The first topic for our new BYOD4L open course is connecting.
Social Learning Spaces
To encourage participants to connect we have created three social spaces to direct people to discuss and share ideas about the connecting scenarios which include video perspectives from students and teachers. These spaces are:
- Twitter - Follow @melsiguk and #BYOD4L. In addition there is also #BYOD4Lchat and #BYOD4Lhelp.
- The BYOD4L Google + Community
- The BYOD4L Facebook Group
I am fascinated about what draws people to one space over another. Twitter has been busy for some time prior to the course starting as people starting sharing this new opportunity. From yesterday morning we started to see introductions and some conversations emerging. Of course it takes a bit more digging to follow the interactions in this space if you are not there at the moment. The Facebook Group and Google+ Community allows you to see the threads of any conversation grouped together, so for anyone coming in after the immediate moment, it is easier to catch up with a conversation.
That said we hosted our first Twitter chat between 8-9pm UK time which myself and Neil Withnell facilitated. I was blown away with how many participated and what a rich conversation took place. A Tweet Chat is fast and furious lasting an hour with continuous exchanges taking place. I was so pleased to see and hear that people new to this forum were not only dipping their toes in but also enjoying this new experience. We will be collating the tweets as a story using the Storify tool.
Through all these forums it was clear to see that people had begun to share blog posts and in reaction to these, interactions were taking place and connections been made. As this new and evolving learning community evolves it may not be possible to get to know everyone but it is already evident that as soon as someone asks a question or is found to be struggling, responses to such tweets are being made not just by the facilitators but the wider BYOD4L community.
Visualisations
Martin Hawksey has done an amazing job creating a visual map of those who are tweeting the course hashtag #BYOD4L and created a second map for the TweetChat #BYOD4L. Below you can see where in the world people were participating from. Amazing!
A6 find your #byod4l neighbour ;) #byod4lchat. http://t.co/enDIzQJn6k pic.twitter.com/WNxkUzwGci
— Martin Hawksey (@mhawksey) January 27, 2014
Connecting
I look forward to connecting with more people as the week goes on. I am @suebecks on Twitter. Do reach out to me and say hello. Post a link to your own blog or other artefact that shares how you are finding this new learning experience. It is through sharing that we will go on to learn so much more!
My Edshelf collection of tools for CONNECTING
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