The video above is the one I recorded at the launch of this course (all new MET courses have a 565 designation – this was originally called ETEC656M until it was regularized as ETEC523). The core message remains true, so I haven’t redone it.
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This is an exciting and highly opportunistic moment for intrepid educators in this unprecedented new world of mobile and open learning. Being bold, the 523 adventure sets forth a number of experimental contexts that seem relevant, including:
- Mobility: The course and its learning experiences are “mobile-first” in design, meaning that the primary design imperative is for effective delivery on mobile devices, especially mobile phones and tablets. While you may participate using any connected device, going for ‘full mobile immersion’ may be a useful learning strategy for you, and will likely earn the most valuable and authentic insights into mobile learning design.
- Regenerative Knowledge: At the conclusion of traditional courses, the knowledge interactions and products generated by learners are treated as waste, flushed away to prepare for the next learners. In 523, these products are instead the lifeblood of the course. In 523 knowledge is a ‘stream’ that is continuously filtered and refreshed by the action of learners. The stream was initiated by volunteer co-authors from the MET and UBC communities (I would be remiss in not explicitly recognizing their contributions!), and is revitalized by each new 523 cohort. Every learner in this course is a co-author. This isn’t a gimmick: mobile devices, networks, applications, and experiences are all expanding and evolving at digital velocity, and will do so for the imaginable future, so any MET course about the realities and potentials of mobile education must be regenerative.
Student works are published deliberately in this open blog to serve future students, but also to serve as open learning resources for professional educators and learning technologies leaders everywhere.
Finally, 523 is more than a course, it is a deliberate experiment in ‘networked participatory scholarship’, which means that every student is a co-researcher. 523 is part of a broad research program into mobility, regenerative course design, participatory scholarship, peer analytics and more. Want to explore any of these frontiers even further? Just contact your instructor. For example, you can get MET course credit by pursuing an ETEC580 Directed Studies project focusing on interesting questions related to 523. Your professional expertise and special research interests are very welcome.
Each running of 523 is significantly different than the previous one. Rather than wait five years or more for a major revision, content is updated continuously and new experiments are conducted, so please be patient with what may not be working well yet, and proactive about what could be better. We expect you to take your roles as co-authors and co-researchers seriously.
This is a 13-week course that is fully online, mobile, and mostly asynchronous. Within major assignments you will be able to pursue topics of special interest to you, both as an individual and in peer groups. Your critical consideration of the content you encounter will add value to that content, and the products of your scholarship will become valuable new content. You can therefore expect that 523 will become your go-to resource for professional development concerning mobile education long after you have completed the course. Your opportunities as a peer learner, co-author and co-researcher will not expire.