a French view

This International topic triggered more reflections than I thought, mostly due to our discussion thread on Canva which bothers me a little. In a previous post, I acknowledged my international strategy when developing my ID-oriented PLN. I initiated this PLN during the pandemic when the world shut down, and because I have never heard of instructional design in my country, and because it's not even the exact same expression in French, I found more English content and English-native contacts than similar French resources. That being said, I am French and working in a French environment. I am still hopeful to land a job in a more international setting but it seems impossible due to administrative and cultural barriers. I'm not giving up though, but this issue made me realize I also needed to nurture the French side of my PLN. I'm working in a higher ed institution, and as much as I am happy with my "US" academic background, I see that it can also make my integration i

Let me get backward a little. Course begins. First weeks bring reminders (or fresh news) on what Web 2.0 is, what produsage implies and what a Personal Learning Network (PLN) refers to. Over time, I reflected on many aspects surrounding Web 2.0-based learning and performance, and how I could use it in my future professional projects. Recently, more personal reflections emerged, mostly on whether my current PLN was serving me well. Here is what I got so far: 1. Good news: I have a PLN! Even better news: it has been supporting me in so many ways over the years: I built connections with experts and people using a similar path as mine and having similar concerns, I found resources online that allowed me to learn by myself and not stay stuck and frustrated, I opened my mind to so many diverse perspectives that it seemed that everything became a possibility. 2. Why the sky is not all blue: thanks to this course and this ongoing reflective approach I engaged in, I realized that I used more th

For this week's focus on the international perspective of Web 2.0, I thought reusing my blog's name was appropriate as part of my post's title as well. As you read my lines on Canva or elsewhere, (or as some of you heard my funny accent on Voice Thread), I've approached this program with a non-US, thus international angle. In fact, I approached my whole transition into the field of instructional design the same way, as I learned about the field and developed my PLN by connecting with English natives (mostly US) and joining US Communities of Practices online. One great benefit is that I am practicing the English language daily, which keeps being a paramount passport to integrating a field and connecting with other professionals online. This week's theme made me reflect on my progression in ID and whether things would have been different if my PLN was more "French-made" and less influenced by US vibes. Here is my opinion: I truly believe that I would not hav

Dr. Dennen, you read my mind! Here is my Spotify playlist: be selfish ;-)! Celebrate yourself with self-centered songs, others don't count here!   Add your own songs, guys! (and yes, there's a Taylor Swift song, so no hesitation here ;-) ). Important info: the collaborative feature of Spotify is not working great. Some online users suggest accessing Spotify on the desktop app to add songs to a collaborative playlist. It seems that the web player or a mobile app won't work. Give it a try, it might have been solved!

This week focused on seemingly two very different aspects of social media-based learning: (1) digital citizenship and (2) assessment & evaluation . Because I have an unfortunate tendency to draw connections between various parts of my everyday life, I tackled the two topics as if there were just one single list of readings. As a result, I organized my thoughts as shown in the graphics below. Here are my current main reflections: - Effective social media-based learning experiences (SMBLE) require interactions or at least learning from others. Hence, individuals willing to learn in Web 2.0 environments are encouraged to "engage actively, positively, and responsibly in online and offline communities" (see the resource from the Council of Europe). These conditions turn online learners into digital citizens whose open-mindedness allows them to engage in self-directed learning, peer interaction, and reflexivity. - By guiding learners to being proficient digital citizens, instr

 Hi Classmates, a short blog post (this is a personal challenge: communicate shortly and effectively. Yes, I like impossible challenges ;-) ). If you're like me and interested to know more about digital citizenship in relation to learning and Web 2.0, I recommend the podcast from Abby Brown and Tim Green "Trends & Issues in Instructional Design". I was introduced to this great resource by the great Dr. Brandon during EME5608. Here is the blurb you can read in Apple Podcast : " Stay current with the latest trends and issues in instructional design, educational technology, and learning sciences. Dr. Abbie Brown and Dr. Tim Green--professors of instructional design and educational technology--share their observations every two weeks in this podcast." Episodes discuss articles gathered in a Flipboard magazine (an interesting curating tool but the user experience could be improved in my view). Digital (or not) Citizenship and media literacy are some of the topic

 That was a fun one.

While reviewing the Sharing & Tracking projects of my classmates on VoiceThreads, I'm starting to realize this whole assignment might have been a trap. We've been asked to curate a collection of resources and share it online, and we were reminded not to overthink it. Just collect, curate, share, and track. And of course, reflect on the whole experience. Do not overthink this. But from what I read, it seems I was not alone in doing just the opposite. Why so? By asking us to share some resources with other, most likely unknown human beings, we were asked to select and organize our content thoroughly. But for what purpose? As reminded in several readings in the past few weeks, sharing implies multiple participants; which itself implies knowing how to involve others; which itself requires knowing why others would be interested in what we share; which itself we find how to trigger their curiosity. Why students would join the library community of their institution and make it liv

While exploring the readings this week, I started to compile elements I thought could be seen as important recommendations when developing online communities using social media. I also needed to revamp my posting style for this one time, so I embedded some content "made in Canva" to post my reflections. If you're in the neighborhood, I'll be happy to have your thoughts and maybe some suggestions to improve that list. Building Sustainable Online Communities What's the Secret Sauce? par Marion Soichot

In my previous life, my previous me was a biologist working in a tox lab in a hospital in Paris. Part of my work was to facilitate training sessions for lab staff in a healthcare training center on how to develop complex lab techniques for various purposes. While I've traded my lab coat for a computer and my lab techniques for learning theories and authoring tools, I keep facilitating those small group sessions in Paris several times a year. What I love about them is listening to the answers to my introduction questions: "Why are you here and what are you looking for?" Most participants answer that they want to fill knowledge gaps or they need concrete guidance for effective troubleshooting. Which makes me wonder: Why are they looking outside of their workplace for such needs? Don't they have onsite support in their lab or in the lab next to them? The session goes on. I try to bring interactivity but it's not always easy because adult learners are often used to in

Sunday morning. Reflecting on this "Instagram week", two points came up to me. First, the fact that each daily challenge had specific rules expanded my knowledge and practice of some features I never use (reel, poll, story). I was thus able to see how those features could be of value in instructional strategies, by asking learners to ask thoughtful questions or by summarizing reflections about a theme discussed within a group of learners on social media. Second, I was surprised to realize I experienced this challenge as an individual, almost lonely adventure. My actions were more focused on how to use Instagram's features accordingly rather than building Networked Knowledge Activities (NKA). And the fact that the activity did not gather many of us in EME6414 consolidates my feeling. This second conclusion bothered me a little but I then approached it in a different way: the course encourages all of us to explore and experiment with a lot of Web 2.0-related tools, some we