Here I continue with a discussion of Thomas and Brown's "A New Culture of Learning"
Chapter 4: Learning in the Collective
Quote: "Unlike a classroom where a teacher controls the lecture, the organic communities that emerge through collectives produce meaningful learning because the inquiry that arises comes from the collective itself." This chapter discusses how online venues allow discussion and knowledge sharing to spontaneously and organically develop. There is no specific direction, the conversations go where the the participants take it.
Question: How do these collectives play into the role of schools and teachers, and how can they adapt to such rapid change?
Connection: I participate in a few online forums for personal interests and its amazing how forthcoming and helpful people are when you ask valid questions. People crave both the interaction and the ability to so easily share their knowledge and experiences.
Epiphany:
With this global communications network comes an impossible amount information to digest. My list of online resources and bookmarks continues to grow so rapidly it's difficult to stay organized and remember what I've found out there. But learning to organize information and discern between valuable and non-valuable resources is a key skill that is needed for this century.
Chapter 5: The Personal with the Collective
Quote: "...each collective has the potential to make learning fun and easy and to allow people to follow their desires and passions in productive and fruitful ways." These digital collectives allow us to take our highly personal interests and passions and plug into a larger community that wants to share and learn from each other. You may enjoy some random hobby that nobody else you know "in real life" participates in, but you can go online and likely find hundreds or thousands of people from around the world that are interested in the same thing. Digital tools establish a platform for creating that collective.
Question: What tools might I use to encourage students to use a collective as part of their learning process?
Connection: I think the Google+ community we have formed is a great example of a collective. While it was initially established by our instructors, we have been able to share and bounce ideas off one another. Every post I read on there improves my knowledge level and provides me with a different perspective, helping me to learn even more than I would have on my own.
Epiphany: I hadn't really thought about the forums I participate in as a 'collective.' It really is an interesting way of looking at things, that we take a personal perspective and share it with the group in order to o add value.
Chapter 6: We Know More Than We Can Say
Quote:
Question:
Connection:
Epiphany:
Quote: "Unlike a classroom where a teacher controls the lecture, the organic communities that emerge through collectives produce meaningful learning because the inquiry that arises comes from the collective itself." This chapter discusses how online venues allow discussion and knowledge sharing to spontaneously and organically develop. There is no specific direction, the conversations go where the the participants take it.
Question: How do these collectives play into the role of schools and teachers, and how can they adapt to such rapid change?
Connection: I participate in a few online forums for personal interests and its amazing how forthcoming and helpful people are when you ask valid questions. People crave both the interaction and the ability to so easily share their knowledge and experiences.
Epiphany:
With this global communications network comes an impossible amount information to digest. My list of online resources and bookmarks continues to grow so rapidly it's difficult to stay organized and remember what I've found out there. But learning to organize information and discern between valuable and non-valuable resources is a key skill that is needed for this century.
Chapter 5: The Personal with the Collective
Quote: "...each collective has the potential to make learning fun and easy and to allow people to follow their desires and passions in productive and fruitful ways." These digital collectives allow us to take our highly personal interests and passions and plug into a larger community that wants to share and learn from each other. You may enjoy some random hobby that nobody else you know "in real life" participates in, but you can go online and likely find hundreds or thousands of people from around the world that are interested in the same thing. Digital tools establish a platform for creating that collective.
Question: What tools might I use to encourage students to use a collective as part of their learning process?
Connection: I think the Google+ community we have formed is a great example of a collective. While it was initially established by our instructors, we have been able to share and bounce ideas off one another. Every post I read on there improves my knowledge level and provides me with a different perspective, helping me to learn even more than I would have on my own.
Epiphany: I hadn't really thought about the forums I participate in as a 'collective.' It really is an interesting way of looking at things, that we take a personal perspective and share it with the group in order to o add value.
Chapter 6: We Know More Than We Can Say
Quote:
Question:
Connection:
Epiphany: