1. mraarona

    Final Course Reflection and Portfolio

    by
    Final Course Reflection (Please view my Final Portfolio.) You as a learner in this course: As a student in INTE 5340, Learning with Digital Stories, I learned in different ways.  I first learned how to overcome confusion and frustration at the beginning of the course. Being new to many aspects of social media, I experienced […]
  2. lishna68

    8 Weeks Over The Rainbow

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    I may have gotten in over my head with this one. It's much easier to critique a mashup than it is to create one! This required many walks in the woods. At any rate, in the spirit of mashups, DS106, cudenver15 and digital storytelling here is my story.....
  3. kirklunsford

    Digital Storytelling Final Course Portfolio and Reflection

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    How did you learn in this course? How do you understand your social learning practices given theory shared by L&K?


    As a learner relatively new to online social learning, the practices of this course INTE 5340 Digital Storytelling, were at first, challenging to adopt. Prior to the start of the course, I set up a Twitter account and started participating in discussions like #edgamechat, and looking for people to follow in regards to education and personal interests. I set up a website called Designing To Learn to feature my professional and educational work that tied in with the blog I had already set up. I also read a majority of the course text New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning 3rd Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Nobel. However, I did not fully comprehend what I was reading or doing prior to the start of the course, things quickly started to make sense after the first week of engagement. By the practices as outlined in Ds106 how to write up assignments like a blogging champ” and the syllabus for the class, I was able to quickly participate in ‘new literacies’ as described by Lankshear and Knobel.

    Social learning, as described by Lankshear and Knobel, simply put, is complex and self-reliant. Engagement involves aligning oneself with affinity groups and social media networks to participate in discussions and perform works that have meaning to the participators of these networks. Although in theory one can participate in these networks simply by being a passive read-only member, the requirements for this course meant that students were read-write participators. This means production by making blog posts, carefully crafting critiques of media, producing original Tweets, and a host of many other creative things as outlined in the ds106 assignment bank, the storytelling affinity group which this course was aligned. The choices and works produced in the course were decided upon through self-interest and focus on a particular theme of scholarship, essentially creating a sense of self reliance and autonomy in one’s own learning. Success and failure may depend on one’s ability to participate in online social learning and deep thinking through synthesis of multiple resources and networks. Ultimately, successful online social learning creates a sense of identity and ‘learning to be’ that sends learners on trajectories to become masters in their own crafts and domains.


    How might your experiences in this course inform how you learn in the future, whether in formal (graduate) coursework or when pursuing your own interests? In what ways do you understand yourself a connected learner, someone networked into other communities (like DS106) and also linked with other people?


    Through the connections made in this course, some weak and some strong, I can potentially engage with people on future projects or collaborations by continued membership and appreciation of the affinity groups which I belong to. Or refer others to their works for guidance. This sense of being a member to a community of practice transcends the course and formal education. I may interact with others through the connections made next year or ten years from now through twitter, blogs, ds106, or other means of communication. I may listen to Mariana Funes podcasts and continue to correspond with her on Twitter. I may enjoy tweets from Dr Garcia as she practices drawing exercises and offer advice and encouragement through tweets and retweets. Who knows if this will happen? The important thing to note is that it can happen because of the connections made and shared interested in being a digital storyteller. In essence, the affinity groups, connections, and affordances by web 2.0 have provided the means to be a life-long learner.

    How was this course different from prior (graduate) courses?


