Tuesday, October 21st: http://fm.ea-tel.eu/fm/fmm.php?pwd=7aca06-38352&fb=0
Wednesday, October 22nd: http://fm.ea-tel.eu/fm/fmm.php?pwd=e898d4-38353&fb=0
As a general rule of online etiquette (or ‘netiquette’ as some call it), if and when you are unable to complete an activity, it is always best to send a comment to the group to let them know you will not be able to participate. This kind of sharing is a central tenet of developing a collaborative working environment. We all have busy lives and things come up, it’s just important to communicate any changes. However, we do expect all participants to complete all the outlined tasks and to attend the Flash Meetings, if at all possible, please.
Stage 1: Profiling
Task: Reflecting on what has happened so far
Deadline: Monday, 10/27/2014, 11:59 pm EDT
During the Flash Meeting we began several interesting discussions, a few of which we would like to continue to discuss here. (Please read the Online Discussion Guidelines first.)
- We had quite a bit of a discussion about self-representation in the online context, which was indeed an objective of this initial task. We noticed that some of the participants who completed Task 1 posted only an image of themselves, others posted other images and none of themselves, a few posted an image of themselves and images of their institutional context plus a few other variations and combinations of the above.
You can still add pictures to your profile, if you would like to do so. And in the comment section of this post, we ask all of you to discuss your reflections on the role images (of self or otherwise) played in your representing yourself and your understanding of how your peers were representing themselves. What role did/can images play in online self-representation? Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic? - There seemed to be consensus during the meeting that what seemed at first like a fairly simple task, i.e. filling out a table, proved to be more difficult as people thought about what they wanted to share. We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why? Please share your thoughts.
- This final prompt is something we’d like to ask you to do individually, and something I as a facilitator, do on this course. At COIL we always suggest that practitioners and students keep a learning journal or observation log. This gives us a space where we can not only plan our activities, but reflect on them and have a record of our thoughts and experiences at the end of the course. We won’t be asking to see your journal or for you to share it with others, but we do think it is a very important part of the COIL process. We won’t always give you a prompt, but thought doing so might be useful. Think about what happens when after years of listening to a radio voice, you see the person or when a movie is made of one of your favorite books. Similarly in our case:
- How did seeing people on video and hearing their voices change, or maybe not change, reinforce, etc. your initial impressions of them solely from their profiles? Can you imagine a situation where working without an image or video of a colleague would enhance your exchange?
- We also want to learn how much time you are spending on this course so we can better plan future Partnering Orientations. Please keep a record of your efforts (in hours or portions thereof) in your log.
The "removed comments" in the comments thread are from a previous iteration of the Partner Orientation. They have been archived ;-)
Last but not least: Please also check the amended syllabus and calendar! As it has taken a bit longer than planned to get everybody on board, we have made adjustments.
Great work so far everybody!
Mirjam
Last but not least: Please also check the amended syllabus and calendar! As it has taken a bit longer than planned to get everybody on board, we have made adjustments.
Great work so far everybody!
Mirjam
32 comments:
I'm curious why all the comments have been removed.
I want to apologize that I was unable to attend either on-line session. I teach both Tuesday and Wednesday morning. In fact, I teach every morning. I hope other sessions will be in the afternoon, evening or on weekends to allow people with different schedules to participate.
Nothing to worry about, Elaine, and a totally justified question: they are from a previous iteration of the partner orientation with different participants.
I'll add this info above.
Thank you for asking.
Mirjam
Discuss your reflections on the role images (of self or otherwise) played in your representing yourself and your understanding of how your peers were representing themselves. What role did/can images play in online self-representation? Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic?
I found that having an image is very helpful in creating a visual connection between participants. I must admit that I like seeing a literal photograph to help me "envision" the others. Metaphoric or symbolic images, though, can go further in creating a sense of depth and dimensionality of knowing. In this peer venue, it seemed appropriate to share more facts or images from my personal, rather than professional life. In an online classroom setting, though, I am not sure that I would have made the same choices. What do the rest of you think about this? When in an instructor role, what is the balance between sharing information to build relationships and maintaining privacy?
