Teaching as transparent learning
One of my regrets is that I did not participate in CCK08. Just the concept of this course is exciting – the idea of people from all of the world connecting and sharing ideas. building knowledge, collaborating, etc. One day, and that day hasn’t come yet, I will work my way through the resources in this course and try to imagine what it was like to participate. Maybe when I finish my Masters…..
Teaching as transparent learning
What lead me to think about CCK08 again was George Siemen’s post about Teaching as Transparent Learning. CCK08 was very much in that vein and our learning in this degree seems also to be premised on those same ideas. The two most striking points in this post, for me, are firstly, that although he and his colleagues are the experts, he positions them as “only two nodes in multi-node network”, they are learners as well as teachers. Secondly, he talks about the “varying cognitive architecture” between those with experience and those who are at the beginning of their learning, and the way that these differences can help each individual to support another. These ideas seem similar to those of Knowles who said that
“Every adult group, of whatever nature, must become a laboratory of democracy………… Attitudes and opinions are formed primarily in the study groups, work groups, and play groups with which adults affiliate voluntarily.”
It could be argued, then, that teaching as transparent learning has always been present in study groups which also position the learner as the teacher. Study groups, however do not position the teacher as the learner. So teaching as transparent learning in the context of online learning allows anyone at any time to swap roles or even take on both roles simultaneously to generate understanding.
Today I listened to recording of a live Elluminate session about Personal Learning Networks (PLN) faciliated by Sue Waters. She was discussing whether or not Twitter was a good way to introduce PLN’s to people who are new to online learning. Interestingly she demonstrated teaching as transparent learning quite clearly by asking participants to write their opinions on this question on the whiteboard. She did not position herself as the expert (even though she is) but recognised that other experts and novices were present, and acknowledged all contributions to the discussion. This tried and trusted method of collaborative knowledge building worked well in this environment – and even better, it’s still there for me to see, to think about and to align with Siemens theory.
Lurking
To some extent I disagree with the comments about lurking. Lurkers are not necessarily watching discussions by experts and waiting until they have absorbed enough knowledge to participate. They may also watch discussions between peers, (i.e. other learners) and may still not feel ready to contribute. There are reasons other than lack of confidence for low, or no participation in PLN’s. I have noticed that my own participation in Twitter, for example, is almost completely restricted to re-tweets. This is not due to lack of confidence, but to the fact that by the time I have read everything that interests me from the tweets already posted, it’s late, I’m tired and I need to go to bed! But I do, like Dave Truss, frequently share the information I gather from Twitter with other networks – the SCC Tutor Ning and the VET Quality Network for example.
This blog could also be framed as lurking, I have not share it with anyone but our student group. However, I have spent some considerable time thinking about what to write in this post. Writing the post has enable me to really analyse the content of teaching and transparent learning. So maybe today I am a “teacher to those who are observing” while at the same time expressing “half-formed ideas” and learning as I write.
So today’s the day – no more lurking for this blog – I’m going public!
Hi Ann, thanks for writing this post for several reasons.
It’s really good to know that people are watching these sessions and that they are gaining from it. Writing the posts for the archive takes time, so when people like yourself give me the feedback that it’s beneficial for them it make that time spent worthwhile.
This session was part of our unconference type sessions. How it works is participants put the topic they would like to cover on the white board, we vote for which topic(s) we want to cover then the person who has the most background knowledge on it leads the discussion. Yesterdays worked really well because you could see how it move from being lead by me to others taking it in a range of directions by the end — which is a really good demonstration of how networked learning can enhance the learning for all.
Definitely expert isn’t an aspect I feel comfortable with. Reality is I’m learning from everyone I’m fortunate enough to interact with which I then pass along to share with others. Plus I’m also been very lucky to have numerous amazing people over the years mentor and guide me in some many ways.
Lurking is an interesting concept. Reality is it is normal online behaviour. Participation rule for online is 90 % of people lurk, rarely interacting, 9 % occasionally add their voice to the conversation while 1 % participate all the time (often dominating the conversation). I’m sure if you check through the recording from the session you could probably break up people into those categories.
It’s important to be aware of that participation rule when doing online activities and look at ways of encouraging participation while remembering that lurking doesn’t imply people aren’t learning. However if you can increase individuals active participation then often you find learning increases. For example, compare how much you learnt from watching the Elluminate recording, to then reflection on it to write this post to the next level is I’ve now left you are comment. Moving it to the next level you (and I) will learn even more if you comment back and ask me more questions
That is networked learning and a PLN in action! And why it is important.
Today you were the teacher, because you brought things out of George Siemen’s post (that I had already read and commented on) that I totally missed. I really like what George said here:
“My argument is this: when we make our learning transparent, we become teachers. Even if we are new to a field and don’t have the confidence to dialogue with experts, we can still provide important learning opportunities to others.”
We have so much to learn from each other, and from our students if we see them as co-learners!
On one last topic, I don’t see blogs as lurking. Educational bloggers are engaging in meaningful reflection and that is a very active learning exercise. My blog is my personal Pro-D that I just happen to share openly with anyone in the world who wishes to peek in, whether or not they comment or just lurk:-)
Sue,
Thanks for your reply. In particular, the stats on lurking and participation are very useful. I do have some questions for you:
How did you know I had written this post?
Can you add me to your list when you are advertising the session please? I see your posts on Twitter – usually when the sessions are finished!
Ann
Dave
I also wonder how you found out about the post?
Thank you for your comments. I also love that quote and take you point about the blog
Ann
Although I have a Google Alert for ‘Dave Truss’ and ‘David Truss’, I found this because of Sue.
I’ve never met Sue, but we are friends… Something foreign to many of my generation, but a reality in this day and age!
Sue and I have fun on Twitter, sharing ideas and throwing playful banter at each other. We challenge each other’s thinking, we have thoughtful conversations and share resources, and we even collaboated on a #gr8t project together. Sue gave me the heads up that I was mentioned in your post… Networked teaching and learning.
Now you’ll have to excuse me, I noticed that Sue has an unanswered question above and so I’m going to drop her a note to let her know:-)
Dave.
Sorry for taking so long to respond. Unfortunately my comment tracking tool isn’t tracking the comments as well as it should.
“How did you know I had written this post?” I use Google Alerts. If any one mentions me or any of my blogs I receive an email alert. So as David says I saw the alert before him and asked him to also drop past. I monitor alerts for a number of reasons but one of the most important is I like to encourage new bloggers as I still remember how hard it is to get a blog started with an audience. Using links is an important part of building up an audience but many new bloggers struggle with adding links. This at least means I can encourage them.
And yes David was nice enough to remind me. Hopefully this time my comment tracking works