    I can imagine the design of this course was very different from many other available graduate courses in the ILT program, or in any other program at any other school for that matter. This is because what Remi has put together is ‘new’ and relevant to the technologies and pedagogies of today (refer to Remi’s Ecological Pedagogy). There are similarities to what was outlined in the Lankshear and Knobel text in the last chapter, however we utilized several divergent platforms that were not mentioned in the text. Namely, the use of Twitter and course alignment with ds106. This is in stark contrast to courses held in the confines of a LMS with a small number of students. Our interactions in this course overlapped many networks and engaged professionals and students alike. The result of this ‘externalization’ of course discussion and products, in my opinion, yields more professional and fruitful results. As stated in my response to chapter eight in the Lankshear and Knobel text, there’s no ‘secret’ LMS hiding intellectual gems from the world. This motivates participators to succeed because anyone, co-workers, colleagues, classmates, future employers, and the like, may have the ability to witness the products of the course, and perhaps it will mean something to someone else. In final reflection of this, I prefer to engage with ‘the rest of the world,’ instead of limiting Discourse and discourse to the secret minds and murmurings of the few who would choose to take a digital storytelling course that only uses a LMS.

    How did you contribute to the development of this course and our learning community?


    The initial two weeks of this course were rough. Most students shared that they are new to social learning practices and leery about exploring topics outside of the LMS. Additionally, the syllabus and pace of the course left little room for fault. As directed by Remi, students were to attempt to answer each other’s questions in the LMS within the first two weeks. Many issues came up about using Twitter, or making ones avatar show up, or how to best implement a feature on a blog, or clarity in assignments, etc. Through the online practices in the courses I currently teach, I felt desire and ease to help students with many of these logistical questions at the beginning of the course. As the course developed, I shared my expertise in drawing, design, and illustration and I believe I contributed to the development of techniques and ‘know how’ in regards to some of the daily creates and visual-design assignments as represented in tips and tutorial links in my blog and tweets.

    In what ways were you responsible for directing both your own learning and also the shared experiences of peers/others?


    Whenever I had a questions or concern I also shared this on Twitter #cudenver15 to notify other students. My two biggest concerns this semester that were ‘open air’ questions and answers on Twitter were in response to copyright concerns and morality / ethics. Mariana Funes was very helpful in suggesting readings and guidance as well as Lisa Dise in regards to copyright. Mitchell Woll offered some inciteful tidbits about morality issues in light of the Charleston shootings by reminding us about artifacts like manifestos created and shared by affinity groups as I was seeking answers to chapter three responses and trying to cope with news about senseless killings at the same time. Asking the tough questions and sharing the explorations of these inquiries very publicly helped direct my learning and contribute to others in and outside of the course simultaneously.

    How would you have designed this course differently?


    First and foremost, many of the practices and social learning that was engaged in this course was appropriate, current, and enjoyable. The course was only eight weeks long, the learning and participatory practices were intense. Although it was mentioned that it may require a minimum of fifteen hours a week to properly complete course work and engage in social learning, I probably spent 25-30 hours a week devoted to this course. Part of this may be because of the choices in assignments or new technical learning in combination with divergent platforms. It’s easy to get distracted and follow learning down rabbit holes to other topics and musings. Knowing the high possibility for technical error and multiple paths and choices delivered through autonomous learning, I would choose to reduce the amount of assignments each week. I would suggest a week of production that looks more similar to this:

    1. A Daily Create
    2. An Assignment Bank project
    3. A response to L&K text synthesized with scholarship
    4. A critique of a digital story
    5. A response to another student’s reading response
    6. A response to another student’s critique
    7. A response to another student’s AB project
    8. A weekly reflection

    The last requirement, “a response to another student’s AB project,” was not a required part of this course. I think this would be a welcomed addition to further learning, analysis, and critique, in place of one response to the Lankshear and Knobel text. This may reduce potential redundancies with multiple responses to other’s Lankshear and Knobel text each week. Also students would be well served to receive critical feedback on their work especially in an educational setting. Being able to carefully, and critically, craft responses to peers work is a highly valued skill in professional work as well as being able to accept criticism. As a professional design and an instructor of design I can attest to these skills, not just in my day to day practices, but also from community feedback at the college where I teach.

    How do you understand Remi's course design and ongoing decision-making? As many of you are educators (whether in K-12, higher ed, or corporate settings), how did this course change your understanding of pedagogy?


