My MOOC experiment

After many exposures to the concept of MOOCs and other knowledge sharing platforms, I thought it was time to do a MOOC myself. Major influences in this were Alec Courosa and Sidneyeve Matrix through her Twitter account and her online course CDS502 (Online Strategy) through Queen's University that I was fortunate enough to participate in last year. As well, teaching an interdisciplinary studies high school course on social media last year has very much piqued my curiousity about learning online and in trying to keep up with all the changes to digital literacies.

The MOOC that caught my interest was Cathy Davidson's course from Duke University - of course, the possibility of being connected to the Cameron Crazies was a ridiculous but fun idea - called The History and Future of  (Mostly) High Education: Or, How We Can Unlearn Our Old Patterns and Relearn for a More Successful, Fruitful, Satisfying, Productive, Humane, Happy, Beautiful, Socially-conscious, Socially-Engaged Future. Needless to say, the English teacher in me was immediately attracted to the title! The hashtag on Twitter is #FutureEd if you are interested in joining or following the conversation.

Six weeks is the length of the course and the video lecture style is both engaging and very well put together with animated "chalkboards" summarizing Prof Davidson's main points. For a visual learner like me who likes to take notes while I read, this has been excellent. In fact, I'd love to know what program they used to put the videos together to make them professional but (hopefully) not too onerous. In this course there is not necessarily an emphasis on assignments and achievement on those assignments - these can be done and one would assume that the learning would be more solidified through the course by completing the assignments. The assignments are purely voluntary which appealed to me since in Ontario we are just starting up a new semester and I still have my many other involvements in rugby to deal with in life as well. This was helpful as I want to complete the course but wasn't sure of the workload and balancing with these other commitments. The fact that a student can earn a certificate of achievement simply by completing quiz questions as they come up on each video was enough for me to be able to say I've completed this within reasonable expectations.

The question at the end of the first intro assignments leave multiple possibilities. I did the quiz which leads to the certificate - not sure if my motivation was to earn the certificate or to actually see what I had learned. Also, there is an essay assignment that will be peer reviewed on having to "unlearn" something. I'd like to do the assignment, however, I think that the time I've spent on this blog may preclude me from meeting the deadline. There are also other participatory assignments the most notable of which asks "who is your favourite teacher?"I do like this question, and I've answered it on numerous occasions in my coaching development education; only, I've done it on paper and not on video as the assignment suggests. In the MOOC, the best part is that I know I've done it and it doesn't matter if I submit the assignment. Even better since it just gives me a chance to solidify and remember the learning I've done and then mentally add to it with people who have influenced me since. And there are many! I am so lucky to work with people at school and in rugby who teach me by challenging, cajoling and straight up telling me to learn.

Anyone can be a teacher and anyone can be a learner. I LOVE that this course is encouraging teachers and anyone who wants to learn to learn. Learning for learning's sake is such a wonderful and laudable goal. Now, if only this course will help me discover the secret to making sure that others feel the same way!

More books for coaches or my reading list from 2014

A few more books for coaches and teachers that were part of 2013's reading pile:

Quiet - Susan Cain

Ever wondered how to connect with the introverts on your team? Or wondered why some people just aren't that into group work in a classroom? Or wondered if you have some introverted tendencies yourself as a coach or teacher? This is the book for you!

Quiet is illuminating in the sense that it give a powerful voice to those who don't always feel that using theirs is the most necessary idea. As an extrovert, it certainly helpful me understand about how to encourage the hard work, idea generation and focus that introverts bring to the table with others. We just need to shut up, give those introverts time to speak and then listen!

This was brought to my attention by a former athlete of ours at Queen's who self identifies as an introvert and it was on my list for a long time before I finally got to it. All of a sudden I feel more equipped to work with and to help introverts harness the strengths of their default operational mode. The world in general needs to recognize the creative ability and the depth of investigation that introverts can go to when given the opportunity!

And, if you're into TEDtalks - here's Cain's called "The Power of Introverts."

