How big is your key area of learning..? - PERSONAL LEARNING NODES #14 (Originally posted to Twitwall on Dec. 09, 2008)

One fundamental milestone in my learning toward connective thinking was my first personal learning report portfolio I completed in May 2004 when participating the last pilot course belonging to the European Union Socrates Programme Minerva Project "Intercultural Learning in the Internet". Holistic Cultural Competence Assessment (HCCA) Learning Model (Copyright Lic.Educ. Venla Varis) was built into the first protype level during that course.

An essential part of finalizing the HCCA Learning course was creating a Personal Development Plan. HCCA Learning Model is fully based on transformative learning. I was describing connectivism in my earlier Twitwall post that connectivism and connective learning equals transformative learning, added with the social elements created by the use of web 2.0 collaboration, network building and sharing.

Us participating the HCCA04 were like us participating the CCK08 this autumn. There were no previous courses - meaning no examples of previous outcomes of learning according to the emerging new model.

When creating my transformative personal development plan from scratch - it was as follows:

"My key areas of development (in May 2004, learning according to the HCCA Model): Self management – from the point of view of the group I collaborate with. Methods: Deepening my understanding of my impact by consciously paying attention to it, self-assessment tools. Development themes from around the world - Related with my studies I’ve recently familiarized with the development themes of the European Union: Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based society in the world by the end of this decade. – I intend to learn the corresponding themes regarding the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Africa. Method: Collecting and analyzing information from the media. The meaning of the spirit - Learning more about, what was the theme of the chapter 8 of the module 1.2 of the HCCA Model: Harmony exists in many collective cultures - Holy Spirit in Christian cultures - Internal energy. Method: Collecting and analyzing information from books."

And this is what I called KEY AREAS...?!! Realizing my personal development plan was tightly bound with my further learning, project work - and especially with a heavy and long bureaucratic fight in order to arrange for proper care for my differently abled son. I really truly was fully learning all the above areas - non stop.

Reflections originated by the CCK08 course have made me realize that I've managed to follow my personal development plan quite thoroughly, no exceptions on the way. Now I realize as well that us CCK08 participants - quite many of us I believe - face the same situation as us when completing the HCCA04. Loading more and more objectives for further learning - and no previous practical examples existing of how to start to complete it?!

When I compare HCCA04 and CCK08 - there's one significant difference. And that's the successfulness of the network building during the course. The network with whom to proceed was lacking after HCCA04 - although it otherwise included a convincing amount of connective elements. Writing this post is an evidence of a supporting learning network existing - increasing my self-confidence enough for continuing. Day by day.

I realize I've been somewhat afraid of facing - what's waiting after starting the real emergent learning phase after the scheduled theme weeks of the CCK08 course. I just couldn't have taken another four years of the kind of learning HCCA04 caused - no matter if the transformation started by it was for me a point of no return in a most positive sense. Two weeks of sharing my personal learning node construction has clarified the case - this time my emergent learning is / will be different. (Micro/photo)blogging cuts it into manageable pieces. And there's always someone who - if not already created a solution - struggles/creates/enjoys/innovates/wins/looses => learns facing similar occasions. My today's visualization (CC my Flickr):

Participating #oeb08 through microblogging - PERSONAL LEARNING NODES #10 (Originally posted to Twitwall on Dec. 05, 2008)

I've listened to Online Educa Berlin Sounds of the bazaar live broadcast through a Facebook Event and tweeted and followed the tweets. What's been special in this particular conference is the feeling of participating - instead of following only. I've got the point that microblogging is one of THE ISSUES this year. I'm quite happy, well fascinated - because there's anyway quite a lot of "what's mircoblogging" etc. questions still in the air - that I've been participating #oeb08 exactly through microblogging.

What microblogging is and how it can be utilized can only be discovered - by starting microblogging. You'll get a lot of nice-to-know information through reading blogs and links included in them - and scientific papers in near future as well - but no theoretical explanation of microblogging will reveal the practical benefits of it. I'll complete the actual survey "Twitter in Conferences" as well - but the following two are the key issues how I became a microblogger and microblogging for me a way to control everyday life.

* HOW I BECAME A MICROBLOGGER? I participated the #cck08 online-course by University of Manitoba: I started to actively use my existing Facebook account (The Wall) as a microblog. I started to actively use my until then stillstanding Twitter account => especially through Twitwall. This has proceeded node by node by sharing learning through blogs of the #cck08 participants and #cck08 Google Groups and Moodle forums. The sharing means in tweet-language "following" and "being followed". In my personal shared learning the process has culminated in using this Twitwall and Flickr in a daily basis = my microblogging main channels.

* HOW MICROBLOGGING HELPS TO CONTROL EVERYDAY LIFE? This is the most important part and also the most difficult to explain - microblogging should simply be started in practice in order to learn it(s benefits). In my personal case I can give the following two examples:

1) I admit that I have had some difficulties in completing projects, and now I don't mean like Big Official Work Projects but the whole of the things necessary to accomplish: Home => work => studying => etc. There always seems to be something undone. This is tiring out. Makes feel like - as there's that much to do, I'll start tomorrow... The above described #cck08 learning process (this particular PART of the whole of it!!) lead into me mircoblogging in form of writing one Personal Learning Node a day and taking One Photo a Day. It may sound very simple. It is. It has though taken me several years to find this simple solution. The Twitwall and the daily photo was a result of trying a number of alternatives learned and discovered by experiencing the #cck08 process. It's a suitably small enough - and some days a suitably big enough effort to be completed every day.

2) I'm following the above described daily writing and photographing process the first weeks now. Already now I've - to my own surprise - started to realize that the daily microblogging forms a continuum I've been lacking in my self-management. The stress in my life is caused by studies performed mostly as distance learning, distirbuted into too small pieces and work which at present is divided into too short projects. Microblogging forms nodes - mesh like construction in my thinking. The consciousness of the node-constructiong process in my thinking is what gives the daily boost of energy. This is a skill that can be learned by practicing. And I'll stop writing this post into this now. Because otherwise I'll get into too theoretical explaining. Microblogging just is something for everyone to DO by oneself.