    From the beginning of the course when Remi discussed ‘ecological pedagogy’ and ‘open’ course design I was eager to experience the course practices and theory as a student. Similarly to Ken Robinson’s concepts of ‘organic systems’ in relationship to learning, Remi suggested pedagogy that creates the conditions to cultivate learning through a multiplicity of learning environments, platforms, and settings. In essence, this pedagogy allows learners to make their own learning choices by finding ways to flourish in the rich landscape of web 2.0 platforms. The particular way in which we ‘learned to be’ in this course can be represented as the ‘pull’ model rather than ‘push’ as defined in the Lankshear and Knobel text. There was some necessary ‘push’ in the form of the syllabus and requirements for the course, however individual choices ‘pulled’ individuals in directions that supported their own interests and learning goals. Pedagogy that can be classified as ‘pull’ is a departure from most courses I have taken or taught. The practices in this course has made me appreciate the autonomy and ability to choose ways in which I define to learn.

    Has your understanding of "instructor" changed, and if so, how?


    I have also come to appreciate collaboration with others in social learning networks as ‘instructors’ in their own right by demonstrated expertise and the sharing of knowledge in areas in interest. This in some way has changed my idea of instructor(s) and the roles they serve. In this course Remi was for the most part ‘hands off’ and allowed students to explore ideas and ‘teach’ each other. Remi offered advice and inspiration in the form of screen casts and tweets, but the day to day practices of the course were essentially, in the hands of the students. Although I would not suggest this approach for all classes and subjects, it was very appropriate for this course at this particular point in time at the graduate level.

    What feedback would you like to share with Remi as he (or a colleague) will likely teach another version of this course in the future?


    For the most part, this course was excellent. I thought engagement and social practices were evident for most students. It was very challenging and motivating and I would gladly do it all over again. If I had to make any suggestions, it would be to lighten the load in the first week and require students to create a screencast to introduce themselves and share their strengths. This may help students direct questions or promote an overall sense of comradery and personality from the get go. This perhaps will also allow students to deal with logistical questions and concerns with social learning and the requirements of the course. My second suggestion would be to change weekly production to what was shown previously in response to question number two of this reflection. Week one and week eight would be less typical production for introductions and conclusions to the course. Overall the course was solid and requires only minor tweaks if any. I can’t wait to apply what was learned to the courses I teach and develop new curriculum with these online social learning practices in mind.


    Citations
    New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning Third Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Nobel. McGraw-Hill Education 2011.


    Robinson, K. (2006, Feb). How Schools kill creativity.
  4. thanh76

    My Digital Stories Portfolio

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    How and why is it important for you to tell stories?   Throughout my experience in our Learning with Digital Stories course I have come to understand that we all tell stories every day without our knowledge of doing so. Our daily activities embody stories and define who we are. Every decision we make communicates some kind of meaning to others even if that is not our intent. Our actions are how we represent ourselves and stories are used as a way to compile everything that we do. Stories help us
  5. thanh76

    My Digital Stories Portfolio

    by
    How and why is it important for you to tell stories?   Throughout my experience in our Learning with Digital Stories course I have come to understand that we all tell stories every day without our knowledge of doing so. Our daily activities embody stories and define who we are. Every decision we make communicates some kind of meaning to others even if that is not our intent. Our actions are how we represent ourselves and stories are used as a way to compile everything that we do. Stories help us
  6. leetran91

    My Digital Stories Portfolio

    by
    How and why is it important for you to tell stories? Throughout my experience in our Learning with Digital Stories course I have come to understand that we all tell stories every day without our knowledge of doing so. Our daily activities embody stories and define who we are. Every decision we make communicates some kind of meaning to others even if that is not our intent. Our actions are how we represent ourselves and stories are used as a way to compile everything that we do. Stories help us
  7. mitchellwoll

