Reflections on 2017 Make Cycle 4 and CLMOOC 2017

Credit: Daniel Bassill

We’re nearing the artificial closing point of the 2017 Connected Learning MOOC. Why “artificial closing point?” Five years in and we hope we’re all discovering that CLMOOC never really ends. We pause for a bit. Relax. We write and send postcards. Connect in other spaces. We doodle in the margins. We teach and learn. The open and creative ethos of CLMOOC hopefully informs your practice, whatever that is. Starting and ending points are rather arbitrary with CLMOOC; don’t you agree?

And when a Pop-Up Make Cycle or another summer of fun comes along, you make the decision to join or watch or not. Choice is part of the CLMOOC ethos, too.

Credit: Clare Thomson

Remember: YOU remain the center of CLMOOC, now and into the future.

Credit: Sheri Edwards

Make Cycle 4 has opened many in-roads of exploration of animation. With a Make with Me Hangout that brought in folks from different parts of the world to a Twitter chat that touched on social media and access and barriers to making to all sorts of sharing and supporting, the CLMOOC community once again came together to learn together.

Sometimes, over a cup of coffee.

Credit: Algot Runeman

There were so many animations this week that we can’t possibly include them all, so here’s some to capture the flavour of the week.

Wendy unflattened Kevin’s comic …

Credit: Animated GIF by Wendy Taleo; Original comic by Kevin Hodgson

Melvina animated Sarah’s banner …

Credit: Animation by Melvina Kurashige; Original art by Sarah Honeychurch

Niall made us a smiley puffin …

Credit: Niall Barr

And much more .. wander through the various CLMOOC places to get inspired and then give animation a try yourself. We can’t wait to see what you create.

Follow Up to the Summer

The Collaborative Coloring Book is still underway (46 pages long and counting), and we hope that by the time August ends, we can find a way to self-publish the book. Keep an eye out for news on how that develops.
Miss Direction, the paper-thin CLMOOC youth sleuth, is still wandering the world in search of the missing Chalkboard Man. There are 12 chapters of her adventures now published in the collaborative story and a few more pieces still to be written in the next week or two, and then we will post the whole thing out. We don’t know if Chalkboard Man will ever be found. We did find a story and new CLMOOC heroine, however.
The CLMOOC Flipgrid reflection space is still open, and we would encourage you to share a short video of your time in CLMOOC this summer. What worked? What didn’t work? Any ideas for future themes?
The postcard project continues, and people can sign up to be a part of it here.

Wondering where you go from here? We’ve got some ideas …

Throughout the Year

There are many ways to stay engaged with CLMOOC’s connected community and beyond. Here are a few options to consider to remain active and connected with the people and the spirit of CLMOOC as summer fades away:

Remain active on social media (Twitter, G+, Facebook, Instagram, or elsewhere).
Curate an eportfolio or a make log of the work you completed this summer.
Peruse the Make Bank. Reuse or remix an idea in your own learning environment or consider adding a make, an example, or a tutorial.
Participate in Kim Douillard’s photo challenges and #silentsundays (in which you are invited to post an image to a CLMOOC community with no context text).
Share out on #WhitmanWednesday of sharing out quotes from Walt Whitman or the #ThoreauThursday or invent your own with some more diverse poets
Form an interest group on G+, FB, Slack, Voxer or some other space concerning a shared purpose.
Come back to The Daily Connect for ideas and connections (Here is a random post generator.)
The Daily Connect is a riff off The Daily Create, a daily prompt for creativity from the fertile and collective minds of DS106.
Engage in a “Curiosity Conversations” by interviewing someone.
Plan your own Pop-Up Make Cycle or cMOOC experience (and if you do, let us know so we can spread the word).
Join the CLMOOC Kiva micro-lending team, and “make a difference” in the world with small donations to worthy projects.
Be part of the Goodreads CLMOOC Reading Club. We share books.
Join the CLMOOC group on Flickr.
Get a CLMOOC badge for your participation and collaboration.
Margaret Simon (a CLMOOC community member) often hosts DigiLit Sundays at her blog, where she and others offer up ideas around digital literacies and invite readers to share information.
Host a CLMOOC Flash Mob. Or CLMOOC Dance Party. Or CLMOOC Flash Mob Dance Party.
Join the #literacies chat for all things contemporary composition and communication!
Digital Writing Month often happens in November or December. Look for the possibility of a digital-writing-themed #CLMOOC Pop-Up.
The 4T Virtual Conference on Digital Writing is free and online and happens a few times a year. The next one is in October, and some CLMOOCers are presenters.
Keep an eye out for a potential CLMOOC 2018. We don’t yet know what will happen with CLMOOC but we’ll be sure to get the word out when we do.