This story and article are a couple of years old now but in a lot of ways, I think it’s representative of the roots of what has now become one of the most visible of the open courses running:
The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the thinking behind new e-learning technology, including e-portfolios and personal learning environments. Part of this thinking is centered around the theory of connectivism, which asserts that knowledge - and therefore the learning of knowledge - is distributive, that is, not located in any given place (and therefore not 'transferred' or 'transacted' per se) but rather consists of the network of connections formed from experience and interactions with a knowing community. And another part of this thinking is centered around the new, and the newly empowered, learner, the member of the net generation, who is thinking and interacting in new ways. These trends combine to form what is sometimes called 'e-learning 2.0' - an approach to learning that is based on conversation and interaction, on sharing, creation and participation, on learning not as a separate activity, but rather, as embedded in meaningful activities such as games or workflows.
Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge ~ Stephen’s Web ~ by Stephen Downes.
As we’re talking about theory, here’s a good introduction to some of the (still) most current thinking.
October 19th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Reading the research article about Teacher Community of Practice (CoP) raised a lot of authentic questions about education in general. The key components are identified as:
*Joint enterprise
• Mutual Engagement
• Repertoire
This situation should exist in every classroom.
The study looked at masters level education students. There were major issues raised about authenticity of the CoP, even at that level. The primary motivator for student participation was the contrived issue of a grade and graduate level credit. Apparently, the author of this study determined that because of these pre-existing motivators, it is difficult, if not impossible to establish a true CoP.
Ideally, our classrooms would become CoPs, or a place where students come together for a joint purpose, determined by the students, using pre-existing skills to accomplish a stated goal. At the elementary level, I think the entire focus is on the pre-existing skills area. We are frantically trying to give the students tools to work with, background knowledge, the ability to read and comprehend, write and express their ideas, analyze and draw conclusions, make inferences etc. There is a major lack of authentic, self directed purpose for students. Teachers who are able to marry the acquistion of skills with an authentic purpose for their students are on their way to creating successful CoP. The CoP model has a lot of merit, but opens the door to another set of issues. Some students can and will be actively engaged with the theory behind a certain process - that is they are interested in the why behind the how. Others, undeniably, will never care about the why, instead they are engaged in the how - because they see that process as necessary to reach a goal they have. This speaks to the nature of people, some are thinkers, muses who attempt to understand and figure out things around them, and others are doers, attacking a task or problem and getting it done. Our educational model makes no allowances for the differences in these people. We present theory or the why sometimes to the exclusion of the how, and create a disconnect with many of our learners. Authenticiy has some connection to the students need or bent for information.