    Week 8 Reflection: Final Reflection

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    "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."- SenecaThe Digital Storytelling course was different than all of my other graduate courses because it was not hosted within an LMS. Instead, the course was "hosted" on social media, specifica...
  8. thanh76

    My Final Reflection

    by
    My experience throughout Learning with Digital Stories at CU Denver has been one of both confusion and understanding.  When we first began the course I was not sure how to navigate and plant myself. Unlike my previous experiences, the format of Learning with Digital Stories was not based on a LMS or Learning Management System. Without this center of information I was confused as to how and where I was going to find and produce content. I’ll be honest, when Remi told us our course would be taken
  9. thanh76

    My Final Reflection

    by
    My experience throughout Learning with Digital Stories at CU Denver has been one of both confusion and understanding.  When we first began the course I was not sure how to navigate and plant myself. Unlike my previous experiences, the format of Learning with Digital Stories was not based on a LMS or Learning Management System. Without this center of information I was confused as to how and where I was going to find and produce content. I’ll be honest, when Remi told us our course would be taken
  10. leetran91

    My Final Reflection

    by
    My experience throughout Learning with Digital Stories at CU Denver has been one of both confusion and understanding. When we first began the course I was not sure how to navigate and plant myself. Unlike my previous experiences, the format of Learning with Digital Stories was not based on a LMS or Learning Management System. Without this center of information I was confused as to how and where I was going to find and produce content. I’ll be honest, when Remi told us our course would be taken
  11. edwyer10

    The DS106 World – My Final Reflection

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    This week I say goodbye to my digital storytelling peers through University of Colorado Denver. Before I do I want to reflect on my learning throughout this course and how I have progressed in my learning. If you want to see in more detail how and what I created this semester check out my Final […]
  12. edwyer10

    Digital Storytelling and It’s Importance – Final Portfolio

    by
    I am finishing up a course through the University of Colorado Denver called “Digital Storytelling”. I want to summarize and list all that I have learned (you can read my reflection on the course here:https://erindwyer1020.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/the-ds106-world-my-final-reflection/) while answering the question: How and why is it important for you to tell stories? Geez. Where do I start? […]
  13. lishna68

    rEvolution

    by
    "I've been doing it this way for 30 years and it's worked just fine." How often have I heard this statement? The words have been uttered by business owners, educators even my own dad. When I hear the statement I think, "Wow, do you still get around on ...
  14. ekeating

    Digital Storytelling and My Journey- The End!

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    Wow I can't believe this journey is over!  It was definitely a course filled with ups and downs, with a lot of frustration but a lot of satisfaction as well.  This final reflection and portfolio showcases my work through the last seven weeks in CU Denver's Learning with Digital Stories course taught by Professor Remi Holden. By completing this portfolio, I was surprised how much I accomplished in a short period of time.  Here is the link to my final portfolio, and below is my final course reflection. I hope you enjoy learning about my journey as much as I enjoyed it!

    Myself as a Learner in this Course

    The following addresses how I learned in this course, how I understand social learning practices, how my experiences in this course inform how I will learn in the future, and the ways I understand myself a connected learner.

    When I read the syllabus a few weeks before the course, I was a bit nervous of what was to come.  I didn’t even really understand what a digital story was.  Then as the first week began I watched the two screencasts and part of me felt better and part of me felt unsure.  Remi stated that it was ok to feel frustrated, confused, discouraged (I can’t remember all the adjectives but there were a few) so I knew I wouldn’t be alone in my feelings.  I am pretty sure the first week’s assignments took me about 3 days to complete as I was exploring DS106 and the different aspects.


    As the weeks went along, I became more and more comfortable with the course and assignments and even began looking forward to the DS106 assignment bank.  My progression of comfort in the course is very evident in my blog posts and tweets as the weeks went on.  This comfort level increased based on how I learned in this course.  At first, everything was new to me; blogging, tweeting, digital stories, DS106, Daily Creates, literally everything was new.  I learned by doing and trying.  I learned by viewing other classmates’ work and from trial and error on my own.  I learned by asking for help from classmates and Remi.


