Building Greater Involvement in Problem Solving Strategies

In past articles I've shown some of my interactions with the Connected Learning MOOC (#clmooc), which is an online network of educators from the US and the world. I've done so with the goal of creating a similar on-line community of people who are working to reduce poverty and inequality in Chicago and other cities, through strategies that help kids move through school and into jobs and careers.  

Part of the CLMOOC process involves people from different places creating on-line projects (makes), which then are re-mixed or embedded in blogs and/or social media, so that more people engage with the ideas and each other.  Through this process there is a constant introduction of new places and tools where this work can be done.  

The graphic above was introduced in a blog by Algot Runeman, then remixed by KevinHodgson. I then added my own ideas and re-shared via social media. 

Over the past few days Kevin introduced a new  annotation platform called NowComment, a free site, and posted the graphic here.  

Terry Elliott then used his blog to provide some more encouragement to visit and use the NowComment site.

So I did.  You can see this map here and below.

During the Connected Learning MOOC, participants have been encouraged to "make" and share things. Since most participants are educators, much of the sharing and making tests new ways to engage students in their own learning.  A MAKE BANK has been created where participants have shared some of their work. I've added some of my graphics. 

If you compare my graphics to many of the others, you'll see that I'm trying to engage people in thinking about strategies that would make more powerful learning opportunities available to youth in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities.  Furthermore, I'm trying to influence people who look at the graphics and presentations I create, so more will adopt the ideas and apply them through their own efforts, in Chicago or in the communities where they live.

For that to happen, they need to build a deeper understanding of what I'm talking about. Using annotation tools like NowComment is one path toward that greater understanging.  In this particular map I'm showing four steps that are involved in problem solving, that could be duplicated in many places and that require involvement of many people.

I've created maps that show other organizations in Chicago who focus on the well being of young people and on issues such as poverty, inequality, youth and workforce development. This is one. This is another.

I'd like to see strategy maps on every web site that I point to with these maps. I'd like to see their own efforts to draw people together on-line, perhaps learning from the sites I point to.

By sharing these graphics and pointing to these sites, that's what I hope to influence.

I hope you'll take a look. Add your own comment. Make your own version. Share it. Connect with me on other spaces. Help me do this work.