Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Article Title

How the Community Became More Than the Curriculum: Participant Experiences In #RHIZO14

Authors

Sarah Honeychurch, University of GlasgowFollow
Bonnie Stewart, University of Prince Edward IslandFollow
Maha Bali, American University of CairoFollow
Rebecca J. Hogue, University of Ottawa
Dave Cormier, University of Prince Edward Island

Abstract

The paper outlines participant experiences in a rhizomatic MOOC, #rhizo14. We begin with a brief outline of the structure of the course before presenting our five participant narratives to illustrate our beliefs that, for us, the #rhizo14 community became more than the curriculum. We then discuss some of the common themes in our narratives: the role that the Facebook group held in fostering our feelings of community, how the diversity of voices in the course promoted learning and engagement of group members, the formation of sub-communities with diverse interests, and the flexibility of participation that the course encouraged. While acknowledging the partiality of our narratives, we conclude that the emphasis in #rhizo14 on contribution and creation rather than content mastery encouraged a sense of "eventedness" (shared experience), which allowed our community to thrive.

Keywords

rhizomatic learning, MOOC, cMOOC, connectivism, rMOOC

Recommended Citation

Honeychurch, Sarah; Stewart, Bonnie; Bali, Maha; Hogue, Rebecca J.; and Cormier, Dave (2016) "How the Community Became More Than the Curriculum: Participant Experiences In #RHIZO14," Current Issues in Emerging eLearning: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/ciee/vol3/iss1/3