Roy Williams

Jenny, me too - I was rather shocked by the introduction of 'intentionality' - it seemed like it was introducing determinism (even if tacit) and predictability (of sorts) into emergence. 

However, I have become fascinated by it, probably because there is lots of work on affordances which talks of objects (and spaces) as being designed with intentionality.  Example, a chair is intended to be sat on (doesn't limit the affordances, but it does 'start the conversation' about how it can be used), and a lift in a building is intended to be safe.  

So 'learning objects' and 'learning spaces' might be intended for openness, or for compliance (and that might limit or channel the affordances to some extent).  In the footprints, where you are - where you start, where you come in (or are invited to come in) to a learning space might push or pull you into certain affordances (scary, comfortable, liminal, etc) - and choice is such a key part of openness (see Stephen Downes autonomy) that you should be able to choose different, or even new uses and affordances in an open learning space. 

I too am not certain that I will be comfortable with a 'strong' sense of intentionality in emergence, but I am very interested in exploring is here - at least for a while. 

Jenny, emergent learning, emergent actions, emergent experience (and all of the above) - wow. Food for thought ... 

If I try this on the 2 Popes 2 Chairs case study (see here ... )

• Pope 2 is involved in an emergent action - who knows what the reaction will be, he doesnt, really, but I dont think he cares. 
• Pope 1 is also involved in an action, and I dont think he cares about learning in the same way - he cares about consolidating tradition (which might be a different kind of lesson) 
• Pope 2's  change of chairs will be a learning experience for both Popes, and for many cardinals too (past, present, and those with Papal aspirations for the future) 
• The Church, the public, the media - many people will be learning different things, or dismissing it as a stunt, and not a learning experience at all - they wont see it as a learning event. 
• Chair 2 might just be another chair (the first one has been taken away for a re-gilting job), so it might be a non-event ...

Sylvia, OK ... If you are looking for, and open to, surprises ...  

• where it happens - an empirical question - observe, describe, ask for stories, narratives, visualisations, mind-maps. 
• 'where' it happens - where there are some of the following present and available: 
  • (closed) learning objects with instruction 
  • (open) learning objects with intention and an invitation to explore [these two options are from a discussion thread elsewhere in this forum, and are work in progress - might be too rough at this stage]
• 'it' - cognitive, embodied, affective, ontological, professional, social, etc, or all of the above. 
• 'how it happens' - risky and challenging (see the bird on the left) comfortalbe (the bird on the right) etc - all of which depend on the context, and just how high the roof is that they are standing on, whether there is a cat below, etc. 
• 'who' is learning, who is the intended learner, is there an intended learner/s? - you might refer to The Pope sat on the Chair pictures: 

and you can refer to the analyses, here ...

• with or without instruction, modelling, demonstration 
• 'learning' - run out of ideas here - maybe later ...

Kathleen, OK, I'll give it a try, to unpack the basic drive (health warning, I love semiotics - see here, for example - it's an analysis of two pictures of "The Pope sat on the chair") ... 

I would say

• we all want to be in touch with each other (figuratively and literally) 
• so, we use touch, glances, movement .. 
• we move on to sounds, to language
• all of which leave impressions - on the mind, the imagination, the subconscious ...
• then on to physical inscriptions - in the air (dance, music), on the ground (sandcastles, castles, highways), on the body (ours and the bodies of others)  
• and in the process we become part of communities ...(like this online one) 

Kathleen, I have been working in the Mathematics Dept. for some years (as an elearing and e-assessment designer, and my Head of Dept's inaugural lecture was on "the unreasonable beauty of mathematics" - I can understand the beauty, but (also) not always the formulae.  

But I have dabbled in programming (via LOGO) and do know what an 'elegant' solution to a programming problem looks like, and it does bring satisfaction and joy to the learner (me in this case).