly with the connections to inquiry. Actually it was more than just connections to inquiry - Genius Hour is inquiry. It's basically the inquiry model wrapped up and re-labeled with a really cool name. What would inspire kids more... "Hey class, we are going to explore your questions about any topic that interests you using the inquiry model..." OR "Hey class, for one hour a week you are all going to have the opportunity to become geniuses, as you explore all your own questions about any topic you choose." What would grab your students?

If you wonder what Genius Hour is in the classroom, it provides the students a lesson a week to work on something they are passionate about and discover their inner ‘genius’.

As a former Teacher Librarian, I immediately saw Genius Hour as a great opportunity for students to explore their own interests using the inquiry questioning and reflecting model, as well as digital tools to act as the vehicle for finding answers and sorting what they had found. Anyways, this year I am in a unique situation. I am a teacher without a class. Who will be my guinea pigs to get involved and get inspired in this learning opportunity?? After some discussion with my husband, who is also in education, it soon became apparent that Genius Hour is something that caught the attention of many teachers this Spring. Over the summer, teachers from Regina Public had been curating resources and partaking in their own digital PD. They even went so far as to have Skyped-in discussions with one of the writers of Genius Hour. Now I have to be honest, I felt a little jealous... Here was a group of other Saskatchewan teachers who were also interested in integrating Genius Hour in the classroom... and I didn't even know about it. The funny thing is, I didn't find out about them via Twitter or Facebook. Instead I found out word of mouth from my husband... Aghhhhh!!!!

Anyways, going back to my problem... Being that I don't have a class to try out Genius Hour on, I would like to find classroom teachers who would like to try Genius Hour (I might start off by focusing on grades 5-8, just to keep it manageable). I also think that in a project such as this, where kids are exploring their own passions, should this be left in isolation. So as part of my role as a Technology Coach, I hope to help create a community of "Genius Hour Classrooms" where teachers can share resources for guiding the genius energy and also find ways of allowing the budding geniuses to share their findings with the world or at least other peers (this is actually one aspect of Genius Hour... Geniuses must share their findings in some way with the world). Perhaps the budding geniuses could team up with other geniuses with similar projects and bounce ideas off each other, all within a digital forum.

So where to begin. What digital tools would be effective for curating genius resources? Livebinders? Google docs or OneDrive?

What tool would be beneficial for the budding geniuses to record their reflections on the findings? Blogging?

How will they share the findings? Skype? Lync? Edmodo??

Finally, how can teachers collaborate? Wikis? Google+ Communities? Twitter? Facebook? I'm just not sure what tool would be the best. Ideas??

If you know of teachers who might be interested in joining the "Community of Educators who Teach Geniuses" please let me know. I think it might be fun to start this group right away, at the beginning of the year. Later on, I also think it would be cool to get students to showcase their projects via a mini TED talks.

If you are interested in checking out my curated resources, here is a GeniusHour LiveBinder created by Joyce Kirr that I found...  She does a great job of explaining how to get started and how to manage the geniuses in your classroom.

And other links that I have curated....

Dan Pink - "The Puzzle of Motivation"
Tapping into intrinsic motivation and rewards....

Genius Hour and Getting Started from Edutopia

The Genius Hour Book (which looks at Genius Hour and other Inquiry and Problem Based Learning Ideas)

New Genius Hour and 20% Time Book

The blog, "My Own Genius Hour" for fantastic resources like another 

Live Binder, weblinks, videos etc....


Genius Road - A blog with great digital ways to bring Genius Hour alive

Ms. Bertrand's Class Blog - Great resources to help explain the concept - love her explanation of what it is.

The Global Genius Hour Project Page

Blogging on blogging

Last year I took a couple grad classes where students were expected to participate in a blogging forum and discuss course readings. When I first started participating in the forum, I immediately felt self-conscious about what to say. Every time I composed a thought in a post, I  hyper-analysed what I had written, as I was worried that the content of my posts wouldn't be interesting enough for the other readers. Over time I got over it and just started posting, and slowly started getting over my internal doubts. Perhaps it's because when you discuss something in the context of class if you say something that is ridiculous, no one really remembers. Yet in a blog, it sits there, glaring up at you....Unable to be retracted.

