Connected
Courses

Connected learning thrives on the open Internet. Here are resources to help you find co-learners in the connected learning community and build you personal learning network. Jump into a course with other faculty teaching on the open web, geek out on research methods, and find connected courses for teens.

For Connected Educators

Connect with other educators and co-learners teaching and learning on the open web.

Connected Courses

An open online course of faculty in higher education developing courses that embody the principles of connected learning and the values of the open web

Learning Creative Learning

MIT Media Lab. Educators and learners share ideas, strategies, and practical tips on how to support creative learning

Reclaim Open Learning

Supports and showcases innovation that brings together the best of truly open, online and networked learning in the wilds of the Internet, with the expertise represented by institutions of higher education

Open Connected Learning

Explore connected learning as a contemporary learning approach for formal and informal learning contexts, including school, higher education, libraries, workplace and community settings

OpenLearning Hub

A free, online, and open learning experience focused on open educational resources, open access, open pedagogical practices, and open and participatory cultures. Next cMOOC starting March 17th, 2019.

For Researchers

Tap resources and networks for research and evaluation for connected learning.

Design Research

Course supports junior scholars to use design to bridge research and practice

Professional Pathways

Resources for professional development for emerging scholars in the connected learning community. Topics include collaboration, network building, academic publishing, and career pathways

Program Evaluation for CL

Explores different theories and approaches to evaluate connected learning in the field

For Students and Teens

Open online courses for that embody the principles of connected learning.

Anthro101

Kansas State University. A free online textbook and hub for the class, “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

DS106

University of Mary Washington. Using digital tools so that ordinary people can tell their own real-life stories

English130P

Chico State University. First-year composition course

Phonar Nation

Free online photography class for teens

Twist Fate

Is a case study of out of school time open learning project for teens

Resources

What you need to know for researching or thinking about the development of open learning resources.

Videos:



The End of Higher Education

Describing Connected Learning in Higher Education

Academically Adrift

Social Capital and Professional Learning Networks

Online Privacy, Trust and Security

Web Imperatives

What is Web Literacy?

Thinking Like the Web

How to Build Inclusive Learning Collectives

Making Teaching with Technology Fair and Open

Teaching Wikipedia Editing

The Case of #ETMOOC

Co-Learning and Authority

Successful Co-learning Models

Connected by Design

Connecting to the Indieweb Movement

Next Steps for Connected Courses

Next Steps for Connected Courses Part 2

Reading List:

The Problem of Learning in Higher Education by Randy Bass

How a Class Became a Community by Cathy Davidson

Napster, Udacity, and the Academy by Clay Shirky

Who Gets to Graduate?

New York Times Magazine Feature by Paul Tough

The Aims of Education by Alfred North Whitehead

Your So-Called Education (NY Times)

Answers for Young People (n.d.)

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web, speaks directly and with characteristic humility about the goals of the Web and the values they represent

The Internet: Everything You Ever Need To Know (2010

John Naughton, former Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University of the UK, helps us imagine the scale, ramifications, and potential of the Internet and especially the Web that is the Internet’s true "killer app."

Reimagining Education (2006)

Jon Udell, an early proponent of what came to be called "social media," reflects on ways in which the Web empowers radical modes of learning innovation

Small Pieces, Loosely Joined: Preface (2002)

David Weinberger explores what he calls a "unified theory of the Web." His title has become a catchphrase for explaining the unprecedented ways in which the Web enacts a decentered and distributed communication platform.

The Machine Is Us/ing Us (2007)

This short video is by Mike Wesch, and it has been seen well over 10 million times since it debuted in 2007. It charts the difference between the early days of the Web, when the new platform was mostly a “read” medium, to the next stage of its development, when a set of technological advances and the cultures they enabled gave rise to the “read-write” Web, what became known as “Web 2.0.”

The Mozilla Foundation’s Web Literacy “white paper” (n.d.)

This document outlines the case for “the Web as the platform,” as opposed to proprietary apps and other “walled gardens” that form silos and “limit user choice.” Mozilla’s Webmaker program advocates for the “web literacy” that empowers us to promote, develop, and thereby defend the open Web as a “shared platform.”

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)

This documentary about the life and tragic death of software developer and open access advocate Aaron Swartz treats many issues directly relevant to the ideals of the open Web and connected learning.

Seven Ways to Think like the Web (2011)

Jon Udell has long argued that because the Web has no ready physical analogues, if any, we have not developed deep or pervasive intuitions about its nature or effective use. This blog post offers a remedy.

“As We May Think” (1945)

In addition to his career as a distinguished scientist at MIT, Vannevar Bush was FDR’s science advisor, a chief architect of the Manhattan Project, and the founder of the National Science Foundation. This poignant and prescient document, published near the end of WWII, envisions a device called the “Memex” that would allow researchers to capture and share the “associative trails” that formed the basis of their inquiries. The essay influenced all the major figures of the digital age, most notably Doug Engelbart. Its influence continues today. Tim Berners-Lee places this document at the beginning of his “Little History of the World Wide Web.”

Doug Engelbart’s 1968 Demo

The famous “mother of all demos” that vividly illustrated the potential of interactive, networked computing and inspired a generation of digital visionaries. Doug’s Augmentation Research Center at SRI was the second node on the ARPANET, later to become the Internet.

Heavy Metal Umlaut Band: The Screencast (2005)

Jon Udell’s gem is a fascinating 10-minute analysis of a Wikipedia article, and the process a database-backed Web enables.

James Gleick, “Wikipedia’s Women Problem”

The New York Review of Books (4/29/13)

Amanda Filipacchi, “Wikipedia’s Sexism Toward Female Novelists”

New York Times Opinion (4/24/13)

Sue Gardner, “New York Times prompts a flurry of coverage of Wikipedia’s gender gap”

Sue Gardner’s Blog (1/31/11)

Noam Cohen, “Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia’s Contributor List”

The New York Times (1/30/11)

FemTechNet Commons: Papers, Videos

Carolyn Shrewbsury, “What is Feminist Pedagogy?”

Women’s Studies Quarterly, 1993

Adeline Koh, “Who’s Afraid of Online Education?”

collection on Medium.com

John Dewey “The School & Society”

Howard Rheingold: Toward Peeragogy

Twitter Literacy

Social Bookmarking and Annotating

Paul Mihaliidis & James N. Cohen, “Exploring Curation as a Core Competency in Digital and Media Literacy Education“

Edward J. Brantmeier, “Empowerment Pedagogy: Co-learning and Teaching”

Excellent guide to the development and maintenance of personal learning networks.

Ultimate Guide to All Things Twitter:

Excellent guide to Twitter that covers all of the basics as well as the “why” of tweeting.