“What we REALLY need is the pertinent information to the situation AND to get to know each other."
in Missing the Point: Transparency without Authenticity. (http://allenjfuller.com/2010/02/missing-the-point-transparency-without-authenticity/
· Paulsen, Morten Flate et Dalsgaard, Christian. Transparency in Cooperative Online Education. June 2009.
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/rt/printerFriendly/671/1267
This is a very interesting and pertinent article when dealing with transparency in online teaching education for it is about the impact and the pedagogical potential that social networking has as a facilitator of transparency and awareness among students. Bearing in mind that the aim of transparency is “to enable students and teachers to see and follow the work of fellow students and teachers within a learning environment and in that sense to make participants available to each other as resources for their learning activities” it is quite understandable why, according to its authors, it has such a vital role in social networking. The authors throughout the article point out the importance of “being able to see and to be seen” because it is very significant that in an online teaching environment where cooperation is the basis of it that the information that students give about themselves and their work is as transparent as possible for eventual future sharing situations. Bearing in mind the term cooperative, the authors distinguish the existence of three types of learning, being the last one their choice of election:
- Individual learning, which as the name indicates is conducted alone with no interaction of a learning community;
- Collaborative learning, which happens in face-to-face meetings and online education and that requires the input of a group and consequently limits the individual;
- Cooperative learning, which seeks to foster some of the benefits of individual freedom and the benefits of cooperation in online learning communities and that takes place in networks.
Nevertheless being as authentic as possible also raises other controversial questions which are also dealt the level of authenticity and of privacy. Regarding these two questions the authors create a “Transparency Barometer” to analyze them and later in the part dedicated to Cooperative Student Catalogues they point out what they consider essential to be authentic in order to facilitate cooperation: “e-mail address, telephone numbers, chatting identities, information regarding geographical location (e.g. zip-codes) for eventual face-to-face meetings and progress plan information so that students can identify peers who are working with in the same study unit.” But even for these elements the authors also call attention that this private information must be handled carefully and an authorization to make them public is always needed.
In my opinion, the choice of this article is very important for it cleared my mind regarding transparency in online teaching education. I found it also enriching to see how the two authors dealt with the question of authenticity, its impact in the course’s development and in teachers and students’ interactions during the studies.
· Bowles, Michelle. 5 Twitter Tips for Staying Authentic and Transparent. 2009 (28th September)
http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/09/twitter-tips-authentic-transparent/
In 5 Twitter Tips for Staying Authentic and Transparent, Michelle Bowles presents in a very straightforward way five tips on how to be authentic and transparent, which I will start to explain:
1. The first one deals with the placing of a photo and a name for this helps to establish connections with the ones that look at our work or that wish to interact with us, for in fact: “Putting a face and a name behind your Tweets through a photo and brief bio can help followers relate to and connect with your brand.”
2. The second one is regarding personality and it is in favor of showing that in fact we are “real individuals” with feelings and humor for “It doesn’t have to be all business all the time. Have some fun with your Tweets by telling humorous stories or poking a little fun at yourself now and then.”
3. Regarding the third one it is important that you admit when you are wrong, not only because with mistakes we learn, but also because it is part of our nature and people make mistakes and they must also know how to cope with them.
4. On the fourth one, it deals with “Get to know your followers” it is important to be known but it is also important to know who you are dealing with, so this fourth tip is about asking questions simple questions about themselves, such as name, age, interests (nothing too personal).
5. The last one is “Don’t get carried away by your accomplishments” and the tip is that you should not let your success get to your head for it were your followers that gave it to you and that have largely contributed for it. So remember…be modest!
I found this text interesting, easy to read and with good tips regarding our present in Online Teaching Education and one of the sentences that exemplifies what is presented is “Be authentic and transparent in all you do.”
· Hill, Christopher. Principles for improving Online Transparency. 2008 (1st April).
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/distance-learning/principles-for-improving-online-transparency-quality/
The reading of this article gives emphasis to the idea that a “well-informed student or prospective student – benefits everyone.” In addition, this article depicts the theory that everybody, universities and colleagues only have to gain with transparency and to defend this thought three principles are mentioned and explained for the institutions that seek and want transparency.
