Phonar Nation and Mobile, Connected Learning (#MINA2014)
Abstract In this presentation, I discuss Phonar Nation, a free, open, five-week photography course that was offered twice during the North American summer in 2014 as part of the Cities of Learning initiative. Photographer and open education pioneer Jonathan Worth created and taught the non-credit course to individuals from 12-18 years of age through a website designed to work on mobile devices (http://phonarnation.org/). The author followed the course as his twelve-year-old son completed it from New Zealand. The community-based Phonar Nation initiative extends the work that Worth and his colleagues have done with Phonar (Photography and Narrative), an open, for-credit undergraduate course at Coventry University. I argue that Phonar Nation highlights several related developments in education that are leading to innovative approaches at different levels and in different contexts. Firstly, Phonar Nation is not only open access but it also uses and produces material that is open to be shared through the use of Creative Commons Licenses. Secondly, it is collaborative, both in the way that it is produced and taught, and in the way that participants are encouraged to engage with one another in community settings and through social media sites. Thirdly, Phonar Nation exemplifies an approach to learning that advocates call Connected Learning, which is accessible, interest-driven, socially situated and geared to extending educational and economic opportunities.
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Phonar Nation and Mobile, Connected Learning (#MINA2014)
- 1. Phonar Nation and Mobile, Connected Learning MINA 2014 | Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa 4th Mobile Creativity and Innovation Symposium Nov. 20-21, AUT University, Auckland, NZ Dr Mark McGuire Design, Dept. of Applied Sciences University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ email: mark.mcguire@otago.ac.nz Twitter: @mark_mcguire Blog: http://markmcguire.net/ Dept.: http://www.otago.ac.nz/appliedsciences/staff/markmcguire.html Phonar Nation Website http://phonarnation.org/
- 2. Key Trends > Evolution of online learning. > Ubiquity of social media. > Integration of online, hybrid and collaborative learning. > Shift from students as consumers to students as creators. (Johnson, L., S. Adams Becker, V. Estrada, and A. Freeman. 2014. NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium) http://www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-higher-ed
- 3. How mobile learning can make a difference (John Traxler 2011) 1) Contingent learning: react and respond to environment in ways that cannot be pre-determined. 2) Situated learning: more meaningful by incorporating the surrounding environment. 3) Authentic learning: direct relationship between learning goals and tasks. 4) Context aware learning: access background information that can enrich appreciation of a place, artifact or event. 5) Personalized learning: customize ordering, pace, presentation of content. Traxler, John. 2011. Introduction. In Making mobile learning work: case studies of practice, edited by John Traxler and Jocelyn Wishart, 4-12. Bristol, UK: HEA Subject Centre for Education, University of Bristol. http://escalate.ac.uk/8250
- 6. Jonathan Worth: Twitter is a listening device and a means to tune the network. Each year the journey is different and the course accrues a long tail of content. (Free Online Class Shakes Up Photo Education. 2014. http://www.wired.com/ rawfile/2011/08/free-online-class-shakes-up-photo-education/) Phonar: a safe, mentored learning environment augmented and enriched by connecting the classroom to a public network where everyone can create and learn together. Twitter Search for #phonar Nov. 7 2014 https://twitter.com/search?q=%23phonar&src=/slideshow/mina-2014-symposium-phonar-nation-mark-mcguire-21-nov-2014/41903454/typd
- 7. #phonar Twittersphere Nov. 7 2014 http://phonar.org/twitter-visualisation/
- 14. open badging ecosystem, with a focus on shared values including openness, learner agency and innovation http://www.badgealliance.org/
- 26. Phonar Nation: Open Learning > No barriers to entry > Openly accessible > Open to improvement > Open to being shared Jonathan Worth Coursera, Udacity MOOCs: open entry to fully copyrighted courses with draconian terms of use. David Wiley http://phonarnation.org/session-3-telling-someones-story/ > 5Rs: Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute. > An open education infrastructure (credentials, assessments, resources, competencies) Wiley, David October 18 2014. Openness and the Future of Education and Society. http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3602
- 27. Phonar Nation: Collaborative Learning Bridgewater House Centre for Asylum Seekers
- 28. Phonar Nation: Connected Learning Connected Learning: broadened access to learning that is socially embedded, interest-driven, and oriented toward educational, economic, or political opportunity Mizuko Ito et al. (Connected Learning: An agenda for research and design. Digital Media and Learning Research Hub, Irvine, CA) I dont think education is about centralized instruction anymore; rather, it is the process establishing oneself as a node in a broad network of distributed creativity. Joichi Ito (Director of the M.I.T. Media Lab) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/science/joichi-ito-innovating-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.html?_r=0 Jonathan Worth on Phonar: Students learn to speak clearly with images and engage a connected audience. They learn to leverage and to be empowered by the network rather than feeling anonymised by it. http://phonarnation.org/about/
- 29. Thank You! Dr Mark McGuire Design, Dept. of Applied Sciences University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ email: mark.mcguire@otago.ac.nz Twitter: @mark_mcguire Blog: http://markmcguire.net/ Dept.: http://www.otago.ac.nz/appliedsciences/ staff/markmcguire.html Casper_McGuire is very proud of the beautiful Salt Print made of one of his @PhonarNation images by @darkroom_craig. (Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/sELFXNvPFm/?modal=true)