    This leads to how I understand the social learning practices given theory by Lankshear and Knobel.  My whole journey to become a teacher and more recently getting my master’s degree has had a fair amount of social learning, although I wasn’t really aware of the label until recently.  My cohort through CU Denver’s Urban Teaching Program became my go to for help and questions more so than my professors on my road to becoming a teacher.  Some of my master’s classes have had a lot of social learning and some had none.  This most recent course on digital story telling has had the most social learning.  My favorite definition of social learning comes from Lankshear and Knobel’s New Literacies chapter 7, but it is from a quote from Brown and Adler.  They say, “[Social learning] is learning based on the assumption that our understanding of concepts and processes is constructed socially in conversations about the matters in question and 'through grounded interactions, especially with others, around their problem or action” (p. 218).


    My social learning became evident when I asked for help in a blog post regarding DS106 assignments and within one hour of my post, I had two classmates offer suggestions to me.  I immediately took their advice and was on my way.  Even though this is my last graduate class of my program, I plan to continue incorporating social learning into my third grade classroom.  I have learned how powerful it can be, especially for younger students who are like sponges.  There is a lot of research out there that discusses how important social learning and group work is for English language learners and my plan is to incorporate as much as I can this coming year.


    My Co-Design of this Course

    The following addressed how this course was different from others I've taken, how I contributed to the development of this course and our learning community, how I was responsible for directing both my own learning and also the shared experiences of peers/others, and how I would have designed this course differently.

    With the exception of one or two courses in my program, this course was very different.  It challenged me to think on my own and rely on myself and the help from peers to figure things out.  My whole ILT program was online so there is always some degree of self-reliance, but here I was pushed farther than before.


    I feel I contributed to the development of this course by bringing a different perspective (that of an elementary teacher) to the group.  There were a lot of people in the class that had something to do with education, but to my knowledge I was the only elementary school teacher.  This allowed my peers to see this class through a different lens than their own.  Those that read my blog could see how the Lankshear and Knobel readings or DS106 assignments could be tied to elementary classroom.        

    I was responsible for directing my own learning through DS106 assignments and digital story critiques.  It was up to me to pick the DS106 assignments and then learn how to complete them.  This was a lot easier said than done.  There were so many assignments I chose that were a learning curve.  Whether it was figuring out Windows Movie Maker or Audacity or just simply how to embed things into a blog.  As far as the digital critiques went, I could choose a story that interested me or taught me something.  For example, I watched a lot of Ted Talks on education and I found myself paying close attention to the news or Facebook in order to find stories I wanted to critique. 


    One of the most helpful aspects of this course was reading other responses to the text.  Each person had a different take on the same chapter and it was very helpful to read other responses and put it all together.  What I had to say might have helped someone else that was struggling with a concept or something I read on another’s blog helped clear up my confusion.  This shared experience of working through a complex text together, I think benefited everyone.


    There are two things I would change about this course: the story critiques the second half of the class and the lack of grades.  I found that many of the remixes the second half of the course that people critiqued, including myself, were not as in depth or were more surface level than the critiques the first half of the class.  For example, remixed songs or fan fiction.  I realize those remixes are very important to some and maybe I am being naïve in saying they are more surface level or just for fun.  But for me and my journey through this course, I preferred the critique criteria the first half of the course where I could watch Ted Talks or news stories that were not remixes.  But then again, Lankshear and Knobel argue that everything could be considered a remix of something else so perhaps it just comes down to personal opinion.  Finally, it was hard for me to never get a formal grade for my work.  I know everything was read and kept track of, but I am person that needs that grade to keep me at peace that I am on the right track.  Although, I am assume if I was failing, I would have been notified by now!       

