A colleague from online virtual communities encouraged me to participate in #clmooc. Learning at the speed of light! That’s been my mantra for the past few years and I realize that we have to make choices in where and how we learn because the options are increasing exponentially.  Our students will have an incredible number of learning opportunities to choose from in participatory digital culture.  So I begin my summer of learning by asking a few questions of myself.

Who will I learn from?

It can be serendipitous when we collide in online spaces. I often run into the same individuals in networked spaces (Youtube, Vimeo, twitter, virtual worlds, or others) because of shared interests. An example: I ran into Mal Burns, who lives in the UK, several times in virtual spaces, realized he followed me on youtube, and learned how to use scoop-it through his example.  We don’t live on the same continent but kept bumping into each other!  I believe that is an example of connected learning, as I have never met Mal Burns in the physical world. Identifying our personal interests is a good starting point.

How will I connect and collaborate?

Zoe (the colleague I mentioned earlier) suggested I meet with others in the virtual world of Second Life at the Community Virtual Library. As a digital archivist and museum curator in Hawaii, Zoe (Monika Talaroc) specializes in physical librarianship but also in virtual librarianship. Her goal for the #clmooc is to create a virtual archive of the Berlin Project (a role play simulation). I met another colleague today, Cynthia Davidson, who teaches writing at a university and shares similar goals for creating immersive learning environments through collaboration this summer.  Finding others and choosing collaborative tools is critical to learning in our networked global world.

What will I learn?

I really want to learn more about augmented reality. Perhaps I can use #clmooc to find a network that can teach me best educational uses.  I also want to share my knowledge and skills of virtual world learning with others.

What will I make?

As I brainstorm what I might make this summer, I want to branch out beyond my comfort zone. My initial ideas are: creating virtual books at the UW Island of Seasons (a metaphor of learning through the life cycle), working with Zoe to create a virtual exhibit, and collaborating with fellow #clmoocers as I peruse spaces I may not yet have encountered.

Summer time and the learning is easy!