Gardner Campbell
Special Assistant to the Provost and Associate Professor of English
Virginia Commonwealth University
Christina Engelbart
Executive Director
Doug Engelbart Institute
In the summer of 2014 and again in the fall of 2015, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) piloted a connectivist massive open online course (MOOC) called “Thought Vectors in Concept Space,” a phrase coined by computing pioneer Dr. Douglas Engelbart to describe collaborative inquiry and problem-solving among knowledge workers using interactive, networked computers. The course was a version of UNIV 200, an introduction to research writing required of all students at VCU. Six instructors worked with the Academic Learning Transformation Laboratory (ALT Lab) at VCU to design the course as well as the open cyberspace location where the course would be taught. Course design and pedagogical principles were adapted from several sources, including the Connected Learning Alliance and Research Network as well as from the principal texts for the course: selected writings of Vannevar Bush, J. C. R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, Alan Kay, and Adele Goldberg. Learners, instructors, and open participants from around the world interacted as a networked community to narrate, curate, and share their work on the open web, using principles of experiential learning and high-impact practices. Primary assessment data came from an ethnographic study of the course done as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Minnesota. In addition, the course initiated a special scholarship, the Engelbart Scholar award, that provided two students in the course with a year-long undergraduate research experience culminating with a trip to Silicon Valley to explore the history of computing, tour the Internet Archive, and work on the Engelbart Archives at Stanford University, SRI International, and the Computer History Museum. This briefing analyzes the course, presents assessment data, and suggests opportunities for future iterations within the curriculum as well as professional development for knowledge workers broadly considered.
http://www.thoughtvectors.net
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITIoXkyzrYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfq-y4pxmc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjBIVqHA7f4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGwRJho2Ts