There seemed to be consensus during the meeting that what seemed at first like a fairly simple task, i.e. filling out a table, proved to be more difficult as people thought about what they wanted to share. We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why?
It took me several days to figure out how to access the blog. The benefit of the delay was that there were already some posts by others to provide a model for what might be posted. The free response fields were most challenging, though, because each individual made different choices of what to share. I have not tried to view the postings in other groups, so I am not sure if access is restricted by group, but reviewing additional responses might have influenced my choices.
How did seeing people on video and hearing their voices change, or maybe not change, reinforce, etc. your initial impressions of them solely from their profiles? Can you imagine a situation where working without an image or video of a colleague would enhance your exchange?
I know that we were not asked to respond to this prompt in the blog, but I wonder what the optimum number of participants might be for interaction in the format we used (a synchronous session with a moderator and multiple individual participants, each with an audio/video feed). Many of us (including me) were still clearly learning how to be a participant in this model. I think that the schedule give us another opportunity. For those of you with more experience with this model, though, how large a group works well for this model?
Hi Anne,
thank you for contribution. I have an idea of what works in terms of number of participants in synchronous sessions such as FlashMeeting. At the British Open University where I hae been working for almost two decades we say between 15 and 20 participants maximum depending on the subject and the purpose of a session.
As for accessing other groups, just click on Group 1 Fall, Group 2 Fall, Group 3 Fall, etc. and you are "in" and can contribute.
Thanks again and have a nice Sunday :-)
Mirjam
Hello,
I would like to post a picture on my introduction, but the insert tab is not offering me an option to insert an image?
As a longtime journalist I believe strongly in the power of the image to help tell the story and attract the reader. I think the image is more interesting to a potential partner if there are people in it.
Natalia de Cuba NCC
Correction: I have now figured out how to post an image! But the rest of my comments remain the same.
Great, Natalia,
if anybody else still experiences problems with inserting pictures, do let me know, please.
I can send you a screen print that explains the process step by step ;-)
Otherwise the deadline for this task is looming and we will be moving on to Task 2 shortly.
Hope you all had a good start to the week.
Warm wishes,
Mirjam
I took the instruction to heart when it said do not use a typical headshot for my image. I chose a picture that I thought represented many aspects of me. It was a large LEGO sculpture of what looked like a stereotypical American tourist - a man, in a tropical print shirt, with many cameras draped all over him. I identify with many aspects of the statue such as:
I'm a Dad, I love to travel, I enjoy tropical print shirts, and I always have a camera on me. The LEGO part of the sculpture shows how I enjoy toys and fun.
I thought this one image shared many different aspects of myself that went beyond a simple headshot.
Regarding the part of the activity that was particularly challenging, the "expand the profile by adding 6-8 items" was the hardest part for me. It's always challenging to answer open ended questions, and think about what pertinent information should be included. It's probably also difficult since I am an administrator, not actively teaching a COIL course so I'm guessing as to what an international partner might be looking for.
1. Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic?
In regards to self representation, visual representation is a daily activity for me and many of my students. It is not unusual to use photography as another form or communication. Non linear photographs is what some people showed, a landscape, a dog, a plate of food, a house, a person. These things collectively bring together a story of a person. When I heard post images, I seemed to jump the part about posting some text about myself. Since the mid 1990’s when I first started using email to communicate with people, I have been attaching images with the text. To me they go hand in hand.
2. We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why? Please share your thoughts.
I personally did not find this to be a task or challenging. I believe this is a normal part of how I represent myself visually and why I think it is important for people to consider photography another language. There are tools to use to make photographs more interesting and representational. These topics might be considered as an online collaboration progresses.
