Notes and Reflections on "A New Culture of Learning"

A New Culture of Learning by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

Thanks Library (and Kate in IC) for acquiring this book. It is packed with intriguing ideas.

Culture as growth because of environment

We are, our systems are still operating in a Mechanistic model of teaching. It's a model based in efficiencies. I like efficiency and the easy measurable nature of outcomes. Yet I am often disappointed with predictable results - some pass, some fail, some get Cs. In the Learning Environment model, the space opens up to more potential for wow from everyone.

Mechanistic - "Learning is treated as a series of steps to be mastered..."
Learning Environments - "...where the context in which learning happens, the boundaries that define it, and the students, teachers, and information within it all coexist and shape each other in a mutually reinforcing way."

Reminds me of the distinction between training and learning, but it goes deeper than just this simple dichotomy. Cultures equipped with the digital networked infrastructure are more susceptible to influence and change. They welcome newness and wish well those who move along to other cultures. I wonder if we are increasingly defining ourselves by ever smaller culture groups? Is it meaningful to know I am a white American who lived in China? Is it more meaningful to know that I am a gardener and Wordpress enthusiast (I know I am posting on Blogger - I like Blogger too)?

Community and Collective.

"In communities, people learn in order to belong. In a collective, people belong in order to learn. Communities derive their strength from creating a sense of belonging, while collectives derive theirs from participation."

For a while now, the community building practices of online courses (aka the discussion forum) have fallen short of expectations. I find this collective-community distinction inspiring and worthy of thought. And it will take thought to discover just how such a distinction could play out in any given learning environment.

In many ways I have experienced the shortfall of community building in my courses. I've held aloft the community itself as the end goal, the product, the promise of learning well designed (Great discussions everyone!). But then what? The class ends. The community dissolves, and the participation in thought and exercise is laid bare to have only existed for the purposes of the system.

Tacit Knowledge

"They experiment with what they already know how to do and modify it to meet new challenges and contexts. In a world where things are constantly changing, focusing exclusively on the explicit dimension is no longer a viable model of education"

Software training can't just be about step 1, 2, 3 -- a mindset must be established within the user that encourages their own trial and error. What would the designer/programmer want me to do at this point? At the same time drill and practice is a necessary part of learning, the fundamentals must be accessible -- a desktop computer will not function if not plugged in. "Exclusively" is an important word in the above quote and also begs the question of appropriate proportions.

Another personal struggle I have and have witnessed is a tension between knowing why something has produced an error (specific cause) and how to fix or work-around the error. It's often a generational conflict.

"Here is the fix for your issue," I might say.
"What caused that issue?" they ask.
"Well, some incompatibility in your browser... but specifically, I'm not sure."
"Oh, that's not reassuring to hear from technical support."

I do feel an internal struggle to know ALL the reasons, but also understand that knowing in that sense, at that level of explicit knowledge of zeros and ones, is not going to help this person. They really just need the fix.

Play

There are elements of practice and learning that are tedious. Small wins carry us through these moments. Or the communities we play alongside pull us through. Playing with others means working toward a common goal. It means communicating. It means collaboration. It means trust. It means making mistakes and suggesting solutions. It means challenging ourselves to do better, to be better.

I know some who feel like play is synonymous with games, and some do not like games. That's ok. Think of this as playful then. Be playful with what you will learn. Manipulate/transform your learning into a goal you and others care about. Take pride in your accomplishments. Learn to enjoy learning.