Major Speed Bump

Last  Monday I graduated from a Master's of Education program at Athabasca University. I have never been to Athabasca, and even most of my professors did not live there, but we used technology in various wonderful ways to connect. My final presentation was an e-portfolio presentation to faculty and  colleagues.

I had every intention of making it back to  the  Connected Learning MOOC last Tuesday but something else happened instead. Because of health issues I will have to take a back seat to the MOOC. I think I was so driven to complete my Master's program that I was not noticing warning signals from my body. Silly mistake.  There is nothing more important than our health. Nothing.

So ... when things have settled down for me, I will return to this blog, but I think I will have to lurk on the connected course for now. .... All the Best ... Laura

Ontology, Epistemology and Connection

I have been pursuing the suggested Connection Activity from October 6th suggested by  The DreadPirate Tellio. The suggest is to draw. Lots of drawing. a hundred sheets in three weeks. It is hard. .... But I decided to do this activity because I knew that sometimes what comes out of my drawings can provide insight and helps me to think. 

So ... I produced a few drawings and then inspiration struck.  (I  wish I knew were inspiration hides.) I wanted to explore the connection between Ontology and Epistemology. An I confessed in a post on the Oct 6th connection activity   that this connection has always been bit vague for me.

This blog post is about that link, and also about  another drawing describing connection. 

Drawing 1 does not resemble a drawing, but this is the beginning...

Drawing 2 show a self ("me" in the circle), in a vast ontology,  with interactions of Epistemology   surrounding the self (the colours spell Epistemology - really)...

Drawing 3 was a better depiction of drawing two and looks more like a drawing...

Then  ... Drawing 4 woke me up in the night. Apologies for anatomically incorrect sailing boats. .... 

Today I produced this drawing. An image of connection  - both to each other and to the knowledge that surrounds us. ...

What does this image say to you? ... Do you think I am out to lunch, in left field, off track,  or on course,  on a tight tack? I would love some feedback ... 

And I cannot wait to see what my hands want to produce next. 

Blips in the path - And an image of reciprocity

I am getting back to the connected learning course after staying away for eight days (gulp). Lots to read and watch. At least I have a better excuse than the dog ate my homework. (Last year our puppy ate my son's memory stick. I had him take the shattered remains to school in a clear plastic bag so he had proof the dog ate his work).  I am presently completing a Masters in Education, and have my final culminating activity, a presentation of  an e-portfolio of my educational journey on October 20th via an Adobe connect session. I will be continuing to put the final polish on that presentation up until the 20th , but I now have time to return to Connected Learning. 

 I received a lot of value from  the webinar hosted by Kira Baker Doyle on Social Capital . Wow ! I had not considered  social capital as it relates to online Personal Learning Networks (PLNs).  In the 1990's I participated in an equestrian usenet newsgroup (remember those?). But lately my personal learning networks have tended to either be transient, and limited to those enrolled in whatever current course I was taking (very dense and rich),  or the small list of blogs I read on on a regular basis.  

Ideas that resonated with me included the suggestion that we consider our PLN as a reservoir of reciprocity.  We give things away... and if we know what we need and ask for what we need ... things come back to us.  I need to think about what I can bring to the table. More on this later... 

Reciprocity  - Credit: Eugene Kim Flickr CC-BY

More ideas from the first webinar in Unit 2 are:  We cannot underestimate how much energy it take to be renewed in our teaching. PLN's can provide a mechanism for that renewal.  It takes being social.   Name the things you value.

My personal to-do list for the connected course for the next week (Canadian Thanksgiving will provide a long weekend Oct 11,12 & 13) will be to actively work on this blog, respond to others, get caught up, expand my reading list,  increase my PLN, participate in the  daily connector #6 (for the next 21 days)

So ... More to come ... Thanks for the great webinar!