Skip to content

Connecting Classes

(3 min read) I have been preparing to participate in Jonathan Worth‘s initiative Connected Classes, or #CClasses on Twitter.

Wait, you say-

Laura, you’re not a photographer? What’s your music class doing connecting with Jonathan’s?

Let me explain…

Jonathan initially devised a way of teaching that allowed students to remain individuals, yet also be a part of a class group, and even a wider global community. He would record part of his #Phonar class content, like an interview with a practitioner in that field, and then when it came to the class everyone would listen to the interview. How does that broaden the learning horizon? It’s how it was done. Students listened to the interview privately and each contributed their comments, in their own time and using their chosen profile. This means they could feel free to comment, ask questions, and be as ‘vocal’ as they liked. The pressures of speaking out in a class were removed, and in fact people could have a conversation with any number of people anywhere in the world.

Now that is exciting!

The magic of using a platform like Twitter is that students can often connect with these practitioners. It allows reaching out in ways that wouldn’t have been imagined a generation ago. (I remember writing letters and actually posting them and maybe a month later getting a reply)

That extract is from p.7 of the ‘Innovative Pedagogy Report‘ Jonathan compiled about developing this technique for the Higher Education Academy. In the report Jonathan discusses the ethos and development of the whole idea.

I was fortunate to be a part of that last iteration of the #Phonar class and have since used the idea of a class hashtag and of group tweeting to both bring students together on topics and to augment their connections and overall engagement with the subject area and it’s practitioners. It’s not just about the tweets though. There is more to it. After the class, the teacher can ‘gather’ the tweets and turn them into a story which can be the starting point for future discussions.

The current Connecting Classes project brings together various classes and teachers from across the world to formally give this method a go – and so that’s what I’ve been preparing for… making the content, making sure students are happy to participate in that way, and making sure I know what I am doing with the tech in the background ! One of the classes experimenting with this method is taught by Senior Lecturer Grant Scott, who teaches Editorial and Advertising Photography BA (Hons) at the University of Gloucestershire and his class consisted of Level Four students. They tweeted and he made an excellent Storify that gathered some of the tweets.

What I really love is the learning that is already taking place. Just this morning I was talking to Grant about how he designed the storify. I really liked the embedded films and wondered if that was something he planned. Here was the advice he gave me:

I added the films to the storify page (recommended by Jonathan and a great idea) at the end of the day based on the tweets and themes that had developed through conversation in class reflecting on the tweets. I then posted the link to the enriched storify page on our course closed facebook page for the students to further respond to independently. In addition to the open aspect of the class the students felt empowered by the fact that they were setting the agenda through their tweets and how clearly the themes of confidence, collaboration and creative risk taking developed. The film I showed had many aspects they could have picked up upon but they all focused on these themes that are a direct reflection of where they are in their learning and the issues they we have identified as lecturers.

So we are at the beginning of a project, and already there are pleasant yet unexpected connections – before my class has even started. My sessions don’t begin for another two weeks, and when they do, I will certainly be inviting you all to join it. What’s on the cards for them? We’ll begin with a session where I interview the music educator and writer Richard Crozier who talks to me about teaching the music instead of the ink-dots we sometimes call music, and the following week we’ll have (anonymous) interviews with parents telling us the ins and outs of what it’s like to have a child taking music lessons. For the last week… I’m not sure yet! This is all supplemental to our normal class content and so I might just take requests for the last session. (yes, that is an invitation!)

In the meantime, look out for the #CClasses hashtag on twitter and you can keep up with the various classes taking part in the project.

Featured Image shared CC BY by Kevin Dooley

2 thoughts on “Connecting Classes”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.