I enjoy reading Hattie’s work (Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers), but in all the quality time I have spent with Hattie’s writing, I have only really thought about how it applied to children/students.
My first day in #etMOOC changed all that.
I have been encouraging educators I work with to engage in the #etMOOC experience (“encouraged” may be perceived by some as an understatement). You already know how I feel about this perfect/open/free opportunity to learn and connect.
Yet throughout the last three months of “talking up #etMOOC”, I thought only about how much my colleagues were going to learn about educational technology. I had not expected to learn so much about learning – on the first day!
On day 1, Jenni Scott-Marciski wrote her first blog post ever. She shared her experiences in joining Twitter, her hesitations about blogging, and here very personal thinking about connecting.
Even though I see Jenni every day, this was all new to me. Yes, I knew she was using Twitter to learn and connect, and yes, I knew she had started #etMOOC, but I was astonished at how much better I understand her learning now with just one posting.
She was making her thinking and learning visible, and it helped me to understand where we need to go next.
I had a similar experience with my #etmooc introduction. I have been trying to use iMovie for months now, sneaking in to watch and learn from students as they create videos in their classrooms, asking for help from friends. But the process of making and posting a video made my learning visible to others, and as a result I have received direct instruction on what to fix and how as I move forward in my learning.
I would not have posted that video if it was for “marks” or if it was for an evaluation. I would have kept my learning private. But the understanding that I am in a safe and supportive learning environment made me feel encouraged to share and learn.
And what does this tell us about student learning?
Learning About Learning 
That feeling of ‘safety’ has already come through on two levels in this course.
Level 1: We are among answer People
No question is a stupid question. The friendly responses to a wide range of queries has immediately set a tone that encourages any participant to ask any question.
Level 2: Risk-takers Stepped up
Beyond being brave enough to ask questions, in the early days of this course folks have taken risks and created a wide range of multimedia introductions. So many included notes about it being the first time they’d tried __________ .
I’m sure there are many folks lurking and waiting to make their first posts. I hope the examples that you and others have shared will increase the comfort level of all participants. I for one am feeling re-energized. 🙂
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I think it is so interesting that you said if this had been worth marks you would never have posted your video. I felt the same way exactly! In fact, I prefaced my screencast with “well, it is not exactly a level 4…”. Taking this MOOC, my motivations for it, my feelings about the learning, have really helped me to empathize with my own students. It puts me in their shoes. Learning for learning’s sake is so much more fun than learning for marks! And what has been created for us here is a very safe environment – I need to keep pondering this to help me be a better teacher.
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I am a huge Hattie fan too! Blogging is new to me ( as everything in this course) but I think it is such a great way to making learning visible. I feel like I can practice what I preach an maybe be a bit more authentic. I love that you felt brave and supported and posted your video. How can me make sure this is the environment we always create in classrooms where students always feel safe to make their learning visible?
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I appreciate how you were able to step back from what you were envisioning the #etmooc experience would be like (for yourself and others) and reflect on what you were actually experiencing and then name that reality as both different than expected and helpful. I also appreciate that you then shared that reflection with all of us. You’ve encouraged me to pause and think about what my own pre-conceived notions were/are of #etmooc and what the reality has been so far in what I’ve experienced – and what I can learn from that!
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