Browsed by
Category: Comments on my blog

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by jlamb

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by jlamb

Echoing everyone else’s comments here, Helen, great work.

I especially liked the sequence from 00:36 to 00:43 where the frantic typing, flashes of screen content and then the frustrated sigh seemed to perfectly capture the dissonance between your expectations of the MOOC (based upon the subject matter) and your experiencing of it. And all achieved without any description through spoken or written commentary. Great stuff.

I know we touched on this as you made plans for sharing your research, however I see this your work autoethnographic approach where you placed great emphasis on your role and experience as the researcher, rather than looking to focus on the rituals of the observed community. At the same time this was a really great – in fact very successful – way of overcoming the challenges around ethics and permission.

Skating off an a tangent for a moment, from time-to-time there have been conversations from students and tutors on the Digital Education programme about getting programme hoodies (as in hooded sweatshirts), in the same way that this has become popular for campus-based programmes. Over the last few years it has been fascinating to see how keen students have become to publicly identify themselves as part of the Medics, Law, Chemistry, Hockey, Drama communities and so on. So, if the Digital Education Skating Society comes about I can put you in touch with the people who make the hoodies and other merchandise 😉

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2lDufMR
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by msleeman

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by msleeman

Helen, I’ve really enjoyed and appreciated your artefact. It’s struck me, and struck with me, and speaks well beyond your own ethnographic context. I liked the silence, the pacing, the narrative arc – and it filled in some gaps with my own FutureLearn experience (which, in turn, helped me see that in a different way, and thus a little more clearly). I’ve not immediately tied it to the reading, but I sense it will be in my mind as I return to the reading, and will enhance and illuminate there. Many thanks for a rich experience.

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2mGcTQy
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by hwalker

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by hwalker

Hi Chenée,

Thank you so much for your positive feedback. I have to say that I really struggled with the ethnography: firstly I became embroiled in ethical questions and then I wasn’t able to get permission to quote the course participants. Brilliant of you to make the connection with Sterne – I didn’t! And yes – anxiety and a sense of being disorientated by the hubbub and volume of activity are responses which I’ve frequently experienced both on the MOOC and in this module!

I had to be pushed by my partner to include the personal images: it sits uncomfortably with me to blend my private space with this public one (I know that this is something which you reflected on in your own lifestream (http://ift.tt/2lzTVtX)) but he felt that I needed to reference why the medium of the MOOC wasn’t working to deliver the sort of mindful experiences which I get from other areas of my life. I think it works but I still feel a little uneasy about this ‘collapse of context’.

And brilliant that you skate: are you in a roller derby team? If not, what sort of skating do you do (way, way back, I was a figure skater; that’s something Anne Powers and I have in common). We could start an MSc skating club…

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2lUNlAv
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by hwalker

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by hwalker

Some really interesting observations and comparisons here Dirk; it’s fascinating to hear others’ opinions on one’s work. I’m particularly struck by the fact that you perceive the video as presenting questions; I think because I am so close to the content I considered it fairly closed and definitive.

I really appreciate your thoughtful reflections: thank you for taking the time to look at my work and comment.

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2ldy5jL
via IFTTT

Comment on Lifestream summary: week 6 by hwalker

Comment on Lifestream summary: week 6 by hwalker

It was a really interesting experience to see how the MOOC attempted to deliver some of the key tenets of mindfulness. However, it was not the ‘right’ medium for me. Have you read Mark Williams (http://bit.ly/2mun8u5). This is the text I return to when I need to refocus. How is the ‘how we learn’ course?

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2lXApZg
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by Renee Furner

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by Renee Furner

This is another really well-executed artefact, Helen. You really captured the discordance you experienced between the course subject matter or content and the mode of delivery. This was conveyed especially well through your use of sound. I also enjoyed your integration of theory – it was a very thoughtful piece.

On your question of whether there may be an ‘inherent dissonance between form and content when delivering some subjects via a MOOC’, I wonder which aspect(s) of the course delivery contributed most significantly to the sense of dissonance.   You highlighted the number of participants (the massiveness), a potential overload of tasks, disruptive notifications, and quantified participation/completion notices – did any of these stand out as being more significant to you than the others?

Also, were there any opportunities to give feedback on participant experience? (or, have you noticed any later in the course?) I watched a talk recently by Tressie McMillen Cottom [blogged about here] in which she noted that what we collect information about is selective: our tools are very good at analysing time spent on tasks, but not at figuring out what people have learned or experienced. It seems that collecting information about participants’ experience on your course in particular, due to its subject matter, would be key to improving future iterations.

I really enjoyed your artefact – thanks for sharing it.

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2ldGqDV
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by mthies

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by mthies

Well done on a great ethnography Helen! I’m particularly drawn to your analysis as I was also part of a MOOC on Future Learn and also felt this ever present pressure to participate, comment and keep up. Having completed MOOC’s on other platforms it seems fairly particular to their offerings? Is there a particular aspect of the visual design, progress indicators and number of comments made per module that makes one feel guilt ridden for not being more involved? Furthermore, is this the intention perhaps?

I’m reminded of Descartes, ‘I think, therefore I am’ statement when considering the above. As ethnographers these past few weeks we have be somewhat forearmed to the self inflicted pressures of the MOOC’process. Why should we even be surprised when the average Joe Soap has a punt at some course that carries his vague interest and then drops off after a few short engagements? Particularly as the influences of life, as you have aptly portrayed them, get in the way. Maybe all MOOC’s should come with a mindfulness block up front.

Well Done again!

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2ldIlZ5
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by cpsaros

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by cpsaros

Hi Helen,

This is such a wonderfully rich artefact again. I really loved how you incorporated the themes around body from Block 1 into Block 2. You brilliantly supported Sterne (2006) by incorporating the sound of typing, breathing and a heart beat to demonstrate how over-whelming and anxious being involved online can sometimes seem.

I also loved that you gave a us a glimpse into your personal life too. I took up rollerskating last year and I saw you are able to skate, so that’s something we have outside digital education in common. I’ve found this block particularly interesting because communities seem to grow better by incorporating the personal. Really lovely work. 🙂

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2lyKI4O
via IFTTT

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by Dirk

Comment on MSCEDC MOOC Ethnography by Dirk

I like your videos, not although but because yours are very different to mine.
I try to be explicit – you are suggestive.
I talk to the viwer – you talk to yourself.
I present onformation – you present questions.
I try to be entertaining – you are somewhat dreamy.
Whereas I try to be clear in what I think and want to say, your videos invite the viewer to think themself and come to their own conclusion.

I think, hope, believe both approaches work. And I would add, that your approach has more of an academic air to it, making it easier for academics to relate to them. Your videos are complentative, intellectual, and asking questions with open answers is like a film that wins a price at Cannes. I am more Hollywood. Intentionally. But academics tend to be wary of these thongs – if it is fun, it can not be smart. Oh all those biases 😉

To cut a long story short: I enjoy your videos and learn from them. Thanks!

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2lbqrpN
via IFTTT

Comment on Lifestream summary: week 6 by dschwindenhammer

Comment on Lifestream summary: week 6 by dschwindenhammer

“the tensions inherent in the use of a MOOC to deliver a mindfulness course”
I can fully relate! I practice mindfulness and see it as a very individual technique involving noone and nothing but oneself. So how can this be incorporated into a Massive Open class? I am also doing “How we learn” this semester, where I try to complete a learner challenge learning yoga… So maybe we should exchange ideas, experiences, readings?

from Comments for Helen’s EDC blog http://ift.tt/2m5poHk
via IFTTT