Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Glenn Groulx -
Number of replies: 13

Hello, I am really interested in the Clusters and Factors in the first article, as it has kick-started my own thinking in how to provide mentoring for newcomers remotely as they engage in developing a portfolio for language learning. For now, many of the clients express interest in developing English language skills for the workplace, at a high-intermediate level.

I had been involved in a blogging apprenticeship through Athabasca University (online MDE program) as an independent student. I transitioned through four semesters of blogging in different contexts (cohort, seminar, independent studies, and cooperative learning) over 15 months, and I think that learning experience has influenced me to replicate that kind of emergent, transformative learning.

I am interested in developing a settlement blogging community for Internationally Trained Individuals (ITIs) and settlement agencies. Though there is some established content, sites, and common pathways, there is room for blending emergent learning with prescriptive learning, .

There already exists a lot of online resources that can be introduced to ITIs(Common issues for newcomers include credential recognition, community connections, finding employment, language skills, workplace culture,)

What is not clear, and does not lend itself well to a prescriptive approach, is the ways that a newcomer will sort through, collect, and navigate these resources.

Underlying this is a way to plan for emergent learning by introducing a sampling of exemplars, self-evaluations, links for exploration, all with a "mesh" or a series of prescriptive interventions that guide client learners to build sense-making and way-making skills.

In reply to Glenn Groulx

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Jenny, Roy, and Simone!

Sorry to be late for the start of your "Footprints" seminar with Sylvia and everyone. I have been reading your articles and will watch the webinar this evening then will join in the fun. 

I have read the two papers and enjoyed them both. For this seminar, I'd really like to figure out a way to use the 3D footprint with two faculty members that I am currently working with as we "redesign" a field practicum (that is more wild than prescriptive). The redesign also includes a preparatory course that preceeds the field placement (this is potentially prescriptive but there is a lot of learning going on that is "unpredictable". Finally, we will also look at the design of the "capstone" that follows the field placement (the capstone is less prescriptive and offers opportunities to "integrate" all that has been learned duing the coursework. This sequence (preparatory, field experience and capstone) must "articulate" at least in so far as these three must "make sense" to students and the three are also required by all students who wish to complete and attain a Masters in Public Health (MPH) degree. We know that students learn a lot while undertaking these offerings and sometimes what they learn is not what is expected or what they are prepared for!  I think it will be fascinating to attempt to do some footprints of this since it may help us to work with the students and faculty to optimize these opportunities of learning. We will be layering in technologies so that's another dimension and also the students are all over the planet when in the field so, we need to develop an approach that is supportive and community building at the same time. So, there you have it. I hope I can keep up with everyone! 

Cheers, 

Barb

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Scott Johnson -

Hi Barbara,

Though the project I'm thinking of footprinting is for heavy duty mechanics I sense a similarity in releasing students into a real and unpredictable public health environment. Connections and solutions are poorly indexed, certainly unplanned and that tried may not work. Just the not working could be a course of study in itself.

The original contract on the mechanics project called for training diagnostic specialists adept at collecting data on high-value, remotely-placed and broken production equipment. The mechanic would be asked to build from field information a repair strategy and then send a field crew to the breakdown location. The idea was to create a level of expert in remote sensing and team communication to monitor a number of repairs by satellite connection and hopefully reduce time on the ground costs and encourage skill retention by allowing top mechanics to work in the office instead of on-site.

It was thought there was too much ambiguity in the process to "teach" this subject but my experience in onsite repair is that problems arise mostly from not being in mental or physical proximity to the breakdown. The mental connection is where communication between mechanic and expert observational field assistant comes in—a kind of imaginary synchronization partnership. (Try and sell the idea that failure of the mechanics imagination caused a miss-diagnosis on something as seemingly simple as a machine. And don’t ever mention “empathy.” Not ever).

A field practicum outside the safely of structured learning plans and expert back-up sounds very emergent! "Wild" is a good term. Interested to see your results.

