[SSC] Introduction.

[Joss Winn]

Hi Matt,

I'll have a go at answering this.

As you note, a number of us work in the areas of educational technology
and creative media, so we're well aware of the potential of online
distant learning and are not fundamentally opposed to it. I think on the
whole, we want to create something that has certain constraints built
into it, such as the idea of 20 students and 20 teachers. If we
introduce online distant learning, we open up the SSC to a potentially
much greater enrolment but also a greater administrative burden, too.
We're hoping that by imposing these constraints, other people will copy
us and develop their own re-localised higher education co-ops.

I think that we're all pretty pragmatic though. If an associate academic
member offers to hold a class using Skype or whatever, we'd try to
accommodate it. And of course, all courses will be supported through the
use of online tools such as course calendars, email, shared seminar
notes, etc. We just envisage that the synchronous element of the
teaching and learning will be face-to-face, while the asynchronous
aspects of the course can take place anywhere/any time via the web.

I think that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for joining the mailing list and for your interest in the SSC.

Joss

On 29/06/2011 17:32, Matt Mawer wrote:
> Hi SSC folks,
> 
>  
> 
> I have been watching the mailing list for some time, but I have not
> really had much in the way of expertise to contribute to your
> discussions thus far. I realised that I also have not yet introduced
> myself, so…
> 
>  
> 
> My name is Matt Mawer. I’m a PhD student at Coventry University studying
> broadly in education, more specifically in students’ experiences of
> virtual worlds as learning technologies. Richard Hall drew my attention
> to the SSC quite a few months ago and I’ve been watching your progress
> (quietly) with interest.
> 
>  
> 
> One specific thing I am interested in is your comment on distance
> learning in the website FAQ; particularly “…place is important to the
> SSC”. One of the earliest and most persistent applications of virtual
> worlds has been to facilitate ‘place’, either for distance learners or
> to create places which are not easily accessible. That got me thinking
> about why you would want to localise the SSC in a specific, physical
> setting. Given that several of you are involved in creative media or
> e-learning in some way (so presumably skills and/or infrastructure
> wouldn’t be a massive problem), I was interested in why you had decided
> that the SSC should operate solely on a face-to-face basis; particularly
> when your invitation list of academics is geographically diffuse.
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers,
> 
>  
> 
> Matt.  
> 
> --
> 
>  
> 
> Matt Mawer  |  PhD researcher  |  Learning Innovation ARG
> 
>  
> 
> Room EC2.1, The Enterprise Centre
> 
> Puma Way, Coventry, CV1 2TT
> 
>  
> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
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