I am excited to join the BlendKit 2015 community! BlendKit 2015 is an open, online course from the University of Central Florida in designing and developing blended learning programs. I’ve used various distance learning technologies for several years, and now welcome this opportunity to bring identified best practices into the virtual and blended classroom. The readings, assignments and opportunities for discussion are essential resources in this quest.
So without further ado, some thoughts on chapter 1. I loved this description of learning by George Siemens: “By recognizing learning as a messy, nebulous, informal, chaotic process, we need to rethink how we design our instruction” (chapter 1). I can think of powerful learning experiences where things were less controlled, more dynamic, and maybe had some uncertainty mixed with a hint of pressure (as in group forming, norming, storming, and performing). A carefully designed hybrid learning program can also be messy, iterative, flexible, and just as powerful.
I’m familiar with Constructivism, but the idea of networked learning, or “Connectivism”, holds interesting prospects. Web 2.0 learners are a highly networked group, so using this framework seems like a good place to start. Yet how do we measure nebulous learning, or the formation of a learning network?