The act of reaching out, and connecting with others in order to create something is a way to define the term collaboration which is the Ontario Extend Collaborator Module that I chose to summarize. There are four main sections to this module, EXPLORE (why collaborate), ENGAGE (Personal Learning Networks), EXTEND (Cultivating your PLN), and EMPOWER (Map your PLN), each focusing on a different aspect of collaboration.
Why Collaborate? Well there is a great video by Steven Johnson in the first section of this module, called Where Good Ideas Come From. In this video he speaks about this concept of an idea taking time to mature, and that one individual may only have half of an idea created in their mind. It isn’t until this idea is combined with another half idea to create one big idea, almost like that missing piece of the puzzle. It is here where Steven introduces this idea of borrowing and lending others hunches or ideas and combining them with our own to create bigger, better and newer innovations.
The second half of this section stems from a video where Alex Couros speaks about how to properly utilize twitter in Education and the appropriate use of a hashtag. I know myself I was able to learn a lot about the capabilities Twitter has and actually thought of a few different ways to implement this in my future teaching career.
The second section of the module mentions this idea of a PLN or professional learning network. It breaks it down into three components. First it’s personal, as you choose who to connect with people and wherever and whenever you feel you’d like. Sometimes this is in the form of lurking, where you just drop in and take information, other times you only input information.
Secondly it is a network, as those individuals that you originally connect to, also have connections to others with similar interests, creating this web of connections. Thirdly, the network all revolves around learning. Every individual in that network has a common goal to learn or gain some sort of information.
The third section of the module is about how to grow you PLN. I found this to be the section I enjoyed the most as I was able to gather information and ideas on exploring, searching, following, tuning, feeding, engaging, inquiring and responding, and how these are the eight tips from Howard Rheingold about cultivating your PLN. It also mentions the idea of filter bubbles, and how they restrict what we find, unless we truly search all relevant information, regardless of our personal opinion.
The fourth and final section of the module focused on an activity where you would actually map out your own personal PLN. I briefly mapped out my PLN in the bottom right corner (or Empower section) of my sketchnote.
I chose to create a sketchnote for this assignment because I felt that it was a great way to summarize all the information I retained from the module and still express it in a colourful way. I’m not a very artistically inclined individual, however it was a simple way to step out of my comfort zone, but still remain confident in my abilities. I was also able to reach out to a few peers that have created a sketchnote before and connect with them by asking them for their tips or ideas in order to make it effective.