I just discovered etmooc, the Educational Technology Massive Open Online Courses, though quite a bit late. This began back on January 21 and will conclude in two weeks on March 30. Better late than never, I guess.

etmooc.org etmooc.org#etmooc #etmcha

I’ll be joining in time for Topic 5: Digital Citizenship–Identity, Footprint, and Social Activism, topics I’ve always had a serious interest in and spent quite some time researching during my master’s. The format consists of an intro led by Alec Couros, followed by two scheduled Twitter chats.

Tangential sidebar: I inadvertently stumbled into my first Twitter chat this afternoon, #sbg, or Standards-Based Grading, in which people were discussing assessment practices. I tweeted about the importance of timely (in)formative assessment that provides specific evaluative feedback on (a) the strengths of student work, (b) what needs to be improved, and (c) what exactly can be done to improve the piece. My preferred method is through the use of student-created exemplars that allow us to discern relative strengths and weaknesses in relation to the learning intentions/outcomes and established criteria for success. The Document Camera linked to the SMART Board is brilliant for this, as it allows us to make notations and comments that are saved for future reference. I’d prefer, however, to link my iPad to the SMART Board (still in the process of getting the tech guys to okay the use of AirServer), and make comments directly into student work done collaboratively via Google Docs. Maybe next week!

Back to #etmooc. Alec Couros, Twitter tells me, is a prof of EdTech at U of Regina, so I expect the sessions to be quite good. We know the power of social media for helping activists organize social movements. I’m very curious about practical classroom extensions that mobilize students to take action supportive of social justice causes, and very much look forward to wrapping my brain around these ideas in the coming weeks.