Ever since Rhizomatic Learning or Rhizo14 came to an “end” (those of you in rhizo14 will get the inverted commas around end there), I have been moving on to the next thing in my life. So it appears that my next cmooc thing is shaping up to be CLMOOC, aka Making Learning Connected. I blame it on Rhizo14 anyway, since it was Terry Elliot, a fellow rhizoer, who sprayed in a bit of clmooc scent inside our rhizomatic zombie asylum on FB (yet another rabbit taking me down yet another rabbit hole. Cool!) I must confess, though, that I am approaching CLMOOC in a rather suspicious manner, as if I were about to make my best friend jealous by hanging out with a new friend who seems to be just as cool. (ok, ok, almost as cool!) Anyway, inbued with a communal spirit, I decided to accept Anna Smith‘s invitation to participate in CLMOOC’s first hangout of its 2014 edition and give this new friend of mine a fair chance of winning me over.
I guess it worked.
I had been mulling over the theme for Make Cycle 1, browsing other participants’ makes on the G+ CLMOOC community (which hasn’t begun growing in me as of yet. I mean G+, not the community.), Twitter and FB. Even so, connecting with the group of CLMOOCers on the hangout yesterday was so meaningful, and that got me thinking about what ticks me as a learner. It’s important for me to feel that I am connecting with people, real people. And having a hangout like the one we had yesterday does give me a feel of being welcome within the community. Which takes me back to my experience in Rhizo14, and the very reason why it has become such an important thing for me. It’s all about the human connections, after all. Also, I guess that having a sense of audience, which was something that came up during yesterday’s hangout, knowing that there are people out there who are just as interested in being creative and learning together as you are.
CLMOOC officially launched on June 16th, with the release of the 1st make cycle, so it has been, what, four days? Just for kicks, here’s a short list of what I’ve have already learned so far:
- Terry Elliot shared a Spotify playing list with me on Twitter. I had never heard of Spotify. As a matter of fact, they have just launched here in Brazil, and I love it. I’m totally hooked. Thanks, Terry!
- Simon Ensor shared WordFoto with us. I’d seen those cool photos but never asked how to make them. Dowloaded the app. Playing with it. Love it. Thanks, Simon!
- My new friend Sheri Edwards came to the rescue when I cried out that I hated Google+ on the FB group. She taught me what that +1 button thingy do, and I finally got it! Yey! Not a big fan of G+ just yet, though. Let’s see if CLMOOC will change that. Thanks, Sheri!
- My new friend Christopher Butts shared his on-the-make make #1 with us yesterday in the hangout, showing us Thinglink. Had never heard of it. Looks really cool. Thanks, Christopher!
- My new friend Michael Buist mentioned during the hangout yesterday that he finds it hard to differentiate the types of Creative Commons licenses (so do I, Michael!), so another new friend Michelle Stein shared an a-w-e-s-o-m-e video tutorial, which I had never seen, and I have looked for something like that, I swear. Thanks, Michael for asking and Michelle for answering!
- Just this afternoon, during lunch with my cohort and dear friend Claudio Fleury, I briefed him about my latest cmooc adventures with CLMOOC, and he was kind enough to share stumble upon with me. Absolutely fabulous! Thanks, Claudinho!
- And I learned how to paragraph in FB comments. Ha! Thanks again, Terry! *Duh moment* 😉
…and it has only been four days? Okay. Quite promising, indeed.
Sooo, after yesterday’s hangout and my babbling about being all over the place with my mind and my need for silencing the noise from time to time, the Twitters began tweeting and I was suddenly hashtagged #mindfulness. Okay. There’s a thought. I have decided I will make a How to boost your mindfulness guide for make cycle #1. It’s still a bit jumbled up in my mind (as it should, right?), but it’s gradually shaping up into… a blog post, most certainly, and… imagery? Maybe… I will certainly explore some of the tools fellow CLMOOCers have been using and playing with. We’ll see. That’s cool. And I know that if I need some help, all I have to do is shout!
Oh, and Rhizo14 (jealously watching from a corner of the room)? Of course I will concoct a CLMOOC Make just for you. Because you’re so special. Rhizo14 risotto, anyone?
a design for CLMOOC by Clarissa Bezerra (made with canva.com)
Little did I know 
I wrote a similar (kind of) post on my blog about how complex system (like clmooc connections) are not manageable. The come to you unbidden like a luna moth on a lazy summer’s day, all a-startled and green. You probably have way more extraordinary moths near Brasilia. Here is my clmooc takeaway. It started in last night’s Hangout: http://impedagogy.com/wp/blog/2014/06/18/vialogues-peter-gray-play-full-research/
So glad you made it, Clarissa. Here’s a spotify song to commemorate: spotify:track:6enCarMJCV9sJf9bKH8a4J
BTW, there is a very cool app that you can get inside spotify called TuneWiki where you can follow a song’s lyrics. Not all lyrics are on there, but this song’s are.
