For the second time today, I got to hear the esteemed John Seely Brown speak about collaboration. Here are his comments from the session "The Social Life of Learning in the Networked Age."
For a more in-depth report, check out Ross Mayfield's account of the presentation
The end goal is to create a culture of learning
The traditional view of learning is the Cartesian view (I
think, therefore I am) - knowledge as substance. The result is pedagogy as
transferring knowledge.
We need a social view – We participate, therefore we are. Understanding
is socially constructed
Learning/knowledge
- knowing is rooted in action
- understanding is socially constructed
- learning is social and collaborative
Collaborative study groups are effective. The social
construction of understanding, the social life of learning is real. This works
virtually as well – IMing.
Example: A class showed a video tape of lectures. The rule was
that the class had to watch as a group and every three minutes stop the tape and
ask if there were any questions. These people did better than those who attended class in person. The individuals who were the best facilitators
of this type of collaborative learning, had the best business careers.
The idea is whether this could work well virtually.
Our world is focused on the Explicit – learning about. However,
today you can learn about in seconds on Google.
Instead we should focus on the Tacit - learning to be.
Today’s generation who have grown up in a digital age want
to lean
Learning to be – enculturating into the practices of a field
often via legitimate peripheral participation
One of the problems with learning to be is the cost
associated with creating a learning environment.
However, in today’s environment of open-source communities,
you have learning environments at your fingertips.
Nowadays you:
- write code to be read
- engagement through useful additions
- social capital matters
The open-source community creates a global apprenticeship
platform.
This trend can also be seen in the rise of the pro-amateur
class. These are niche communities of co-creation, learning and sharing,
dedicated, disciplined, serious leisure, passion-based informal learning.
(These skills were listed as those necessary to be an
effective guild leader in the “World of Warcraft” video game, for more, check out this article in WIRED)
- Creates a vision and a set of values that attracts
- Finds, evaluates, and then recruits players with diverse
skill sets to fit with your norms
- Creates platforms for apprenticeship – newbies
- Orchestrates group strategy and governance
- Creates, sells and adheres to the governance principles for
group and adjudicates disputes
Look at how all of these are metaphors for effective
leadership characteristics
We have the tools to create a participatory culture of
tinkering, learning and sharing
We are in the midst of a fundamental transition, moving from
supply push to demand pull
We have an opportunity to bring the cognitive and social
together in a type of networked learning.
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