tl;dr
- Read, watch, and learn
- Informational Interview – in preparation for CC#7
- Complete Blog Post #7 – by Fri, Oct 6
- Signup for your group project team: here – by Fri, Oct 6
- Engage substantively with at least 4 peers – by Thurs, Oct 12
(To ensure all students receive feedback, please leave your first four comments on posts that have fewer than five replies)
It was great to read your work on the social media platform analysis! This week I hope you get the chance to have an informational interview, if you haven’t yet already. The readings this week, aims to tie together much of what we covered this term with ‘Connectivism’. Please sign up for your group project team before the end of the week as next week we’ll be diving right into the project. Have a great week and little extra break next week!
Read, Watch, & Learn
A couple of quick notes: Save snippets from the content as you read, and keep track of where they came from. Do review the blog prompts before or as you read, but don’t read only to answer the prompt questions. You might miss something interesting that way.
- Connectivism: A knowledge learning theory for the digital age? (Goldie, 2016) [15 min read]
A brief overview and discussion of the theory of Connectivism – “learning as a network phenomenon influenced by technology and socialization” - Do online social media cut through the constraints that limit the size of offline social networks? (Dunbar, 2015) [15 min read]
Humans have a limit to the number of social connections one can have. Social media, however, provides opportunity to connect to a huge number of people, far greater than previously possible. But are they actually ‘real’ or useful connections? - New Study Proves That Weak Ties Have Strong Employment Value (Klein, 2020) [3 min read]
A brief overview of Rajkumar et al.’s (2022) study finding that weak social ties have the greatest impact on job mobility. - How to Learn Something from Anyone… (and Why To Try) (Wetzler, 2024) [18 min watch]
Wetzler offers personal perspectives on learning from others, particularly people you don’t think you agree with, with honest accounts of the challenges involved. The key is to remain curious and open to learning, recognizing that everyone has something to teach us.
Group Project Signup
Please signup for your group project team. This can be the same group as your learning pods, but it does not have to be. Your group size should be 2 or 3 people.
Signup form is here
(and for reference, the Learning pod signup form is here)
Informational Interview
Planning for an informational interview allows you to better understand the person, context, and be prepared for a more fruitful discussion. Have a list of questions but you don’t have to stick to them, let the interview flow naturally. UC Berkeley (n.d.) offers a list of example questions aimed towards learning about a position, career field or industry: here.
Community Contribution #7 – Informational Interview
Post by Fri, Oct 6
(note: if your informational interview is scheduled shortly after this date then you can submit your CC#7 late, after your chat)
Full assignment details, including a rubric can be found here.
For this week’s blog post (approx. 300 words) your post should build on your experiences in your informational interview. If you have draw connections to our course themes and bring in your own perspectives or experiences. If your unable to have an informational interview, then choose a specific moment of learning something from an unexpected online person or content.
- How did preparing for the conversation shape what you learned? What did researching the person and developing questions help you notice, ask, or explore?
- Summarize the new knowledge, perspectives, or ideas that the informational interview introduced you two? What was your previous understanding and how did this interaction reveal something new?
- What was the experience like? What did you notice about the conversation, your assumptions, and how you approached learning from/with this person?
- How did learning directly from this individual differ from learning through social media or other dispersed sources? What did the personal interaction make possible?
Community Contribution – Being an Active Member
Engage substantively with at least 4 peers by Thurs, Oct 12
To ensure all students receive feedback, please leave your first four comments on posts that have fewer than five replies.
Being part of a learning community doesn’t stop at sharing a blog post. It also involves engaging with one another’s ideas. You can learn a lot from each other by taking the time to listen, respond, and exchange perspectives.
Be sure to visit the Community Contribution page to learn more about providing feedback.
As always, you can reach me by email, Teams, or by booking a meeting.
Take care,
Adrian
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