3. At COIL we always suggest that practitioners and students keep a learning journal or observation log.
This is a great point to bring up for the discussion. I have been journaling for many decades and have used it for many years in my classes. I call it a Visual Journal and may or may not go back to it that often, but find that if I write things down as they happen and add flyers, photos or other documents to it it grows richer. during the weekend prior to the conference end the day of the conference I added around 20 pages to my journal. I also use blogs, Twitter and Facebook to leave a digital wake that is left behind me as I travel forward. You might also look at http://www.daneldon.org/about/journals/
I refer students to this every semester. I make sure the library has books that have been published on him to help students start working on their visual journal project for the semester.
Twitter.com/pondaroski is my current digital wake that you are invited to look at.
- I look forward to seeing what other people state. I am very visual and really cannot state an experience working online where I would not like to have something visual to augment the text that is shared in a blog or email.
- On average I am spending between 3 - 5 hours working on assignments or reading entries per week during this class.
All the best,
Joe Z.
1. Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic?
With respect to self-symbolism, a graphic or symbolic representation is means to which one can identify. Identify whether, self-directed or not allows someone to visualize how they represent themselves or to understand how others see them. When someone posts an image of themselves, it may represent a part of them that is not necessarily an outward representation of their daily lives. This allows us to gain insight into one another.
2. We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why? Please share your thoughts.
Personally, no of the tasks were challenging. I like the idea of iconic or symbolic representation of one’s self. This form of expression transcends my normal parameters for teaching.
3. At COIL we always suggest that practitioners and students keep a learning journal or observation log.
This is a great way to channel thoughts for projects and collaboration. I typically journal online regarding my classes so that my students can see my logic as it develops beyond the scope of the course. I hope they continue to follow in my path and journal about their experiences.
-Nicole
1. Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic?
I took the directions to the first task to heart and i put a head shot. I also added another image which I thought would say a lot about me. I posted a picture of a conductor directing an orchestra.
I believe images can say, without words, a lot about our likes dislikes, hobbies, passions etc.
We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why?
Please share your thoughts.
I did not find any task challenging except that I did not know how to upload a picture :)
3. At COIL we always suggest that practitioners and students keep a learning journal or observation log.
I like this idea very much given that I keep logs and notes of many projects that I am involved with and that I might forget. I keep notes of everything given that when i am very busy i tend to forget.
Hi all. Ok, struggling to work out how to get a photo or image up like other people have here. Any help appreciated...The 'image' debate itself is interesting and I relate this to the issue of self-disclosure in the profile exercise - how much (and what) do you share? The context is clearly important, and how 'safe' one feels, but at the beginning of a process like this where the 'rules' are not fully worked out, then I think this causes some anxiety - a totally reasonable feeling in the circumstances. Some degree of inner discomfort is probably a positive here and a useful insight into how others may perceive this type of process. So, for instance I was going to post a picture of something I'd cooked in my profile, but took it off, as I thought it might not project the right type of seriousness or would provide insight into me beyond that which a photo of me would... interesting personal reflection that I was more concerned about an image that was not a photo of me. Maybe I should have left it on! And I must keep a reflective log - constantly tell our students to do so...
Sorted out uploading an image!
1. Why might it be useful to go beyond the literal (a photo of yourself) to the metaphoric or symbolic?
Thinking in symbols is neat preparation for cross-cultural communication. I think about all the international roads signs that I have seen, based on symbols rather than words. It flexes our creativity, and challenges us to rely less on our native language to communicate. Photos are also good, but don't necessarily tell us anything about how a person thinks or approaches teaching.
2. We’d like to ask you which part of the activity or specific question did you find particularly challenging and why? Please share your thoughts.
We ran into some real tech challenges here at SUNY Broome, and that was frustrating, especially since they hit all of us in the first step.
As I understand it, our campus mail system is Google based, but we don't have all the Google features available to us.
Anyway, the solution has been to use Firefox or IE and to go into a different gmail account.
As someone who is not enamored or savvy with technology, I am aware that tech challenges will likely rise again throughout my COIL experiences.
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