by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown
Chapter 4
Quote: “In a collective, people belong in order to learn.”
The collective is part of the new culture of learning, but it is something I’m still not fully comprehending yet. I do understand that a person needs to be motivated and want to know about a topic being learned in a collective. They participate and collaborate with others on whatever topic is being reviewed. They ask questions together and dialogue with one another, and play and imagination are an important part of being involved in a collective.
Question:
Can an individual be a part of a collective prior to deciding to actively engage within it?
Connection:
My personal learning network (PLN) is a form of a collective because we actively are learning together. It is a collaborative effort of sharing, which could not be done in the same way by one person alone.
Epiphany:
I should be a part of this collective type of environment with my students. I am not sure how that looks or what the path is ahead, but I would like to cultivate opportunities for a collective or several collectives among students (and myself) as we learn together.
Chapter 5
Quote: “...technology has now made connecting personal interests to collectives possible, easy, fun, and playful because people are inspired to think past the boundaries and limitations of their current situations.”
Learning using technology may involve reading an article, browsing photos or images, watching videos, or even chatting with a group of people. It is not confined to a face to face interaction or forced viewing or communication. Collectives give learners a variety of paths to journey through on their own quest for understanding. The journey is self led, but is not done alone. Could it even be said that a collective helps to facilitate a personal learning journey for every individual involved?
Question:
Networking and creating collectives from beyond our own locales is beneficial and possible these days. Collaboration is beneficial. However, isn’t there still personal information that needs to be kept personal? What is the limit in sharing information, or should there be one?
Connection:
I have had to expose personal learning publicly on my blog. It has not been easy for me. Is my hesitancy due to my personality, or would I feel the same way about writing a blog if I had grown up learning via collectives? I am not sure, but I do know that my learning is constant and my blog is a new way I can share some of my personal learning with others for the collective good.
Epiphany:
Being able to put my personal thoughts out via a blog allows me to facilitate a collective of learners. I may never have regular readers or devout followers, but I am sharing my personal learning. I desire to continue to learn with others, and engage with them as they read and respond on my blog.
Chapter 6
Quote: “With access to the nearly endless supply of collectives today, however, learning that is driven by passion and play is poised to significantly alter and extend our ability to think, innovate, and discover in ways that have not previously been possible.”
Information is accessible from a variety of sources and thus people have multiple places to begin and proceed on in learning. Often times, collectives form without the formality of a specific location. Collectives encourage questioning and experimentation. They give people a chance to ponder topics among others in a group or within the context of a variety of websites. Ultimately, by asking questions and enjoying the process of learning about a topic, new questions can emerge.
Question:
How does collective indwelling look within a classroom, or is a classroom too confining to be a source of collective indwelling?
Connection:
I have chosen to research coding for my 20% project. I am driven by my passion for the topic. As I learn about coding, I am thinking about apps, programs, and websites in a different way. I am shaping my own understanding of technology and enjoying it. Is it possible to quantify my participation in the various collectives?
Epiphany:
I do not know if I have always been this curious, but this made me acutely aware that I ask a lot of questions. I wonder a lot. I don’t always express my thoughts out loud, but I do ask a lot of the questions in my writing. My blog and my discussion posts for my SDSU Masters courses are evidence of that. I hope that this questioning mentality in my own learning can serve as an example for my students. I want them to be inquisitive in their own learning too.