    My Understanding of Pedagogy

    The following addresses how I understand Remi's course design and ongoing decision-making, how this course changed my understanding of pedagogy, how my understanding of "instructor" changed, and some feedback to Remi about this course.

    I would be curious to see how this course was designed before this semester as I had heard it used to look very differently.  My understanding of this course design comes from what I have seen on DS106 as our syllabus correlates to the DS106 syllabus.  I very much appreciate Remi’s ongoing decision making throughout the course because I feel like he was really listening to our reflections and acting accordingly.  He wasn’t afraid to veer from the syllabus and update it to meet our needs.  For example, I was one of the people who was frustrated with the Daily Creates because there were very few I related to each week.  I never directly complained about them but would mention my concerns in my reflections and a few weeks later he made them optional.  This goes to show he was really listening and doing his best to meet our needs. 


    With that being said, this course didn’t necessarily change my understanding of pedagogy, but it did help confirm my beliefs.  I knew the importance of social learning, but like I said before, I didn’t have a name for it other than group work or collaboration.  Through Lankshear and Knobel’s final two chapters and the real time exposure I got to social learning, it has confirmed that I need to ramp up my efforts in my own classroom.            


    To me an instructor is someone who guides you along your journey and helps you reach your goals.  Their job is not to ‘push’ all this knowledge at you, but be there for support as you try to find your way.  I think all of us became ‘instructors’ in this course as we all helped each other through the journey.  Selfishly, it was comforting knowing others were going through my same struggles and I learned about their same struggles through their posts, whether it was technology issues, work or travel obligations, to confusion about assignments, etc.  Our ‘instructor’ was there each Monday to check in and help guide our work for the following week.  It was always nice to be showcased in a screencast as it validated and acknowledged the work we were doing.   



    All I have to say is if you had asked me 8 weeks ago if I was going to make it through this course, I would have said probably not.  I remember saying to someone, I don’t know how anyone with a job will have time to complete all of these assignments!  Not only did each week get easier and easier, but I began to look forward to things like the critiques and DS106 assignments.  I learned about a world I never knew existed (fan fiction and anime) and learned about new programs and web 2.0 tools that will be very useful for me in the future with my students.  I think it is very important that you emphasize to ‘newbies’ that it seems like a lot but it is worth the journey, if I could do it, anyone can!




    References:
    Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning. New York: Open University Press.

    Here is the embedded version on my portfolio.  To view the complete site, click here

  15. whcalhoun

    From Sociology to Sociologist

    by

    A Reflection on Week 7 of INTE 5340


    It was a tough week! There's a two-week stretch every summer where I am responsible for tuning the pianos at three music festivals here in Rhode Island, and this was the first week. I'm driving a lot, tuning many pianos, managing an assistant, and coordinating with production managers. One more week to go!

    It was exciting to read Lankshear & Knobel's final chapter. It left me with a lot to think about, not just concerning different approaches to literacy and learning, but also concerning L&K's language and concepts as tools for analyzing a learning environment. In other words, I'm beginning to shift my focus from the social phenomenon itself to how a social phenomenon can be analyzed. As I pointed out in Week 1, I've never studied sociology, so this has been my first exposure to a sociological study of any social practice. I'm only just now getting a feel for how sociologists see and study the world, and how I, in my small way, could do the same.

    I posted the following:

    I would give myself a 9/10 for the week. I knew that I wanted to try one of the web assignments in the AB, but I also knew that there would be a time-consuming learning curve. I also chose another web assignment tool (Kumu) to begin working on my portfolio for week 8. I've already started climbing that learning curve. I was not planning on doing a Daily Create, but then an idea came to me for one that I submitted to ds106. But it was a tough week - I couldn't spend much time on Twitter with my classmates, and in spite of a decreased assignment load, two of my assignments were late.

UMW Spring 2024 (Bond & Groom)

Welcome to Paul Bond and Jim Groom’s Spring 2024 ds106

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