I decided to focus on the Collaborator module for this multimedia assignment. The purpose of this module is to outline the collaborator route of education, this being the utilization of a healthy PLN (personal learning network) to help educators create, connect, and collaborate to form well-established creations.
For my first multimedia assignment, I decided to document my progress through the means of a twitter essay. This made for an interesting project as I was discussing the limitations of certain technologies in the classroom, yet the very means of conveying my content was limiting in itself.
I was limited to a set amount of characters per post and was forced to paraphrase rather important criteria. It is for this reason that my second attempt at the multimedia assignment was by hand-drawing my own sketchnote, and I am pleased to confirm that I found this technology more fulfilling.
In order for collaboration to occur, there must first be a complimentary agreement between two small ideas. In his video “Where Good Ideas Come From,” Steven Johnson refers to these small ideas independently as small hunches, the seed of great ideas that can take many years to develop. When two or more of these small hunches are pieced together — and often these hunches come from the minds of different individuals — a bigger creation is formed that is larger than either of the small hunches independently. For example, more often than not the modern musical is comprised of both the play’s book (the story itself including the scriptwriting, characters, and order of events), and the musical score (the written arrangement of the show’s musical numbers). Separately, one is a script and the other is notated music. When mashed together, they create musical theatre. My sketchnote depicts this concept of collaboration throughout.
Like small hunches, trees take years to grow and fully sprout. This is why I decided to place a tree in the centre of my sketchnote; I call it the Collab Tree. At the tree’s base are a few images that depict early concepts: the seeds of creation. One of these images is a tiny, single lightbulb signalling the spark of an idea, another is a brain in mid-thought, likely developing that very idea, and the third is a series of gears grinding together much like a mind at work. As we move up the tree there are signs of collaboration: an image of a handshake, a series of puzzle pieces fitting into place with one another, and the combination of two lightbulbs that make twice as much light as the first. At the tree’s top is an even larger lightbulb symbolizing the end product of multiple collaborations: the great creation.
At the top of the page, I was sure to include “PLN,” an important tool for developing one’s professional growth. The “Understanding and Creating Profession Learning Networks” video on the ENGAGE tab of the module describes how PLNs extend personal resources and connections. PLNs are responsible for forming professional relationships between individuals… let’s say, individuals with their very own small hunches. How have PLNs evolved since the turn of the millennium? With the help of social media. This is why I chose to represent four major social media in the corners of my sketchnote.
Collaborations are very much like long journeys. Turtles are often associated as wise and slow-moving; this is why you can view so many in my work. Much like the Collab Tree, the turtles depict the process of a great idea. At the bottom, one turtle proclaims that he has an idea. The second turtle is shown to be feeding this idea while the trio featured next appears to be climbing the ranks by working together.
The final turtle sits at the top of the big lightbulb, encouraging the first to “pass” on up his slow hunch. How is he doing so? With the help of technology, of course!
Threading the entire concept together is a series of paperclips that outline both the tree’s growth and the turtles’ journey. The paperclips rest atop the words “Create, Connect, Collaborate”: the three Cs for succcess.