1. Make distance education a central element of your mission – if you are dealing in fact with distance learning make sure that you are ready for it and be prepared, so that your students may have access to all resources online in order to carry out a good quality program;
2. Accountability to stakeholders – deals with giving adequate information to students about the content of the course-study, who teaches it and who is present for future questions that any prospective students may have related to the course itself;
3. Responsiveness – means that an educational institution must be prepared to respond quickly to an online-student so that he may have feedback as soon as possible within 24 to 48 hours;
I feel this article points out several aspects that need to be taken into account when we are confronted with the problem of being and of creating transparency in online teaching. According to Michael Offerman, president of Capella University: “To meet the education needs of adult students, we must provide them with trustworthy and transparent ways to choose among many available options and to gauge the potential of each one to further their careers. The goal of the program is to lead universities and colleges toward greater accountability and transparency.”
· Dalsgaard, Christian. Social Networking Sites: Transparency in Online Education.
http://content.yutu.com/Library/A1mvrs/TransparencyinOnline/resources/32.htm
An excellent approach on the pedagogical potentials of networking sites bearing in mind the fact that these sites are a combination of personalization and socialization regarding those that in a transparent way truly take part in them. According to this study when students take part in these networking sites and publish their thinking, aims, works and share it with others they are being transparent, that is they “have insight into each other’s work, thoughts, and productions.” Taking into account this idea student’s personal information becomes known to others through the process of sharing in a larger scale – a social network – and in this sense the notion of a social group with similar interests and relations emerges. Through this scenario we can observe the immense potential of these “social networking sites”, which the author reveals as “a supplement to other tools” for according to him “the potential of social networking lies within transparency and the ability to create awareness between students – potentially across institutions and nations.”
This challenging and amazing reading delves into the impact of social networking sites and the transparency that they involve when dealing with online teaching.
· Paulsen, Morten Flate. Profiling Online Students.
http://content.yutu.com/Library/A1mvrs/TransparencyinOnline/resources/43.htm
This interesting article aims to the use of transparency in Online Teaching and describes one of the strategies used to develop this idea of transparency at NKI Distance Education and the impact they had in it.
In order to develop, promote transparency and future situations with it, a profile was created where students are given the choice to do their presentations and t publish them in an “open catalogue”, by clicking the “global visibility checkbox” in their profile. Later, when analyzed the impact of this measure, the following conclusions were achieved:1. “… most presentations act as favorable homepages that focus on the students’ achievements.”
2. “The users are excellent ambassadors for NKI when they share their presentation with others. They provide a lot of relevant information for prospective students and key words for the search engines.”
3. “…the fact that so many serious, hard-working and successful students are willing to share achievements and experiences in an open, online catalogue is valuable for the field of online education.”
In my opinion this was truly an amazing finding to promote transparency among online teaching.
· Siemens, George. Teaching as Transparent Learning.
http://content.yutu.com/Library/A1mvrs/TransparencyinOnline/resources/55.htm
“I’ve gained much from being a transparent learner.”
George Siemens, the author, describes his path, experiences and progress as a transparent learner. According to him transparency is an important and significant requisite in online teaching for “when we make our learning transparent, we become teachers” and “watching others learn is an act of learning” for as he clearly point out:
“When someone decides to share their thoughts and ideas in a transparent manner, they become a teacher to those who are observing. Social technology - such as Twitter, blogs, Facebook – opens the door to sharing the process of learning, not only the final product.”
I found this reading encouraging and appealing for it deals with the experience of a “transparent learner” and his personal sharing of it.
· Paulsen, Morten Flate. Transparency for Quality. Toonlet.
http://toonlet.com/creator/MortenFP
This comic strip is a very clear and presents a very objective approach on the importance that transparency has in order to improve the quality of online teaching for if others see what we publish, incorrect information becomes easily detected, feedback on it is given and errors are corrected. Clear, concise and stick to the point!
· Paulsen, Morten Flate. Transparency for Cooperation. Toonlet.
http://toonlet.com/archive?i=11245
This comic strip deals with matters related to the cooperation that the use of transparency promotes in online teaching. When students give personal and transparent information about themselves other students interact more and a sense of cooperation is established between them. Nevertheless, an essential point is also presented - students’ transparency is to be handled carefully regarding their privacy and in this way students themselves should be the ones to choose the level of transparency to be allowed.
· Welcome to my PLE! - A Personal Tour by a 7th Grade Science Student.
(Youtube Presentation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY
I choose this Youtube Presentation because I found it a good example of transparency. Although it was created by a young student, matters such as organization and transparency are very clear and were carefully dealt and are now presented in a very objective way. This “PLE” – Personal Learning Environment - is the culminate of a research and intense work on networking sites, for as the student clearly points out he “spent some time since the beginning of the school year learning how to find information online and how to pull it out together on a personal page”, which we can observe thanks to its publication.
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