As a middle years teacher, I have had my students participate in quite a few blogs. But it wasn't until I had the opportunity to interact in a blogging forum with peers, did I truly get some of the hesitancy that my students may have felt about sharing in this type of forum. To get over their hesitation, we explored the importance of encouraging everyone to participate, and how we do this in a blog - like you would in class. Many students felt that they just didn't know what to say, so I devised the "3C's  + Q model" which was loosely based on blogging ideas I read on line. The model encouraged students to comment on each other's posts by complementing, commenting, connecting then asking a question.   I found that the quality of the general discussions went up considerably when we started focusing on that response "formula".

So what can I learn from my own students' challenges? Perhaps, I should just take a page from my own blogging handbook and "just post"...

Here's a link to a "poster" of the model that I have given my students (as well as a holistic rubric for self assessment) 3C's + Q Poster.

On another note...

If teachers are interested in blogging with their students on a global level, you could check out the Student Blogging Challenge which gives classrooms opportunities to blog on weekly topics with other classrooms from around the world. Information can be found at: http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org

I heard about the challenge last year, but got involved in another blogging project with my class, so I didn't get a chance to participate. Classrooms can join the challenge in September or January. So if a teacher felt like they missed-the-boat, they can always explore the fundamentals of blogging with their students in September, by blogging within the classroom or with one other class. Then in January, join the Global Challenge!

Transitioning

   by  elkost


As stated in a previous post, this year I became a Technology Coach after 16 years of being in the classroom as a Middle Years teacher. Although I feel quite comfortable in the digital world and using digital tools in the classroom, I am still finding transitioning to my new position to be somewhat of a  tsunamic wave of information. In the last 2 weeks I've been teaching myself (as well as asking a ridiculous amount of questions of our IT staff) on how to trouble shoot through issues in Office 365 and Screenbeam devices. I've also had to explore curricular connections of apps in the new tablet devices from Kindergarten to High school. It seems like the more I learn, the more I realize that I don't really know very much about what's out there.

I'm starting to wonder if life would be more simple if we were digitally ignorant?? Although I love the doors that technology opens... it kind of leaves me thinking... is technology opening too many doors?

 

Ah... I shouldn't sound so pessimistic... Maybe I'm just juggling lots in my head.

New Beginnings for MOOCs and Flips

This is the year of new beginnings...

- I got a new position as a Technology Coach, after 17 years teaching middle years students.

- I started a new class for Grad Studies with EC & I 831.

- I enrolled in a MOOC... Which I intend on actually completing this time... Maybe.

So here is a photo of my enrollment in a "Teaching Flipped" class with Canvas Network. I'm not sure if this is a "reputable MOOC" site like Coursera,  Stanford Free Courses, or MIT Free Courses, but it met my requirements... It was FREE, open for enrollment and looked like something I could apply to my current career.

I have tried to explore the blended learning model, but I didn't really fully immerse my classroom in the model. Now that I don't have my own classroom, but many classrooms in which I will be working, I imagine there might be some teachers interested in exploring this model.

Tonight, I started by examining the course expectations, a few of the modular resources and completed a short survey. One aspect I really appreciated about the survey, was that it had participants state whether or not they were just "an observer", "passive participant" or "Fully engaged participant". It was hard not to laugh. A class that fully acknowledges that you just want to take what you want from the class and not necessarily be bothered by "class requirements" - What a concept! So I plan on just being a "user" of this Flipped Teaching MOOC and just take what I want without too much "emotional" investment. I mean it's not that I don't want to invest in meaningful heartfelt discussions... I feel like that I will already have that with this class! :-)

I think that the whole premise of the MOOC is nicely explained in this video I found on Youtube, when searching that answers the question, "What is a MOOC?"