It has been a while since I have taken part in an open course but a couple from the University of Auckland have recently caught my eye. So, I have jumped in full of enthusiasm to take part in the Mobile and Social Media Learning Technologies course otherwise known as #mosomelt.

During in the first week we were asked to log in to/set up an account for:

1: Moodle (where the discussions will be posted)

2: Twitter

3: WordPress (to post reflections on)

My initial thoughts were, this would be easy. I have managed Moodle in a previous role and therefore experienced in using both the browser and app versions. I have been using Twitter (with various levels of engagement) for over 10 years. And I already have a WordPress site where I post my reflections. Well if you are reading this the chances are number 2 and number 3 have been fine. Unfortunately I have had a fail with Moodle. I receive notifications to my email when others post in Moodle but for some reason none of the emails I need to log in into Moodle arrive in my inbox (or my junk mailbox). I am not sure this is a reflection on my ability to use Moodle but it has made me think about how students feel when they cannot get the technology to work, how easy it is to feel you are being a nuisance asking for help and how tempting it is just to give up. Nevertheless I haven’t given up yet and I hope that I manage to get access so I can share to the community but in the meantime I am still reading what others post and interacting vai other channels.

What do I hope to achieve taking part in #mosomelt?

The idea of joining a community of practice with a group of people interested in sharing ideas and good practice around using mobile and social media learning technologies is definitely appealing. I suppose my goals for the course are to reflect on what I am currently doing and that I gain new ideas I can utilise in my own practice. Finally I have previously found that taking part in cMOOC like this helps to increase my professional network. As much as I like growing my network of connections there is also something very comforting seeing familiar faces in the same community. There are definitely a few #LTHEchat-ers that have signed up having seen the email from the Association of Learning Technologists so once again I find one community overlapping with another…