Thanks Andrew for pointing out the difference between the conversation among equals and that in a classroom situation. In the higher ed context, one of the main roles of the professors is to introduce the students to the disciplinary tradition of a knowledge community and engage them in the discourse of that community. Hopefully through meaningful dialogue, one day they will become its members. It seems to me some kind of intellectual guidance from the teachers has to be in place in this process to achieve the goal whether we call it leadership or not. It is certainly also true online. Is it not?
Cindy Xin
Posts made by Cindy Xin
Nick believes "the ... distinction between terms like interaction, or discussion or even perhaps conversation, and the concept of dialogue is important." He repeatedly questioned what consititue a true dialogue and the need of control in dialogue.
At the start of this forum I was struggling with what’s the best word to use to describe this “talking” business we do in discussion forums . So far, I’ve used the words dialogue, conversation, discussion, and discourse interchangeably. In fact, they do have different connotations. As an ESL person, I’m no expert in word use, however I get the sense that discussion is more of a general term used for any kind of talk for debate, problem solving or decision making. The word discourse indicates a formal discussion of a topic either through speech or written text. About the difference between dialogue and conversation, I recently read a distinction between them in a book called “Conversation learning” by Anne Baker, Patricia Jensen and David Kolb. By tracing into the etymology roots of the two words, the authors explain that dialogue is more related to “opposing voices in search of truth,” a word preferred by critical theorists and other theorists who are epistemologically oriented. In contrast, the word conversation is used by more ontologically oriented writers, such as Gadamer and Rorty who focus more on human understanding and experience than on abstract knowledge. This explanation is useful in helping us to see that there are different purposes and spirits in the kinds of talks we engage, whether online or offline.
Despite which word we use, when we engage in a conversation or a dialogue, we sometimes carry a cooperative and tolerant spirit and strives for mutural understanding. Sometimes, we investigate in an issue, solve a problem, make a decision, and struggle for consensus. Sometimes we are critical and skeptical, and question each other's positions, assumptions. The power of a debate, or as Piaget puts it - "the shock of our thought coming into contact with that of others", often furthers learning and understanding. Yet, some other times we use questions and statements to lead a discussion towards a definition conclusion as in the context of "Socratic methods." I see all of these happening online, all have their value, and all contribute to a true dialogue.
In the context of this seminar and the SCoPE community in general, I do agree with Nick that what we need is a democratic spirit that relinquishes control. Nick, I believe you will like this quote from Gadamer:
So be it.
Cindy
At the start of this forum I was struggling with what’s the best word to use to describe this “talking” business we do in discussion forums . So far, I’ve used the words dialogue, conversation, discussion, and discourse interchangeably. In fact, they do have different connotations. As an ESL person, I’m no expert in word use, however I get the sense that discussion is more of a general term used for any kind of talk for debate, problem solving or decision making. The word discourse indicates a formal discussion of a topic either through speech or written text. About the difference between dialogue and conversation, I recently read a distinction between them in a book called “Conversation learning” by Anne Baker, Patricia Jensen and David Kolb. By tracing into the etymology roots of the two words, the authors explain that dialogue is more related to “opposing voices in search of truth,” a word preferred by critical theorists and other theorists who are epistemologically oriented. In contrast, the word conversation is used by more ontologically oriented writers, such as Gadamer and Rorty who focus more on human understanding and experience than on abstract knowledge. This explanation is useful in helping us to see that there are different purposes and spirits in the kinds of talks we engage, whether online or offline.
Despite which word we use, when we engage in a conversation or a dialogue, we sometimes carry a cooperative and tolerant spirit and strives for mutural understanding. Sometimes, we investigate in an issue, solve a problem, make a decision, and struggle for consensus. Sometimes we are critical and skeptical, and question each other's positions, assumptions. The power of a debate, or as Piaget puts it - "the shock of our thought coming into contact with that of others", often furthers learning and understanding. Yet, some other times we use questions and statements to lead a discussion towards a definition conclusion as in the context of "Socratic methods." I see all of these happening online, all have their value, and all contribute to a true dialogue.
In the context of this seminar and the SCoPE community in general, I do agree with Nick that what we need is a democratic spirit that relinquishes control. Nick, I believe you will like this quote from Gadamer:
The more genuine conversation is, the less its conduct lies within the will of either partner. Thus, a genuine conversation is never the one that we wanted to coduct... [It is] more conrrect to say that we fall into coversation, or even that we become involved in it... . A converation has a spirit of its own, and the language in which it is conducted bears its own truth wihtin it - i.e., that it allows something to "emerge" which hence forth exists.
So be it.
Cindy
This is what made online dialogue fascinating. The dynamics can just change and turn so quickly, in unexpected ways. Last Friday, I was pondering over the silence. Since then, I've heard so many wonderful voices and I can't keep up to say hello! Part of my own silence was because, as you pointed out Susan, weekend, Mother's Day, and for me also entertaining out-of-town visitors and flying to a conferencing. I'm at the CADE/AMEC conference in Winnipeg now and just got connected on Wireless. I'll try my best to play hooky so I can make my post here. More later...
Cindy
Cindy
Thank you Monica. I hope we all enjoy some sun. I'll be back too.
Cindy
Cindy
Brenda, I'm glad Sylvia helped you solved your puzzlement.
What I was complaning about was the lack of ability to sort all postings by date or reverse date across all discussion topics/thread within a forum. Unfortunately you can't do this except using the rss feature to put all postings into a blog reader.
Cindy
P.S., just came back from the CADE conference in Winnipeg. I have a lot to catch up in this forum!
What I was complaning about was the lack of ability to sort all postings by date or reverse date across all discussion topics/thread within a forum. Unfortunately you can't do this except using the rss feature to put all postings into a blog reader.
Cindy
P.S., just came back from the CADE conference in Winnipeg. I have a lot to catch up in this forum!