@byod4l Day 3 and letting go

When you have children it is normal that you look after them. Often you mollycottle them long after they have opened their wings and want to fly away or even have flown away already. My children are still little but the first indications are there already that this is going to happen to me too…

Hold me! image source http://thinkingmomsrevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/holding-hands-1024×718.jpg

My 12 year old doesn’t let me hold his hand in public anymore, especially when in our little hometown… while at home he is really a softie and still comes to me for a hug. But for how long?

Letting go is hard… the same I think happened with teachers and their relationship with learners. Teachers naturally care and want to be there for them… but always? This creates dependency… while we want our learners to become autonomous thinkers and beings and be successful in life. And we want the same for our children.

Yesterday was a Day of letting go for Byod4L. Sitting back and enjoying what learners had already achieved. Confidence had grown rapidly in the first 2 days and it was so wonderful to actually see and enjoy that growth in then and the connections they had made and were making but also see how that fresh confidence enabled them to make further steps and take greater risks on own and together with other. They also opened up more and were honest too.

For me this really reminded me of the role teachers can play to bring individuals together and lay the foundations of a community to form. Some might challenge the idea that communities are formed or build but I think it is really possible.

On the move, image source http://lovesphotoalbum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Black-White-Close-Up-Of-Railroad-Tracks-Ties-Stone.jpg

BTW I am writing this on the train again. It is a very early start for me. I am on my way to Gloucester where I will be meeting colleagues to discuss MOOCs… my contribution actually sits outside MOOCland as this is the area of my particular interest and research.

Anyway, this trip will keep me away for a bit from BYOD4L but I will be connected and hopefully can participate at least a little bit. Today’s theme is collaborating and I hope that some individuals will reach out and start collaborating with each other. Can’t wait to find out how this will work.

Wishing us all a great day (6.33am).

This post will probably be added in the evening when I am back home. The draft was written in Notes on my tiny phone… I was at Gorton when my thoughts reached this line.

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@byod4l Day 2 is in the past

… but memories are still fresh, so to speak. Another vibrant BYOD4L day with loads of ideas and exchanges in free flow. Connections are strengthened and communication is multi-directional. Good to see people coming back for more and staying with us for a bit longer. Another day? 😉

I will capture some of my reflections on Day 2 through images or visual reflections. Not sure they make sense to anybody else and it would be interesting to find out if my messages reach somebody out there and what they mean to them. Images and captions act as thinking and conversation triggers. This is at least my intention. Have you tried this approach? Feel free to comment and respond.

What are we locking in? What difference would it make to be free? image source https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/13992410180_afe610ec8d_z.jpg

We make things and make things happen, image source https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/14176670812_9cf0ce9f2c_z.jpg

Chained? Is this the answer? image source https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/14199951503_d25819ca9b_z.jpg

Thanks again Sally, Cheryl and Andrew for a fantastic tweetchat last night. Loved it! Unfortunately, I will be missing the tweetchat this evening. W have been invited to Nassi’s school for an award ceremony. I hope you all understand and will have a fab time.

Also on the go on Thursday and will be interesting to see how (much) I can engage. But then BYOD4L is exactly about this, so let’s put it to the test again 😉

Wishing us all a great Day 3 and speak again soon

Chrissi

ps. Wrote this on my Laptop… no train for me today. How about you?

@byod4l Day 1 is now over

waiting, image source: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/13992424999_6256a7f58f_z.jpg

Warning! First draft

It is now Tuesday morning. I am waiting for my train to go to work and thought to make a start with capturing some thoughts about BYOD4L and what happened yesterday.

Really impressed with the level of engagement throughout the day and how we all started making connections. Many participants created blogs and started capturing their ideas and thoughts there. Important now to create opportunities for dialogue and conversations otherwise thoughts are falling into black holes…

The video scenarios were used also and that was a nice surprise. Good to know that these triggered interest and made people think and reflect on their practice too and how they could help. We seem to have more teachers than students at the moment or we can hear the teachers more? Very possible too.

Anybody interested in contributing their story for others to use? Would also be interesting to check out the students scenarios and try and see things from their perspective, if you are an educator?