To Sell is Human - Daniel Pink

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Pink's writing and was thrilled to see him speak in Ottawa back in fall 2011. His latest book published in early 2013, To Sell is Human, is another winner. He claims that 8 of 10 of us workers are salespeople. It's true that teachers and coaches are salespeople in that we sell ideas, we sell and help build the concepts of self-confidence, passion for learning, dedication, teamwork and all those things that allow athletes and students to be the best people they can be once they leave our programs or schools.

Let's face it - we can't get buy in from our athletes and students if we can't sell the ideas or team culture that we create. Pink's book can help us do it more effectively.

Smarter Than You Think - Clive Thompson

My airport treat is a copy of Wired magazine whenever I am travelling. This is where I discovered Clive Thompson's clever and informative reading and was fortunate to receive the book as an unexpected Christmas gift.

Thompson's argument is that technology is making us smarter and may actually end up rewiring our brains to make us even "smarter." There are plenty of people who say that the information age and it's advancements will set us up for failure but Thompson makes the case for technology in all it's new and unknown ways. In a sense, the book doesn't seem to connect at all with coaching and might seem that there are lose links to teaching. However, for teachers, this book is a must-read and there is an entire chapter dedicated to the technology movements in schools. Also, it just asks readers to thoughtfully consider that change might just be a good thing...and that is what every teacher and coach should encourage.

Selling the Dream - Ken Campbell with Jim Parcells

While I didn't find the information in the book earth-shattering, Campbell does come up with some impressive numbers and statistics to support his ideas on hockey at a grassroots level in Canada. The message here is that we're in big trouble if we keep doing what we're doing. Money is what drives hockey development in Canada and mainly those middle to high income families will be the ones who can afford to help develop a raw but possibly talented teenager. Lower income families and those who are from outside major urban areas will be shut out of the development system. And some Canadian parents are making mind-boggling financial and life decisions around the minute possibility of their kids either getting a hockey scholarship or making the NHL or national teams. 

Honestly, I don't know if I would have finished it if I hadn't wanted to use the book as a part of my Sport & Society class at SHS. However, it would be a great primer for those just starting out in the hockey machine or those who may want to justify avoiding it (and putting their kids in mini-rugby instead). Oops, just can't help to advocate for fun, games and great LTAD!

The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg

I really enjoyed the organization of Duhigg's book and the research he put into each chapter. First, he starts with how some people have changed their own habits and then he explains exactly how his Cue-Reward-Routine concept makes it eas(ier) to make changes to habits. If only he talked about cookies less, I may have not craved them so much when I was reading!

And, there is a teacher's guide (thanks, Charles!). I'm working on putting this into our Grade 12 College English at SHS since the awareness about habits is not always as obvious for teenagers as one might think. We all have habits we enjoy and that we'd really rather change. Seems reasonable to talk about it in a classroom and maybe combine the use of technology into helping us make a positive beahviour change...maybe we can use both Thompson's and Duhigg's expertise at once. By the way, they are both highly engaged in Twitter and will have a chat if you have something interesting to comment on or to ask.

I think that's it - hope this is informative and that you can find something else interesting to read in the near future that helps to make you that much better in your chosen field.

New photoquote

Original photo information: Photo Credit: Raymond Larose via Compfight cc

This made me laugh...but only sort of...

SHS Rugby Clothing

Hi SHS Rugby ladies,

Here is an example of the SHS rugby clothing:

Forms are due on Monday next week (April 22).

Guest Post: A rant on Storify TOS

The following is a guest post by Jeff Lyons, a current student in my IDC4U class.

Recently, I was tasked with creating a page with “Storify” for a school assignment. Now, I'm always leery of signing up for new websites or services, as I highly value both my security and the amount of space in my inbox. Nevertheless, I signed up with Storify, handing out my email as requested, and began amassing the links and information required for my topic, despite the difficulties involved (my topic was DRM and Piracy in games, and the school board blocks most gaming news websites and blogs.) Everything was going along fine, until I signed off for the day and returned the next. When I went to edit and format my page, I was greeted with this:

Connect with my Twitter account? You mean the one I don't have? The one you never mentioned before? Well that's just...brilliant. I hope the dripping sarcasm is oozing through your monitor right now.

