GOOGLE + HANGOUT on etmooc in CMC11

Last week I held a Google + Hangout for a MOOC that has been running since September 2011, Creativity and Multicultural Communication. Jim Stauffer joined me and we had a new MOOCer who was starting her engagement (and perhaps struggled a bit and yet, we managed to communicate on several different levels).

I met Jim Stauffer in Second Life a few years back when we both were participating in PLENK 2010.  We connected there and have continued our conversations over the ensuing time.  Jim is located in the far Northwest Territories, and at this time, I am in Floirida (one of the southernmost spots in the US.

Jim and I started talking about different learning preferences, MOOC engagement, educational technology, assorted tools and techniques in learning engagement and a stream of thoughts and possibilities.  I suggested Jim would find etmooc an interesting one ... and he is now registered and participating.

I thought this recording of the hangout might be of interest to some folks as it demonstrates many of the advantages of the cMOOC learning journeys and the fruitful cross pollination of MOOCs as well as participants.

The piece is 20 minutes ...

Why am I here ?

I should be in retirement by now, shouldn't I?  After many years of my "disruptive" teaching pedagogy one would think I should have given up and gone away to some marvelous Greek Isle to prune fig trees and grapevines and reap the harvest of the olive groves.

Oh, but would the idyllic life be more than a dream ... the disruptive nature of the current education tsunami has finally caught up with me.  MOOCs are disruptive of the education status quo! How could I possibly bow out now?

I have caught the MOOCmadness fever and shall forever dwell in MOOCdom.  As a lifelong learner and global gadabout, I am drawn to carve out whatever time I can to partake and offer the sweet fruits of connectivist learning; of networked learning; of globally interspersed and entwined learning.

Admittedly, I have been a sometime participant, and more often, a lurker in many, many MOOCs ... I was introduced to the cMOOC in PLENK 2010 and was addicted from that time forward.  I have tried xMOOCs and OCW, Edx and the Khan group ... and always I am drawn back to the cMOOC as a haven of connectivist learning and a growing community of global exchange and integration. In the past year I have developed and co facilitated two cMOOCs and am scheduled to design another one this summer, for a Fall offering.

And so, in an attempt to brush up on my meagre ed tech skills and add to the mix, and as an avid follower of many of the luminaries of etmooc, here I am.  Last night's Introduction session was fabulous.  Today's session was equally exciting ... yes, I tuned in to both of them ... and both surpassed my expectations.  Woo Hoo .. this is going to be a fun ride, as long as i can hang on to some part of the saddle (seat of connectivist learning) as the journey speeds up and the twists and turns become more complex.

I am seeking all the gold the rainbow can offer and hope to spread it far and wide ...