It was interesting how we worked as a facilitators’ team. Activity in our private FB group reduced during the day as we were busy in the different social learning spaces. And it worked really well. If you look into the Google + community but also the FB community, no posts stayed unanswered and exchanges are happening. Individuals are opening up and share their ideas, reservations and thoughts. Pure magic. None of this would happen if we don’t feel welcome and part of a community. Listening carefully and showing interest in what others say is really important. If we just use it as a channel to amplify our own voice, we have missed the real value of social media, facilitators really did a great job in bringing others in and keeping the conversations going.

BTW, the train is moving and I am still writing. I only planned to write a short paragraph but now all that stuff pops into my head and my finger is typing like mad on this tiny screen… ruining my eyes, I think… anyway.

I was really looking forward to the Tweetchat and I think many others did too! Anne, Kay and Peter worked really well together. Would be lovely to find out how they communicated during the chat. There were colleagues among us for whom it was their first time on Twitter and their first Tweetchat. So pleased they gave it a go and were so honest about it too. I think some recognised the value of this space for personal and professional development but we can’t expect others to give without us giving too. It can only work if it is a two-way process and we give something back but also help others out there when we can.

There is excitement in the air and local activities are an added bonus to strengthen connections and help each other learn. Learning happens everywhere and all the time. We just need to grab the opportunities!

My working relationship with Sue has matured and we are definitely on the same wavelength. We understand each other really well but also trust each other. We don’t step on each other’s toes and maximise on our individual strengths to complement each other. We accept and respect each other’s decisions as we both know that we want this project to succeed. Helping each other is part of our partnership and this enables learning and development through everyday practice based on our individual and collective experience.

Byod4l already seems to be of value for all of us, facilitators and participants alike. Let’s find out what further discoveries we can make today!

Really looking forward to Day 2

… still on the train…

now in office posting this 😉

 

exciting and excited @byod4l Day 1 is here ;)

Let’s turn our creative lights on and see what happens! image source https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/14179790135_4d2629a3d9_z.jpg

BYOD4L Day 1 has finally arrived again. We have been working with Sue and many other colleagues behind the scenes for a while now to turn this week into a lively market place where there will be something for all of us. Most importantly we hope that it will create opportunities to connect with like minded people, stretch our minds and use our individual and collective imagination to make new discoveries that will be of value for us all.

We are grateful to all collaborators and the 5 institutions who joined us on this journey. BYOD4L has become an open CPD offer in these institutions which is a fantastic development and local events are planned too! Starting small and building on our existing networks enabled natural growth.

Thanks to David Hopkins who was instrumental in setting up open badges and Ellie Livermore, our artist who designed these, we are using badges to reward informal learning, bite-size learning linked to each of the 5c topics. Facilitators are also able to work towards badges and a special one linked to facilitation. This worked really well in January when we offered BYOD4L for the first time. In addition to badges, there are opportunities to work towards other types of recognition as well as academic credits within the 5 participating institutions,

First thoughts:

• It does feel very different from last time
• I am sure that it will be different from last time
• Fine tuning and refining is a never ending process but we hope the changes will make a positive difference
• We need to make sure that all facilitators are happy and feel supported. We know that a strong team makes a massive difference.
• Supporting participants when needed and participate in the conversations and activities will be important. We are co-learners and everybody has something valuable to contribute and learn.
• As facilitators, being proactive and respond quickly when there is a problem and problem-solve together will be really important. The facilitator buddy system used should help with this as well as our facilitator community in Facebook.
• We need to trust each other!

I will be capturing my daily reflections. Not sure yet in what format but I will be using my phone or tablet. I am writing this now on my phone using Notes travelling to work 😉 on the train, the Internet connection comes and goes but nothing stops me writing here unless my battery runs out… having a backup for this eventuality as well…

Public eco-friendly charger in Paris train station! We could do with some of these in the UK too! image source https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5198/13993590710_78f4ffd876_z.jpg

As I love expressing my thoughts through images, I must remember to add a few and then post. Done now 😉 Have you used Notes? How?

Wishing us all an exciting Day 1! Let’s get to know each other a bit better, be creative and  turn monologues into dialogues!