Hey Terry, so good to see you around here again! Will certainly read that. Love the song! and I’m sooo glad I made it, I tell you!
Beijo,
C.
Loved this post, Clarissa. Not your usual thing but a wonderful one. Found myself ticking off the ppl/things i already knew and those kinds of posts help early on in a MOOC to keep other participants’ finger on the pulse! Curious now to watch the hangout (which i missed, as usual)
My friend Maha, thank you for reading! I’m wondering what you think my usual thing is. 🙂 do tell. Yeah, I guess I’m still suspicious of this clmooc thingy… maybe that’s why you felt it not to be my usual thing. interesting… love it.
Am also perpetually confused by CC licenses myself, esp the Share-Alike without the Non-Commercial. How can u share alike CC but be commercial? Will watch that vid
That vid is amazing! do watch it.
Response to the “not your usual thing” is that this post is a sort of reflection via aggregation/curation. In early rhizo14 i noticed some veteran cMOOCers do that, and i started sometimes copying them and realized it helps consolidate my reflection. I think you just did it naturally here because you are naturally a super-reflector… But you do realize how valuable posts like this are to newbies and others in the community, right? They are like anchors, like you are in a small way co-facilitating the MOOC – right? You’re awesome
Oh, honey. I guess, yeah, I see what you mean by co-facilitating. My reality is co-constructed, de-constructed and re-constructed, with the help of folks like you.
love and hugs,
C.
Clarissa! Love it. I have had very similar lines of thought emerge as a result of cMOOC experiences like rhizo14 (and also a previous one on exploring PLNs xplrpln) – what draws you in and keeps you there throughout and beyond the MOOC is the personal, human connection. That to me is the true value of MOOCs and why there is often such a gaping hole of difference between the cMOOC and xMOOC experience: one is explicitly designed to focus on supporting connections between people, the other almost always solely on content.
I also think the open nature of cMOOCs plays a pretty big part – having these experiences taking place on open platforms (like twitter, G+ – need to get onto the clmooc G+ community, thx for drawing my attention to it! Don’t worry, I don’t entirely ‘get’ G+ either…) makes it more inclusive and accessible – and most importantly, I think – accessible for people to jump in at any point (like you with Rhizo!).
Also love the premise of this based on play and making. It means you can get your kids involved, which is always a lot of fun! Look fwd to playing and making with you : )
Tanya, my dear aussie friend, just that CLMOOC made you come back here and write me has already made it all worth it.
Agree with your every word. And funnily enough, most of the people who are engaging here are rhizoers, you, Maha, Terry Elliot, Scott Johnson. And yes, I do love the play and creativity thing that CLMOOC gets going.
Come on out and play!
beijos,
C.
Sounds like a fun course! Many things to learn. Feed your head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWWsfrfq69A
Ha! Love it, Scotty!
Beautifully done. Thank you for sharing and connecting.
Thank you for dropping a line and a thought, Kevin!
your posts on #clmooc are keeping me hungry to tune in – from the very distant edges as I’m not taking on anything right now in the interests of some happy travelling… but thanks 🙂 also, i LOVE this: “Oh, honey. I guess, yeah, I see what you mean by co-facilitating. My reality is co-constructed, de-constructed and re-constructed, with the help of folks like you.” perfect.
Aaron, hello and welcome! Thank you for the lovely comment. Hope to see you around again. Keep connecting!
Best,
C.
I can see why @anna_phd mentioned this blog as an example of recognizing the personal connections we’re making in #CLMOOC this summer. I want to give you a big shout out and thank you for blogging and joining us in the Google hangout about how to’s. Your comments about mindfulness and friendship make making more meaningful. Happy #f5f!
Great to see you here, Christopher! Thank you for the shout out and your kind, kind words. It’s great to connect. connecting = learning = being/keeping alive so
here’s to new friends!
Warmest,
C.
How on earth did I get here?
Er…Can’t remember was it via Twitter via FB via G+ via #rhizo14 via #clmooc???
Am I busy making stuff?? Not sure?
Is it going to spark off extraordinary productivity? NO idea. Will I recognize the product?
@dogtrax was talking about books that need to be written @telliokuwp was talking about Soul.
Herein lies my SOLE interest. Sounds like I am in the right place. God knows why!
What happens next?
Good post Clarissa (can’t remember why)!
I, too, in my wandering/wondering am learning so much.
Learning S.O.L.E., too.
Learning “How To” learn!
Next? Enable/encourage others to start stepping.
Reblogged this on MOOC Madness and commented:
I’m only as far as following and thinking about how-to lists and lists of lists
Simon, Art and Vanessa, so here’s where your rabbit hole brought you, huh?
Cool.
Oh! Look! Another rabbit hole ahead!
Off we go………
I have a lot of multiple entry/exit rabbit holes — or rather, just one but it maps rhizomatic