In reply to Scott Johnson

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Scott, 

Thanks for the connection and your story on the mechanics. I must come back to this as you provoke some interesting ideas about what is "teachable" in this context and yet there is clearly a "learning requirement". In my example, there are "preceptors" in the field but there are also other students so we are trying to explore ways (using technologies) that we can possible "create space" for emergence, support and the ongoing debriefs that need to happen while beginning practitioners are on these placements. We're also exploring the idea of how we teach student practitioners to be "reflexive" about themselves and others and there is bound to be emergent learning happening.

Will keep your example in mind as I trundle along and dive into the postings. I am behind. 

Cheers, 

Barb

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Jenny Mackness -

Barb - how wonderful to see you here.

As an aside to others, Roy, Simone and I met Barb at a conference in Scotland last year (the University of Stirling). What fun we had!

We would be really interested if you started to use the footprints in your work and would help in any we we can. You might also like to speak to a couple of people who were in yesterday's webinar who have used the footprints. Jutta Pauschenwein from Austria, who has used the footprints extensively with her colleagues and with students and blogs about it from time to time - https://zmldidaktik.wordpress.com/ - You will have to scroll through the posts, but there are plenty of them. Heli Nurmi - http://helistudies.edublogs.org/ - has also used the footprints for personal reflection. Again scroll through to find the posts. And there are lots of examples, some with explanations on our open wiki - http://footprints-of-emergence.wikispaces.com/Folder+of+Footprints

In next week's webinar we will be going through the drawing of footprints and hope that everyone will take the opportunity to draw one during the webinar - but there is a video on the wiki which explains the process - http://footprints-of-emergence.wikispaces.com/Drawing+footprints

Looking forward to discussing this with you further.

Great to see you here.

Jenny

In reply to Jenny Mackness

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Jenny!

Thanks for the info/contacts/links. I will explore these and keep on going! I need to be keeping a journal of my ideas because as I read and then read online what others are contributing it is making me think of all kinds of things....I guess this is emergent learning : )

Last night I re-read the "footprints of emergence" article and I "coloured" each of the 4 clusters" (each cluster with a different colour) of the framework. I then coloured each map in the article accordingly and I found this very helpful in seeing the variances - movements of the maps and in fact I suppose I was able to better imagine the "set of factors" in each cluster and how they seem to move together and independently. There is so much to this, you three are really onto something! 

cheers, 

Barb

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Roy Williams -

Barb, spot on: the factors and the clusters do "seem to move together and independently".  Jutta, I think, reminded us that the footprints are literally holistic - they are an integrated whole, in the  learning event, on the drawing surface, and on the mind.

An oil droplet is what comes to mind, which is pulled and pushed in different dimensions and directions, and settles (for a while) temporarily, sometimes in a stable state, sometimes unstable, at one point or another in the course of a learning event.

But it's the way the oil droplet is re/configured, as a whole, that embodies what's happening in the learning experience at that point, the detail of particular factor is in a sense is secondary, no?. 

In reply to Roy Williams

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Roy, 

I love the image of the "oil droplet", it fits for me. I can now imagine the movement and this brings me to the idea of "situativity" and what I believe is essentially "relational" in terms of social structures and how we fit and move within a social structural context(s).

To unpack and get a handle on "emergent learning" (I seem more confused than ever the more I read) I am finding myself going back to concepts you work with in the "Emergent Learning and Learning Ecologies in Web 2.0" paper for instance complexity theory, ecology and interactivity through the web. These are big ideas and perhaps I am having to go back and do some foundational reading in complexity and ecologies to ger a better handle on "emergence", "learning" and then "emergent learning". So far, I am getting a sense that emergence is "dynamic" in a natural sort of way which means it might be paradoxical to try to "manage" "emergence"? I am sure you 3 have spent hours discussing the tension of managing and letting it go. 

The other piece of this I am trying to make sense of is the time dimension.

I look forward to more : )

cheers,

Barb 

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Roy Williams -

Barb, the oil droplet has only occured to me in this forum for the first time ...  

Its elasticity and flow appeals to me, and I like 'situativity' - a 'fluid kind of fit', no?  Also strikes me that you only get to see your footprint in detail once you have stepped onwards (in time and space) - you cant see it immediately, and you have to proceed (on trust/ at risk) in order to see how you 'fitted' into the situation (or not) retrospectively. Rich stuff indeed.

