About me #rhizo14

My name is doug symington and I've been interacting, learning and playing in online spaces since before the turn of the century.

From 2001 to 2005 I was an online MEd student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/IT). My OISE/UT studies focused on Curriculum, Teaching and Learning with a specialization in Computer Applications.

This space resulted from my desire to attempt to capture some the coursework and concepts associated with my graduate studies at OISE/UT as well as space for reflection, and a diary of my learning both in and out of school.

During this same time frame I was employed as a Training Developer with SMART Technologies Inc., makers of interactive whiteboards and complementary/supporting software applications.

Throughout my time at OISE/UT and SMART I developed an awareness of the many issues related to "access" and online learning environments. I also became acutely aware that social relationships play a significant role in determining how motivated an individual learner will be to work through and overcome issues associated with access--be they technical, social or a combination thereof.

After leaving SMART I worked in the not-for-profits sector and worked with organizations on Vancouver Island leveraging "free" web tools for development and outreach across and within individual organizations. It was also during this time frame that I had the good fortune to meet @davecormier and @jefflebow and become a contributing member of the community they fostered with @edtechtalk. The many webcasting lessons I learned as a host of EdTechBrainstorm stand me in good stead to this day.

More recently I have returned to the corporate sector as a consultant; however, I continue to be involved in pro bono work for not-for-profits and remain *very* interested in exploring and leveraging "freely" accessible tools for the benefit of individuals and organizations--be they corporate, educational, or not-for-profits.

I've decided to participate in #rhizo14 to get back in with a community of practice of people who "get it" or are at least prepared to give online learning spaces a chance. I'd also like to make an effort to reflect more on my practice by blogging more regularly, and I expect #rhizo14 participation to prompt me in that regard.

I look forward to learning from and with each of you and am very thankful for the opportunity.

An animated portrait of my 2013 on Twitter

obsolete and dead online spaces

If you've played in online spaces for any length of time, much of your content has probably been lost to the vagaries of dead, decommissioned, and obsolete spaces. Be it online course content, or one of the many "free" services that have been shut down over the years, you've probably lost at least a portion of your "artifacts" over the years.

This may, or may not, have prompted you to self-host your content in the hopes of have more control over the fate of your content, but even this approach is not a 100% guarantee of the persistence of your online "stuff."

Then again, you may have bet on the right horse (Blogger for example) and still have access to the stuff you posted a decade, or more, ago.

You can mediate the risk, and help to ensure persistence, by cross-posting your content across multiple spaces; however, if it's truly imperative that your loot persist--you'll want to have local (i.e., offline) and hard-copy versions of that which can not be lost.

Learning Diary Redux

This is a post from an #android tablet, and a "free" wifi connection. It also represents a resurrection of sorts of this space along the lines of its original purpose:a diary of my learning. My Learning Diary began some 12 years ago (almost to the day) as a repository for learning artifacts associated with my online M.Ed. studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT).

At lot of things have changed in online spaces in the interim, and a great many are still the same. One development I'm particularly interested in, are the advances in, and evolution of, self-organized social systems and how they've become part of the vernacular in the form of MOOCs and the like.

I've signed up for a course being run by Dave Cormier based on this model (that he and colleagues developed, notwithstanding what USA schools/corporations would have you believe).

What's the same now as it was then, are the human and social characteristics learners bring to any space, be it online or off, and intend to use this space to make (what I hope aren't TOO sporadic) entries related to my learning and observations of the process, and my reactions to the experience.

#glutenfree goodness for birthday lunch

#glutenfree goodness for birthday lunch, a photo by dougsymington on Flickr.

best #glutenfree pie in #yyc