This week's focus in CLMOOC has been on open and public spaces - physical and digital. Physical spaces welcome people in and help them navigate with signs and signals. These shape our actions and interactions. How are these wayfinding systems designed? Are there connections to how digital spaces shape people's actions and interactions. 

My experience with wayfinding in digital spaces started with the HumanMOOC offered earlier this year. The course leaders described themselves as wayfinders. 

Traditional 'you are here' markers are only the beginning. 

So, wayfinding within a digital space is a valid design consideration. How are agents navigating through the system? Where are they gathering in open spaces? Who establishes the wayfinding symbology? Who becomes the wayfinders to support the wayfarers?

In CLMOOC, I've been finding my way by watching the signposts (weekly CLMOOC site posts and updates, emails, G+ notifications) and gathering into spaces with others (Google hangouts, Twitter chat). My actions are determined by sites that catch my eye, just as sights do in physical spaces. I'm navigating my way through and it's only now, close to the end of the journey, that I can look back at where I've been - finding my way forward while sometimes looking back.

My mind then jumped to the Queen song "Bicycle".  The refrain emphasizes a passion for bike riding. Which leads to the question -what brings people into the subcultures of bicycling - mountain bikes, BMX, bike tricks, touring and building bikes. The song refrain "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like!" is embodied in many cultures across the globe. You can listen to the Queen song and read along with the lyrics HERE. 

https://flic.kr/p/okvtFm

The image of the bicycle tire and the bike used in the CLMOOC (Welcome to Make Cycle #4) can help provide a basic understanding. The parts of the bike are, in isolation, unconnected and simple. Each component on it's own is a simple element e.g. tire, pedal, frame, seat. When connected into a system, to create a functioning bicycle, each element interacts and connects in a non-linear way e.g. gears go round, brakes go down/up. There is a decentralized control - parts can work in isolation e.g. brakes can be applied without wheels or gears in motion. There is emergent behaviour when the whole system functions together - with the key element of the system being the human being riding the bike. The behaviour of the bike adapts to the behaviour of the rider, the landscape and the conditions. So the whole system, working inter-connectedly is greater than the sum of it's individual components.

Building this understanding to my teaching and learning, specifically the complex system of digital literacies came to the forefront when a specific blog post and image relating to digital skills came across my Twitter stream. It immediately caught my attention because of my experiences trying to manage the subway system in Tokyo a few years back. Since this complex transportation system works by identifying subway stops by colour, number and letter, it provides a quick way for anyone to figure out how to adapt and respond when moving around. 

The identified digital literacies fit into the four identified elements of a complex system - the individual skills in isolation comprise of simple components that students can get a handle on applying; the skills are comprised of non-linear interactions; there is no central control over the system or how it operates within a course or student's experience; emergent behaviours result from the organization of skills, how information is processed within the skills and how these skills dynamically change in time and space.

Addendum: Once this post was shared, the CLMOOC community responded and Kevin's experience with Mozilla Thimble was revealed in this re-make of the London Tube system. The resources and links he shared are found on Erica Drushka's blog post Tube Yourself where code and map templates created by Chad Sansing are explored. I'll re-make my own digital literacy journey using this resource and post the results here.

I participated in a webinar to learn more about Scalar, a digital publication site that transforms what it means to produce digital content. One of the other participants shared a link to the Shared Shelf Commons. This is a free, open-access library of images where you can search or browse. You can zoom, print, export, and share images. I found the Cornell - Reuleaux Kinematic Mechanisms Collection where images can be downloaded, linked, searched and referenced. So much to discover in this digital collection.

With further exploration I came across some mystery gadgets. These types of odd items have always fascinated me because of the mystery attached - why was it created? for what purpose? how did someone come up with the idea? 

So my make this week is a mystery and detective quest. Select one gadget to discover it's inner workings, it's purpose, it's mechanisms and machinations. Write a scenario about this gadget that places it in a time and space. Create a mystery about your mystery object - a 'who-dun-it' story to entice others to investigate. Making you a mystery writer!

As my entry into the CLMOOC space, I've decided to create a unique web space and blog location for all CLMOOC work. Maybe this will help me keep elements and learning collected, curated, organized and connected. For the first 'making' activity all clmooc-ers were asked to pin their location onto a google map. I did this several times during the day and each time I returned to the map to see who else had pinned, my map pin had been altered. Fortunately the pin remained in the correct location and the image and meme that I had attached to the pin were still connected.

Then I decided to create a meme (since Kevin had done so many of these for Rhizo15). I noticed that I was the lone Canadian on the map so I choose an image that is unique to Canadian contexts. I also created a gif image since this is something I've wanted to do and hadn't done before - it was easy with imgflip. You can see more about this experience on my main blog site Five Flames for Learning.

I connected in the Google + Community, checked in on Facebook and followed the Twitter stream for a while. I'm ready for today's kick-off webinar! Connect your Learning and Making this Summer with CLMOOC