Emergence is taken from ecology (physical and biological), which is in turn based on complexity theory (or more specifically complex adaptive systems theory CAST), which emphasise the mutual adaptation of agency and situtation/context.

In ecology (and evolution / de-volution), mutation (chance variation, in the form of serendipitous mistakes - and they are not always positive) are a key aspect of what drives change and adaptation/ extinction.  So evolution is based on risk; you cant evolve if you make no mistakes, literally, at the level of miosis. 

That implies an entanglement between risk and emergence, and emergence and learning. And that means that if learning is about accepting change, adaptation and risk, you have to trust something - your instincts, you intuitions, your community, your peers, mentors, or all of the above.

Its foolish to dance on the edge of chaos on your own (and its much more fun to do it with a friend or two). 

And, yes, if emergence is based on mistakes, variation, risk and trust, quite a lot of it will be unpredictable, so what you design for is the possibility of emergence, you cant manage it, or specify it in a set of required 'outcomes' - that's beyond paradox, its just a contradiction.

In affordances terms, you design for affordances to be as open as possible - and social media provide the communication and interactivity means and modes to produce open affordances.  Affordances?  (See here ... if you want to read more - start with the two diagrams if you want a short cut). 

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Roy Williams -

Hi Barb, great to see you here.  Welcome.  The redesign sound excellent.  Jutta has used the footprints to work through design and re-design, to good effect. Inevitably the footprints of the designer/s, participants, teachers,etc will be different - that should make for interesting conversations about how the design, the space (the invitations, opening, and holding - see above) work or dont work for particular people at particular phases in the event. 

In a sense this can provide the basic inputs for what Etienne Wenger calls a learning partnership, in which everyone seeks to learn from each other - which is a very different way to collaboratively reflect on the learning process, rather than to 'evaluate' it. But I'm sure you know all this already - looking forward to seeing how it works out. 

In reply to Roy Williams

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Roy! 

Yes, I was thinking this very thing last night - that we will have different footprints depending on who is creating them and yes, I can imagine that this will be a foundation for ongoing redesign. What a great idea!  Thanks for the reminder on Etienne's work. Yes, I have also been deep into sociomateriality and so I am also wondering about how the "footprints" themselves are mitigating artifacts for emergence : )

so much to discuss....I have loads of questions too from the articles but I have to run to a meeting. 

will be back...

Barb

In reply to Barbara Berry

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Jenny Mackness -

Hi Barb - "footprints" as mitigating artifacts for emergence" - Wow - that's a thought and fits with the discussion on how social media influence research - that is going on in the Networked Learning Conference Hotseat at the moment - http://networkedlearningconference.ning.com/forum/categories/encoded-researchers-pedagogies-and-other-posthuman-concoctions/listForCategory

In reply to Jenny Mackness

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Barbara Berry -

Hi Jenny, 

Thanks! Will check this out. I have not participated in the "hotseats" but I have noticed these in the past. I think it would be useful for me to get into this mix. 

will be in touch with what I find....

I am reading a lot about complexity, activity theory, sociomateriality and spatiality...so this is where I am coming from. I am actually thinking seriously of another trip to Stirling : )

cheers, 

Barb

In reply to Glenn Groulx

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Roy Williams -

Glen, love to hear more on ITI's.  

It might not be transferable, but there is a wonderful example of 'research-based' learning in a book by Lada Aidarova: Child development and Education, in which she got her first grade Russian speaking pupils to go out with a notebook and research linguistic practices - what we would now call Hallidayian linguistics.

She started by getting them to tell her what 'researchers' were, and did, and then sent them out to describe, for instance, how people in their families and neighbourhoods said 'hello' in different contexts.  She built up from there to getting them to set their own comprehension tests at the end of first grade, which included many items which the 'curriculum' had reserved for grade 3 or even 4. 

So they built up their own data-base of empirically found and validated texts, and their own assessment bank. She had an interest - (see one of the discussions, above) which guided all of this, which was a sophisticated understanding and love of applied linguistics, but she never had to mention the word linguistics to them - she just got them to do it - to their and her surprise.