There is value of blending traditional with emergent knowledge spaces (online conferences and traditional journals)
- Learners will create and innovate if they can express ideas and concepts in their own spaces and through their own expertise (i.e. hosting events in Second Life)
- Courses are platforms for innovation. Too rigid a structure puts the educator in full control. Using a course as a platform fosters creativity…and creativity generates a bit of chaos and can be unsettling to individuals who prefer a structure with which they are familiar.
- (cliche) Letting go of control is a bit stressful, but surprisingly rewarding in the new doors it opens and liberating in how it brings others in to assist in running a course and advancing the discussion.
- People want to participate…but they will only do so once they have “permission” and a forum in which to utilize existing communication/technological skills.