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Re: [xmca] Re: Master's program based on CHAT



Dear Mike and colleagues,

I am sure that people working within CHAT here in Helsinki would be very pleased to see the ideas discussed in XMCA materialized in some form. It seems to me that such a global collaboration is very challenging in terms of reaching coherence. So many different angles, interests and theoretical streams are involved.

What we are doing in Helsinki is quite different. We have conducted a doctoral program on activity theory and developmental work research since 1995 (http://vanha.edu.utu.fi/kasva/ ). So far, 25 doctoral dissertations have come out of this program. We just started a new doctoral class (2010), with 18 doctoral students. The doctoral program is conducted entirely in English, and we have some students from abroad. But not very many have applied (even though the program, as all university education in Finland, is free of charge: there are no tuitions), probably because Finland is indeed small and quite remote from the big metropolitan centers.

In any case, in 2006 we started a Master's program on Developmental work research and adult education ( www.helsinki.fi/atmo/ ). It is based on a similar CHAT framework as our doctoral program and in this year's new doctoral class we have four graduates from the Master's program. Starting in the fall of 2010, the next Master's program class will be taught entirely in English. We take in 12 new students every second year. This program, too, is free of charge. The students are involved in research projects and research groups of our center, the CRADLE ( www.helsinki.fi/cradle/info.htm ).

It needs to be pointed out that we in the CRADLE and in our educational programs focus on transformations in collective activity systems, particularly work, and on formative interventions. In other words, the contents and objects of our research and teaching do not necessarily cover all aspects of CHAT and sociocultural approaches. We have a fairly coherent tradition of research and theorizing and we build on that. Inherent in this tradition is close, longitudinal collaboration with a number of workplaces and organizations.

Our programs do not try to monopolize anything. In fact, it would be great to find in other countries programs which have somewhat similar theoretical foundations and/or practical objects, so that we could engage in exchange and collaboration. If an international educational program, as discussed in the XMCA, will evolve, we are happy to try and contribute to and interact with it. We could make available for global use a good number if not all of the courses we teach in the Master's program and in the doctoral program. However, we have our hands full running and developing these programs and, most of all, supervising their students' theses. We do not have the labor power to lead the construction of a global program.

Best regards,

Yrjö Engeström







mike cole kirjoit23.1.2010 kello 20.08:

Yes, all good questions, Emily.

Set 1: technical issues. I would leave this to Luisa and others to agree upon. Broad access and ease of use should be the goals.

Set 2: Audience. I have no local master's program. This would be a class in the Comm/Psych/Cog Sci department here at UCSD but I would contribute to general effort with a lecture or two and as one of discussants.

Set 3. (Depending on audience, i guess). Content.

Set 4. Temporal coordination.

Note:your message did not include the many ISCAR and Helsinki folks that evoked this discussion. I will cc a few of them in hopes we can hear from them about their interest, lack thereof, ideas, etc.
EITHER its of broad use or not worth it.
mike

On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 9:37 AM, Duvall, Emily <emily@uidaho.edu> wrote:
Yes, I'm definitely interested.

Right now I work in Blackboard, have worked in Angel, and use Elluminate for meetings. I'm interested in ning, which would be free for people. Listserves,blogs, etc not a problem, but I do feel I'm a bit limited vis-à-vis mediums but that's simply a matter of experience. I have resources, faculty and students, that are well versed in various distance bridging approaches to collaborative work so I feel confident re having support.

Course wise - it's going to depend on the audience. Are we are looking to build on what people already know, those who are already interested in CHAT, SCT, etc, or are we looking to introduce and gather more into the fold? Certainly a combination is possible. In addition, if materials are in different languages, will there be translations available for all of them? Would postings (or however we communicate) be in English or multiple languages? Will we need translators? Quite a number of logistics issues, but I think they can be easily resolved.

Tuition?

~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca- bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of mike cole
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 9:08 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Re: Master's program based on CHAT

Hi Luisa-

The experience of a team of implementers would be necessary, I am pretty sure. We would need to host archived lectures, discussions around them. We have to pick the medium of discussion (list serve, blog, moodle that would be most widely accessible). We would have to decide if this was just a total free for all, or whether, for example, we would have a sequence that got repeated yearly, which could of course grow to be a sequence of sequences. We would have to select texts, ideally in more than just English, where possible. And of course, the theme of the first course: Maybe something inclusive like "One Open Source Introduction to Socio-cultural- historical approaches to human nature: Basic texts and concepts" (But maybe others will
have better idea). And more.


