CLmooc BC Affinity Evolution

A Question

Did CLmooc, the collaborative course, evolve into an affinity network?  Is that how an affinity network evolves?

As CLmooc delves into the book Affinity Online, we also consider our own participation in #CLmooc.

The Inspiration

This week, @dogtrax referred us to Katherine Hinchey’s notes on her book:

which led me to her notes on networks:

To which I highlighted and annotated in Diigo. creating this outline–

the grey are my highlights of Katherine’s words, and the purple are my comments/questions.

Learning in nets (networks) – Katherine Hinchey

http://katherinehinchey.com/learning-in-nets-networks/

“nets provide people with a way to forge relationships and develop social capital outside their normal circle, and to come up with new and novel approaches to problems.”

  • Nets are about individuals (not the collective group) and how each individual is a node with connections to other individuals.
  • while the members of a group may do things for the betterment of the group, this is not true with nets: ‘We do not do things for the good of the network as we do for the good of the group because this makes no sense
    • So has #CLmooc become a “group,” as we continue to add goals for the benefit of all of us. Or, is this the evolution of “networks” into “Affinity Spaces or Networks”?

  • number and direction of connectors between people vary. Activity also varies sporadically
  • People in a network may have little in common except the reason for the net itself.
    • the reason is the affinity
  • With nets, the individual defines the tools and ways for themselves
  • Within Connectivist learning theory, this is the idea of meta-skills, which Siemens (2005) defines as being able to evaluate whether something is worth learning.
  • discover sources of inspiration from within the network
  • engaging in authentic social practice
  • one key to learning is creating artifacts and using artifacts created by others — what Toffler (2006) called being a “prosumer” (producer and consumer)
  • the means to create shared content is thus pivotal in providing tools for knowledge construction and tools for sharing and expanding on that knowledge’
    • options are choices
      sharing across devices and platforms
  • Contributing to a learning network and not receiving feedback or acknowledgement of that contribution quickly discourages further participation’
    • Is Twitter hashtag enough to maintain #CLmooc ?
  • Usually, nets form separately from the design of any tools it may use to facilitation communication and sharing, so ‘it is therefore important for any software and surrounding systems designed to support networks to pay close attention to making participation (as well as ending participation) as easy and painless as possible’
    • all welcome
      many options in creation and sharing
  • with nets we are not forced to interact with anyone
  • diversity of thought, experiences, and skills
  • nets provide people with a way to forge relationships and develop social capital outside their normal circle, and to come up with new and novel approaches to problems.
  • can help route key information to you, serving as a filter
  • Sometimes nets create filter bubbles, in which a person only sees information that they are inclined to believe
  • freedom to choose learning paths, tools, materials, etc.
  • your own timescale (as it fits with others, though) and location.
  • Connectivist learning doesn’t have formal learning objectives and assessments.
  • Learning nets need to emerge
    • #CLmooc emerged from the MOOC and is supported by those who continue their interest in connected learning and in connecting as learners.

The Wondering

#CLmooc emerged from the MOOC and is supported by those who continue their interest in connected learning and in connecting as learners.

Are we an affinity network/space or a group?

By discussing the book Affinity Online, in my mind, this seems to be a growing understanding of our learning progression as humans in search of knowledge and solutions:

  • Has #CLmooc become a “group,” since we continue to add goals for the benefit of all of us.
  • Or, have we moved from a group to become a network,
  • and is this the evolution of “networks” into a focused interest group-the “Affinity Spaces or Networks”?
  • And are we evolving from that Mooc group to a network to something else?

I wonder, how will the CLmooc affinity space / group with only #CLmooc and clmooc.com as our hubs — the online space where we all connect– be affected by the Google Plus hub disappearing?

That space provided an open, viewable, visible, and searchable stream of our conversations, creations, inspirations, and invitations.

As we continue to understand the groups for youth in our book study, we will see how each group makes changes as the people, the interest, and the platforms/access change.

How will our CLmooc evolve?

 


[Note: The CLmooc Facebook group is a closed group, and many do not participate in its  platform].