Situating Ourselves

Having trouble embedding my Padlet this morning :( 

So here is a pic!

It is a snowy, chilly and crazy windy day here in #Iqaluit Time to brew a cup of coffee and catch up on #FormativeSummit @goformative
Where is everyone else from?? What is your view like today? What has been your fav session? #PajamaPD #LearningWithFriends #FormativeAssessment pic.twitter.com/bicu4qE7H7

— Tara Vanderveer (@TaraVatNAC) October 27, 2018

A moving situation

The transcript for my Prezi:

A moving situation

In this course:

I'm hoping to learn more..

• about micro-course design
• whether this approach to learning will 'stick'
• options for building community in online and blended courses.

My goals:

• to gather ideas about building community AND designing micro-courses
• to share ideas, experiences and resources with other participants.

In my world (glimpses)

1 decision that led me here today

The decision to move south from Yukon was hard but we ended up on Vancouver Island which led me to online facilitation (more than f2f) which led me to Facilitating Learning Online workshops, to Sylvia Currie, and all the other amazing co-facilitators that are parts of this online community.

1 place of deep connection

Rathtrevor Provincial Park - I've been visiting since I was 10. So many memories are triggered whenever I walk the beach or trails. Now I live a short drive away - awesome!

Who has inspired me recently?

Monica - my djembe instructor who can listen and manage multiple rhythms and drummers in her head and still keep smiling!

Cogdog (aka Alan Levine) - whenever I am at a loss for how to engage learners, I go to his blog for ideas. A constant outpouring.

Stephanie Nolen - one of the best writers and 'splainers' I've ever read. She makes the complex clear and holds up a clear glass through which to see and understand different peoples and cultures.

In this day

Feeling grateful...to have so many options to learn, so many beautiful places to explore, so many possibilities to contemplate..

Feeling rushed!

The world

What is one decision you made that has led to you being here today?

20 years ago my husband and I purchased property on a lake, along with an old camper trailer. We dreamed about having a cabin -- a place to escape to from city life (near Vancouver) on weekends and holidays. We found ourselves driving back and forth almost every weekend, 4 hours each direction, and inventing creative ways to extend our time at the lake. One day we asked ourselves this question: Why don't we call the lake home, and visit the city for work? And we did! Our house sold in a matter of weeks and we started construction on our now home. The day we reached the turnkey phase the floor fell out of our rusted camper. Timing is everything. 

This day

What is present in the background of this day? 

I'm thinking about how much I appreciate intuitive interfaces. 

This course

What are you hoping to learn in this course?

As I embark on the E-Learning 3.0 MOOC and prepare for this MicroCourse I am curious about what has changed over the years when it comes to community building in online courses. 

This World: I live in Agassiz (the alpha and the omega - starts with A and end with Z) BC, in the old family farm house that has been in our family for over 110 years, and I work in Agassiz and Chilliwack.  My God-mother/Aunt, Franciscan Sister Anthony Therese, a teacher and social worker, inspired me with her love of teaching and working with people, especially those in need. When our son was growing up, we had a "family hug" at the beginning of the day before we all set off in different directions. Now, when we say good-bye after our Sunday visit with our son, daughter-in-law and two year old granddaughter, Rose, we have our "family hug".  Rose now gives us all a hug and kiss before we leave. I am deeply connected to our little Island 23 with the old farm house because when I walk out of the door and down the road, I see the sloughs with  beautiful Mt. Cheam in full view with the most breath-taking sunrises.  Sto:lo First Nations tradition says she is our "Mountain Mother" reaching her arms out to protect us. I have climbed her twice and hope to climb it at least one more time.

This day: I have been working all day on two online courses, collaborating on a group test and writing responses to discussion forums. It was pouring rain all morning and most of the afternoon; however, I did find a break in the rain, so I went outside walking along road beside the slough looking at Mt. Cheam between the rain showers and the sunshine for about half an hour. Then, the rains returned.

This course: As a student, I want to bring my experience in what it is like to be in a full-term online course, and secondly, as a teacher, I want to bring my observations of the design for community building in these courses. My goal is to develop an ongoing activity that can be used to build and maintain community with the teacher and other students throughout the course and not just at the beginning.- to bring some of the ideal FLO world into the real online world. 

Situate yourself in this world:

• Communities that 'claim' me: the town of Hope, BC, Nova Scotia (lived there for many years), public postsecondary, 
• One decision leading to me being here today: long ago I decided to explore the subject of 'how distance education is different in rural communities'. I've been fascinated by the concept of 'community' ever since.
• A place I feel connected to, and why: long ago, when I drove alone across Canada for the first time, I felt strangely connected to Sault Ste. Marie. If you've ever been there, you might wonder why the attraction. I certainly couldn't explain it at the time. I discovered years later that some of my relatives (aboriginal people) traded furs out of that region for many years.

Situate yourself in this day:

• What's present in the background? Gorgeous blue sky. Almost no wind at all (unusual). Lots of golden leaves on the maples & a faint hint of burning leaves in the air. Steller's jays arguing over the bird feeder in the back. 
  

Situate yourself if this course:

• What do I bring that you want to share, and what am I hoping to learn? I want to share ideas about community, how it works (or doesn't) in online situations, how it contributes to a learning experience, how one might evaluate it.

The world

What communities claim you (are you part of)?

I spent the first half of my life growing up in Ontario but have almost spent more years living in BC than Ontario. I am from a village of about two thousand people (Norwich) which is sort of between Kitchener and London and all of my family members (except the one I "grew" myself: my husband and daughter and myself) still live near that area.

So I am part of an Ontario community and a Victoria/Sooke community, because I have lived on Vancouver Island since 2005, the last three years in Sooke. I'm also part of a post-secondary community, an instructional designer community, a FLO community, a non-profit community, a facilitator community, an entrepreneurial community, a choir community, a school parent community...my goodness, the list goes on! To be honest, I love starting and being a part of communities...for example, I created the Victoria Facilitators Group almost ten years ago and it now has almost 200 members.

This day/week

What is present in the background of this day?

Today while starting this course I'm also prepping to facilitate the second session of a 'training skills'-type course tomorrow for the Capital Regional District, as well as starting to rough prototype out an e-learning course I'm developing for the BC SPCA on Articulate Storyline. I'm also thinking ahead to Halloween and the pumpkins I will be carving (my daughter wants Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock on three of them - whoa!) and my birthday this week!

This course

What are your goals?

I would really love to develop a MicroCourse and am an 'enthusiast' for all things FLO so I thought I would really enjoy being a participant in one of these courses to see how they work before I offered to develop one. Also I want to learn from all of your community building ideas as I teach a lot online and love the act of attempting to build and foster online community. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you.

PS I took this photo of myself last week to remind my husband (who was coming home from a camping trip) how snug it is in front of our fire...