So, lets figure you would be part of an organizing group because of your background in DL and interest in the topic. Andy says he is willing to help, I think i recall a note from Emily in the affirmative, Anna Stetsenko was suggested but not sure about her interest, Simon Fraser is considering the idea. And a few others. But many are simply silent, either because they (mistakenly!) think they have nothing to offer, or because, perhaps, they have other projects in mind to which they are devoting their attention.

We'll see emerges.
mike

On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 7:53 AM, Luisa Aires <laires11@gmail.com> wrote:

> What a wonderful idea, Mike!
> If you think that my experience might be helpfull, it would be a pleasure
> for me to participate.
>
> Luísa A.
>
> 2010/1/21 Duvall, Emily <emily@uidaho.edu>
>
> > That would be excellent!
> > ~em
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu ]
> On
> > Behalf Of mike cole
> > Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 6:17 AM
> > To: asannino@mappi.helsinki.fi
> > Cc: J.Derry@ioe.ac.uk; clot@cnam.fr; bodker@daimi.au.dk;
> > berthel.sutter@bth.se; gutierrez@gseis.ucla.edu;
> cgoodwin@humnet.ucla.edu;
> > saija.volmari@helsinki.fi; Roger.Saljo@ped.gu.se; lorino@essec.fr;
> > f.blackler@lancaster.ac.uk; natalia.gajdamaschko@gmail.com;
> > t.o.digernes@intermedia.uio.no; pprior@illinois.edu;
> > reijo.miettinen@helsinki.fi; dholland@unc.edu; mcole@weber.ucsd.edu ;
> > sten.ludvigsen@intermedia.uio.no; gerhard@colorado.edu;
> > ymoro@human.tsukuba.ac.jp; cerf@inapg.inra.fr; amargolis@mail.ru;
> > anne.edwards@education.ox.ac.uk; falk.seeger@uni-bielefeld.de;
> > asa.makitalo@ped.gu.se; Ference.Marton@ped.gu.se;
> > annshvedovskaya@gmail.com; lektorski@ultranet.ru; elkjaer@dpu.dk;
> > georg.rueckriem@gmx.net; H.R.J.Daniels@bath.ac.uk;
> > skagawa@human.tsukuba.ac.jp; psawchuk@oise.utoronto.ca;
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu; Marilyn.Fleer@education.monash.edu.au;
> > jr.taylor@umontreal.ca; drrussel@iastate.edu; terttu.grohn@helsinki.fi ;
> > hildenil@zedat.fu-berlin.de; padler@usc.edu
> > Subject: [xmca] Re: Master's program based on CHAT
> >
> > I guess my question is this:
> >
> > Why are we not, collectively, offering such a course, where each member
> of
> > the collective you are trying to form gives a lecture/discussion via
> > internet DL? Credit could be given locally, or they could all pay
> Helsinki
> > a
> > fee. Or whatever.
> >
> > Wouldn't that help build collaboration or is it not meaningful?
> > mike
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 10:17 PM, <asannino@mappi.helsinki.fi> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Mike,
> > >
> > > We feel that it is beneficial to inform colleagues about this, even if
> > they
> > > live far away.
> > >
> > > With kind regards,
> > > Annalisa
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Quoting "mike cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com>:
> > >
> > > Well, too bad and good luck to those who have the time and money to
> come
> > >> to
> > >> Helsinki.
> > >>
> > >> Might there be a better way to proceed?
> > >> mike
> > >>
> > >> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 9:42 AM, <asannino@mappi.helsinki.fi> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>  Hello Mike!
> > >>>
> > >>> This is not a dl class. Sorry for not being explicit about this
> already
> > >>> in
> > >>> the message.
> > >>>
> > >>> With kind regards,
> > >>> Annalisa
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> Quoting "mike cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com>:
> > >>>
> > >>> Do students have to be physically present, or is this a dl class?
> > >>>
> > >>>> mike
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 2:33 AM, <asannino@mappi.helsinki.fi>
> wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>  Dear Colleagues,
> > >>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> At University of Helsinki, we are running a Master's program (in
> > >>>>> English)
> > >>>>> in Adult Education and Developmental Work Research. This program is
> > >>>>> based
> > >>>>> on
> > >>>>> cultural-historical activity theory and aimed at training competent
> > >>>>> developers and interventionists in workplaces and other
> > organizations.
> > >>>>>  Please find below a link to a the call for applications:
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> http://www.helsinki.fi/atmo/index.htm
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> The deadline is the 1st of February for applicants who have gained
> > >>>>> their
> > >>>>> degrees outside Nordic countries. For those with degrees from
> Nordic
> > >>>>> countries, the deadline is the 26th of February.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> With kind regards,
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Yrjö Engeström Reijo Miettinen Annalisa Sannino Saija
> > >>>>> Volmari
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> _______________________________________________
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>
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