In my experience really critical reflective thinking about our own practice is one of the hardest things to engender. Why? What type of environment must be in place to encourage this?
instruction that attempts to control the learner’s responses and environment
acquisition
learning goal is enculturation
Enculturation results from interactions among people, objects, and culture in a collective effort to solve problems, create products, or perform service
These kinds of designs are excellent for learning discrete bits of information, practicing simple and basic behaviors, building complex psychomotor skills, and learning to use applications or processes that require a narrow, prescriptive approach
In George's interview with Robin Good his emphasis is very much on "what does the technology enable me to do"? - what can I/ the learner DO with this tool?
Learners are collaborators in the learning process and have an equal role in setting goals.
The question to keep asking as we go along is WHY? Too often tools and approaches are discounted without question. It is of course absolutely valid for an individual to reject an option but they should be able to justify their decision to their peers
Question to group - how do you assess/ evaluate an individuals contribution to the new paradigm of shared meaning making? What is a valuable contribution to a group wiki page for example -
correcting a spelling error?
improving the readability of content?
adding an acknowledgement to unrefenced content?
adding new content?
providing feedback to a peer via the discussion page?
How do we communicate this to learners? Is peer-assessment a viable option - how? Is a mark/grade needed to ensure participation?
I think this is an important thing to focus on - it's about learning how to learn, understanding how we learn, acknowledging our strengths and our weaknesses
Teachers pass on information to the learner. The clearer the information the more the learner will acquire.
This convergence of tools, practice, and theory enables teachers and students to discuss, plan, create, and implement unique strategies for providing instruction within a unique environment.
enablers
Tools enable learners to contribute to the community.
This will only happen if the tools are absolutely easy to use and the user can quickly get on with the T&L task at hand. That isthe beauty of many of the most popular tools on teh open web such as FlckR or wikispaces - they are quick and easy to master yet offer very rich capabailities
learners who want to learn what they need as fast as they can to apply within their community of practice
Not sure I like this comment. If as George Siemens says 'currency' is the most important aspect in learning (depending on subject matter of course) then any expectation of 'learning what they need' is fraught and in a way sets the learner up to fail. While there is a base level amount of info/ understandings for any field above all we need learners to know how to remain current in a state of flux via participation in networks.
PLNs are learning opportunities that provide a way to move from professional development as a special event, such as a workshop or a once a year conference to “a continuous flow of learning” (Guhlin, 2009). There are many ways to develop a PLN, and many interactive and collaborative tools to use including twitter, nings, social networks, blogs, and social bookmarking sites like Diigo. A PLN becomes a “dedicated learning environment [which] is unique to each individual” and its efficacy depends on how much or how little you chose to share and learn from other individuals in your PLN (Kapuler, 2009).
“Technology allows us to reach out and build communities based on resonance and commonality”