I realize, I'm the last of a dying breed, that most people have Twitter these days, and spend hours on end tweeting to their hearts content. Myself, I don't see the need. I'm just one person. I don't have news or updates to post concerning a product I'm working on. I don't need to inform people of what towns I'll be performing in, what times, and how much a T-shirt will cost. And I certainly don't have a group of staffers crafting my next political barb. If I want to stay in contact with those close to me, I'll contact them over Facebook, or give them a call, or gasp have a face-to-face conversation with them. But I digress. This isn't about me not needing to use Twitter. This is about Storify springing it on me. Not once in the account creation process, or in the terms of use, does it mention Twitter. Not once. And if it requires something, surely it should notify the user of that beforehand, shouldn't it? If I go out to buy a game, I can look up the minimum system requirements before forking over $60 (an overly high price, but that's for another day) for a game my computer can't run. If it's multiplayer, or runs on a content-delivery system such as Steam, or Origin, it'll mention that an internet connection is required, and that an account on those services is as well, for the latter.

So why are they telling me after I start using Storify that I need to also give them my Twitter information? Why do they require it in the first place? Is Twitter integration mandatory? Would they, if I made a Twitter account for them, tell me to give them my Facebook username and password at a later date? (You can choose to use your Facebook or Twitter accounts to sign up for Storify, but I prefer to keep my educational, work, and social lives as separate as humanly possible) And it's not just because I don't have or want a Twitter account. It's not just because they require one for use.

It's because they spring it on you like this. “Oh hi, there! We see you're enjoying our product! Now, if you want to continue using it, fork over your info!” I mean, if they do this now, what's next? My real-world address? My Social Insurance Number? They can't even say it was in the fine print. I checked. There is no fine print.

 

Okay, maybe there is. My mistake. But does it mention requiring other accounts anywhere? Nope. Not anywhere else in the TOS, either. Ctrl+F is quite useful in that regard.

You know, this is a really shady way of operating, this cutting the user off suddenly and demanding account information. It's basically holding the account for ransom. And I don't negotiate with terrorists. I guess it's a nice ironic twist that my chosen topic was DRM. Most current forms of DRM are really scummy too, and end up preventing legitimate customers from playing more than it does the pirates. Well, no matter. I have other options, other steps to complete the assignment.

And Storify? You just lost yourself a user.

Guest Post: Overview of Athletic Therapy

Hi everyone, my name is Steacy Huff and I am currently in Mrs. Barz's me and the meme technology class. For part of an assignment we are doing I wrote a blog on a brief overview of the profession of athletic therapy. I am an aspiring athletic therapy student and wanted to educate people on this profession as I think it is very interesting and something everyone should be educated about.

Many people are familiar with with the profession of physiotherapy. Often people attend physiotherapy  after obtaining an injury to get back into the sport or activity they were playing before. But what about the profession of athletic therapy? Many people are not quite as familiar with athletic therapy as they are with physiotherapy.  There are many similarities between the two professions that often people view them as the same thing. Carla Brash, who is a certified athletic therapist at Kingston Athletic Therapy Centre, describes athletic therapy as “finding the root of the cause and treating it therefore indirectly treating the injury.” For more information visit their website at http://www.kingstonatc.com/ or follow them on Twitter @KingstonATC.

Both athletic therapists and physiotherapists use similar methods to treat injuries but athletic therapy is a more hands on practice. Some athletic therapists use a technique called visceral treatment. When using this technique, the therapists releases the tension that is created within the organs of a person body caused from every day stresses. Many people are not aware that the organs within their body can become tight. Organs, such as the kidneys, attach to the spine through the viscera. The viscera with in your body can become tight due to everyday stresses, just as your muscles become tight after you workout for the fist time in a few weeks. Due to the visceral attachment on the spine, this can lead to low back pain if your kidneys and viscera become tight. Visceral treatment was developed by a french osteopath and physical therapist named Jean-Pierre Barral. For more information on visceral treatment visit his website as http://www.barralinstitute.com/about/vm.php.

If the athletic therapy interests you, I would encourage you to check out the Canadian Athletic Therapy Association website at http://www.athletictherapy.org/en/index.aspx where you can find information on the profession and find a certified athletic therapist near you.