So as this course on Open Educational Resources, lead by Alec Couros, comes to a close, I realize that I am half-way through the OLTD Program! I am amazed at how much we all have learned in the past 10 months and I am especially appreciative of all the interesting ideas, intriguing questions and intelligent discourse you have provided, not only in 505, but from 501 onward. As I reflect back over this year, I now see the method to what appeared to be madness. We have examined our pedagogical perspectives, refined our educational philosophies, revisited DI, UbD and UDL as it pertains to online learning environments, focused on appropriate online communication techniques and are all likely more equipped to adequately lead learning on an LMS selecting the most appropriate OER, all done with the correct CC licensing and attributions while being shared appropriately on social media with precise hashtags!
There was a ton to learn but we did. The topics were vast, but the themes remained. Aside from the technology component, which given the name of this program would have to be guaranteed, another major theme I noticed threaded throughout all our work together was “collaboration.” For me, our collaborative efforts always seemed so much more satisfying than anything I did on my own and for that I am grateful. I do enjoy investigating things on my own, going down whatever pathway of distraction any one or more of the social media sites happen to be spewing at the time, but it has been abundantly clear that I get so much more out of any learning experience when at least part of it is done collaboratively!
Which brings me to the Final Project for 505 for which I had the great pleasure of working with my cohort colleague, and now good friend, Nadine Cahan. She provides you with more of the back story on her blog, but suffice it to say, two curly heads definitely had more fun completing the summary of learning for OLTD 505 than mine alone would have done!
There was a ton to learn but we did. The topics were vast, but the themes remained. Aside from the technology component, which given the name of this program would have to be guaranteed, another major theme I noticed threaded throughout all our work together was “collaboration.” For me, our collaborative efforts always seemed so much more satisfying than anything I did on my own and for that I am grateful. I do enjoy investigating things on my own, going down whatever pathway of distraction any one or more of the social media sites happen to be spewing at the time, but it has been abundantly clear that I get so much more out of any learning experience when at least part of it is done collaboratively!
Which brings me to the Final Project for 505 for which I had the great pleasure of working with my cohort colleague, and now good friend, Nadine Cahan. She provides you with more of the back story on her blog, but suffice it to say, two curly heads definitely had more fun completing the summary of learning for OLTD 505 than mine alone would have done!
Karen Gadowsky and Nadine Cahan
I hope you enjoy watching our joint effort in distilling the content of #OLTD 505, resulting in a Prezi which was born from a mutual desire to learn from one another: me to benefit from Nadine’s uncanny ability to take the broad spectrum and distill it into simple to follow and easily understood statements and Nadine to benefit from my willingness to experiment with technology, regardless of whether or not I really know what I’m doing!
Note: It is best to view on Full Screen, with Volume fairly high but with MANUAL advance (use arrow keys on keyboard or on bottom of Prezi platform) and wait for a couple of seconds to make sure Audio components have time to activate.
As I look forward to beginning a new year of learning next September, I thank you for your participation and feedback. It is because of all of you, and your willingness to share, that I have acquired new perspectives and the inspiration to gain new competencies that I will continue to successfully (well relatively successfully) integrate into my practice.
Until we meet again…
Until we meet again…