An Opportunity to Model Learning in the Open: OOE13

This school year, our district has worked to transform the culture of professional learning to one of Professional Learning Communities and collaboration. One of the aspects of this transformation is the idea that teachers are the "lead learners" in the classroom. On Wednesday, September 4 a year-long professional learning opportunity kicks off for K-16 educators that provides an opportunity for people to become a connected learner.
Open Online Experience (OOE13.org) is an chance for educators to learn about educational technology topics in a Connectivist Massive Open Online Course, or cMOOC. cMOOCs are personalized, self-directed learning opportunities, where learners are invited to create and network in a social learning environment. 
The structure of the experience is intentionally loose, as there are many entry points for people to interact with the content:

• On the OOE Website
• On Twitter using the #OOE13 hashtag in chats throughout the year
• On the Google+ Community
• via the Blog Roll of others participating in the course
• Calendar events
• and Webinars featuring experts in the field, such as the Orientation at 8:00 p.m. on September 4

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The course was inspired by Alec Couros's Education Technology MOOC (ETMOOC), who developed the concept of "The Networked Teacher."  Topics have been selected by a group of collaborators who participated in the ETMOOC course, lead by Brendan Murphy.  They include:

First semester topics:

September – Topic 1 Welcome Event & Orientation to working and learning in a blended environment

October – Topic 2 Connected Learning – Tools, Processes & Pedagogy

November – Topic 3 Digital Citizenship – Identity, Footprint

December/January – Topic 4 Digital Literacy – Information, Memes & Attention

Second semester topics

February – Topic 5 Content Curation – Using what is there

March – Topic 6 Digital Storytelling – Multimedia, Remixes & Mashups

April – Topic 7 The Open Movement – Open Access, OERs & Future of Ed.

May – Topic 8 Celebration – Final projects plans for the future

I see OOE13 as an exciting way for educators interested in learning more about technology integration and connecting with fellow educators to do so in a low-stress, open environment. The ability to self-direct learning, and focus on the topics that are most of interest will allow teachers to learn in a way that will be new for many of them. I am excited to be a part of the learning experience, and excited that our district administrators are open to incorporating OOE13 into this year's professional learning options.

Click Here to officially sign up for the course. I look forward to learning with you this year!

Here are some additional links from my fellow collaborators about the course:

• A New Open, Online, Edtech Professional Development Opportunity For Educators (Modelled on ETMOOC) by Christina Hendricks
• Coming Soon OOE13: Open Online Edtech Professional Development Opportunity For Educators by Rhonda Jessen
• How Educators Can Make Time for Professional & Personal Development by Debbie Morrison
• Open Online Experience 2013 by Janet Webster
• Joining another connectivist Mooc by Fredrik Graver
• Open Online Experience-The Start of Something by Brendan Murphy