Happy Birthday ETmooc

Yesterday, in a Susan’s tweet, I was reminded of our #etmooc birthday — a six year anniversary of Educational Technology Massive Open Online Course: a group of many educators learning the pedagogy of infusing technology and citizenship in our classrooms, with our guide, Alec Couros.

So many of our crew piped in:

Because, we are all connected, still, through twitter and blogs.

What is ETMOOC?

I wrote a About ETmooc here, and from that, here is a summary:

  • et: educational technology
  • mooc: massive open online course
    • massive: hundreds of participants
    • open: free and open to all
    • online: all online
    • course: personalized course: what do you want to learn?
  • A community of learners connecting, communicating, considering, contributing, collaborating, creating, and curating a body of knowledge open and shared by all based on the needs of the participants
  • Key Words: Connect, Contribute, Create, Curate

For most of the participants, it was a beginning in understanding what to do with all that new technology– how to engage learners and learning and to provide guidance in its safe use. Here are our topics:

We read, watched, listened, and conversed on those, curating our learning in blogs [list here] and Google Plus [soon to be lost]. All work is still open, one of the components of a connected learning environment, especially for professional development.

I wrote about my start with ETmooc based on these key words, which helped me start on an ambitious journey in my classroom: Connect, Consider, Converse, Curate. Many of us were still quite shy about online connections, and tentative about some of the tech in our classrooms. Many of us were just learning about “create.”

And Erin said it well, about how we have grown and changed, and stayed connected:

ETmooc on World Sketchnote Day

This represents, to me, those words and ETmooc. The inner arrows go in both directions because the learning is continuous, recursive, and reciprocal. The spiral lines show a continuous connection to the outer, family circle, yet all is open. We connect and share, then consider all ideas as we converse through many venues, curating our learning [and sharing]. It was this process that encouraged me to participate and learn more, in other such communities of learnings, which I immediately applied and blogged about in my classroom. [Example many of us continued in: #clmooc ]

Deeper Considerations

A group of us even dove deeper into our educational queries, led by our friend Ben Wilkoff, with a two-year vlogging channel, Open Spokes. Here’s a summary of one of those conversations, Tough Issues. Still of value today, perhaps, especially today:

Family For Life

That’s what Erin tweeted: #familyforlife because we found a connection that become important relationships, a personal learning network [PLN]. We became a networked neighborhood, touching bases from time to time after intensive ETmooc and Open Spokes experiences. So thankful for all of you and forAlec Couros, who brought us together.

Happy Birthday! 

May you all continue in your connected learning journey!


WC: 497

Day 21

This post is part of a 30-day challenge to reflectively write and post at least 150 words with the hashtag #modigiwri, which started with Anna here. Join us and here goes!

I’ve also joined the #blogging28 challenge by Edublogs, thanks to Denise’s tweet

4 Comments

on “Happy Birthday ETmooc
4 Comments on “Happy Birthday ETmooc
  1. Sheri, thanks for the history. I’m a little flighty in some of my networking experiences, not always following up, finishing and staying connected, but those were some powerful times early in my journey. I remember making the first video for Open Spokes that I posted on YouTube with my own face and voice, something I never would have thought I would do. It was empowering! Thanks for sharing and reminding me about these connections and the six-year anniversary.

    Blessings,
    Denise

    • Hi Denise — it was a big step for all of us [except Ben, who was already vlogging]. It helped us get over “perfectionism” and just jump in — sort of your habit! You may be shy, but you dare to try! Glad to hear from you. ~ Sheri

  2. I was only aware of ETMOOC afterwards and I love that the connections you all forged are still there, and strong, and that you and others keep sharing out the learning that happened. ETMOOC certainly laid the groundwork for other flowers to bloom, as you note.
    Kevin

    • Hi Kevin, ETmooc was a course, a little different from CLmooc — open, but a course rather than a collaboration. It helped explain what could be possible in CLmooc and did “lay the groundwork” for many to continue their journey into connected learning with CLmooc. So glad for both, and there’s a need for both. ~ Sheri

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