How to participate in this class [April 15, 2011, 2:50 p.m.]
We're really thrilled that you are interested in this class! There are two different options for you to be involved, we call them core and network, but there is no difference in value - you should choose the path that seems most useful to your learning.
The core group
The core group is what a traditional P2PU course looks like. This will be a smallish group (probably max 15-20 people) of people who are committed to completing the course, and supporting each other. To be part of this group, you have to apply (if it says "Open" next to Signup, it means you can apply, click "Open" to do so). You will see your bio from your user page (this is shared for all of your study groups) - please fill this in, if you haven't done so.
On the sign-up page, it asks you to answer the following two questions (which I cannot change):
- What made you interested in this topic?
- What do you hope to achieve by participating?
In addition, I would like you to confirm that you have read the course outline, and would like to commit to being part of the core group. Something specific about your background, interest, and specific learning goals will be useful to us in structuring the course. If you are accepted, this information will be visible to everyone in the course, so it will also be a great introduction to all the other participants.
If there is not enough information in your application, we might comment and ask for more information - you should receive an e-mail notification about this. In that case, go back to the "Open" link, and add a comment to your application with additional information.
We might wait until the end of the sign-up period with accepting people, so don't worry if you don't hear back immediately.
The network
All the content of a P2PU study group is open to the world - both all the readings and other resources that we have already compiled, as well as the interactions between learners. New for this platform is that anyone can "follow" a course, and receive all the course updates, without making a social commitment. We invite everyone who are interested in the topic, but not willing to commit to completing all the tasks of the course, to follow along. You will not have write-access to the study group on the P2PU platform, but we will try to suck in any media you create externally (through a blog, Twitter, etc), and tag with #intro-cscl, and we'll try to display these (and feature some of the most interesting posts in our bi-weekly newsletter).
Feel free to "amplify" the content and discussions of this course, even if you are not "following", by retweeting or reblogging links, useful comments, etc.
For any questions, feel free to contact me through this site!