Derek Chirnside

I loved Amy's comment as well, for a different reason.  Sometimes I find it hard to commit as well, because I can see several sides at once.  It takes time to think through a thought to the end.  :-)

I've had a look through this document.  Interested to note social stuff is only partly there.  Blogs and wikis feature, but not flickr, facebook, myspace, beebo etc.

I'd not heard of Kineo - on their website is a link to flickr and some comment.  http://www.kineo.co.uk/open-source-tools/flickr.html

In the report I think there is some interesting comment about communities of practice, which I think is a defensible way to do the learning side of activities in an organisational setting, from the organisational point of view, and still give due respect to the individual . . .

I trawled a little more.  They had a report with the intriguing title "13 Ways to Manage Informal Learning" which to me is an oxymoron, but I know what they mean.  From the point of view of an institution/organisation what to do?

Here is a quote:

First Thoughts

Fundamental paradox

"Informal Learning" - this in actually another buzz word - and I think there was a lot of talk on this in and earlier seminar.

"Control the uncontrollable . ."

I am interested to note in this document there is very little about communities (one reference) which is where I think in organisations a lot of knowledge resides, and learning occurs.  This is a little of a divergent topic, but I do know this: whatever community/environment you are in, you survive a lot better with an effective PLE.

I have been very aware that sooner or later we need to open up another thread for the final question in the description of this seminar:


Derek (W) has written a paper that has been incubating for a while, and he has just finished another draft.  It takes a descriptive and narrative approach, and while it is relevant to the school sector in particular, it has some ideas pertinent to the non-profit and business sectors as well.  He asked me what I thought.  Even in it's slightly unfinished state I thought it was worth posting here for your comment.

I've been thinking about where we go next in our dialogue.  In a personal e-mail Derek said: "Interesting to see the discussions emerge around devices vs. applications, internet vs mobiles (although that one has me baffled), and concept vs system etc - I'm fascinated to see the different perspectives!" 

This is true!!  - we have traversed a lot of foundational ideas.

We have Ann and Amy's comments on commitment. From Re: Personal Learning Ecology . . . by annbusby on Friday, 8 June 2007 11:24:00 a.m.:
Amy, I loved your comment, "you mean I have to commit to an idea?" I keep changing the content of my thinking from reading what others are posting, so fast I can't commit, either Isn't that what learning is about?  :-)  :-)

Michelle: From Re: Personal Learning Ecology . . . by michelemmartin@gmail.com on Thursday, 7 June 2007 3:23:00 a.m.:
Anytime an organization is involved in deciding what "system" to use, I've found that it inevitably becomes a system that works for the organization, not the individual.

Ron's little throw away comment on metadata helped me put non-digital resources in perspective.  And Tia's links take us a little into the cooperate large scale operations.

So: I'm also interested in moving on to new questions.  Given our initial discussion . . .   Given some of the convergence, and some unfinished thinking . . .  So what?  Where to now?  Given these ideas and perspectives, what do we do in our various roles?  What should (our) institutions do?
And: how should we then teach and learn??

I attach Derek's paper, now that it has emerged out of his the information processing and incubation part of his PLE.  (Three pages and a nifty diagram - I think several of us could have a version of the diagram in our brains if we looked . .) - Derek
From a chilly, clear Wintery, downunder, Christchurch Saturday afternoon.

Nancy, a good question.  Here's a few suggestions . . .

1. You will never manage to read and digest everything.  Don't beat up on yourself.  I have long passed the stage of thinking I need to read do everything.  It only resurfaces sometime.
   
2. Have you thought of using annotations?  Ctrl-Shift S gets you a yellow bar, and the ability to highlight text and write a small comment.  [Sylvie, is there a lnk to a help page maybe with a pic of the bar]
   
3. Maybe: browse, then chose a thread - open it up in a window - read over it and dip in where you want. 
   I recommend using the nested option for the forums - which gives a sense of who relied to who.  Switch to newest first when you come back . . .
   
4. Cut and paste into a reply box in another window: this give you the cool link back to the post functionality.
5. Then hit submit.

I find, when I come in late - and even when I dont . . .

• Insecurity that someone may have posted the same thing before I do (I think I skim to reduce this possibility, then ignore the feeling)
• A tendency to get lost in links and sidetracks.  Discipline, discipline!!  And use delicious . . . (and the other tools in your PLE)  :-)
• A habit of rambling and losing the track.  But it's great to stimulate my thinking!

Any other thoughts anybody . . .  ???? - Derek

I'll follow this up Tia, and Myers Briggs, Yes, self understanding can help students I think, and also lecturers, if they are open to it.  The type of MBTI who is common in teaching however is NOT they type common in the average student population.  (Statistics wise)

But the Innovate comment:
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=368
You do need a password/login (Yet another #$%^& username and password)

As noted by a number of contributors to the previous issue of this publication (e.g., Barnes, Marateo, and Ferris 2007; van 't Hooft 2007; Thompson 2007), the Net Generation expects that technology will be an important part of their education. This is nicely illustrated by Chen (2002) in his description of an encounter with a young Net Generation student:

Recently, I met some middle school students who carry laptops in their backpacks. One boy told me how technology should not be a machine you go to, but a machine that goes with you. He said, somewhat impatiently, "It's part of my brain. Why would I want to leave it behind in a computer lab?" (xxii)

The statement that the computer is "part of my brain" should resonate with everyone involved in education today. Computers and the attendant technology can no longer be considered desirable adjuncts to education. Instead, they have to be regarded as essential—as thinking prosthetics (Johnson 2001) or mind tools (Jonassen 1996). But, like any other tool, thinking prosthetics must be used properly to be effective. In this article we briefly address the shift in learning styles associated with Net Generation students; we then introduce the Knowledge Building paradigm, a learning model particularly suited for a social environment in which cognitive prosthetics have become indispensable, as well as for the professional settings these students can expect to confront in their future careers. In doing so, we also point to corresponding transformations in business and education that will determine the future of the Net Generation learner and worker.

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High ideals indeed.
But I was only pointing out the little comment: "Some kids see their laptops as their PLE".  Putting words into their mouths here maybe.  I think listening to Derek (W) he may resonate with this comment.  ??

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There are NOT the students Emma wonders about in her post that starts this thread.  I too am worried some of these will miss out.
Michelle asks the right question in the Personal Ecology thread.  How do we help, provide for them?? - D