I chose to include these disparate items and links as a way of demonstrating one person's attempt at collaboration, knowledge building, and sharing, using tools available online: Carl Anderson is one of many who is defining his presence on the web!
And there are so many examples of tools and digital paraphernalia that are available to those fortunate enough to have access to, and live in a culture with freedom to use, a variety of technological gadgets for living, learning, communicating and connecting. What is sometimes less obvious and less accessible is the mindset to use such amazing tools in a way that affords meaningful learning, especially for those of us involved with learning institutions, particularly K-12 schools, as in my own situation. All tools, whether online or offline, can be used to support or enable any particular philosophy toward education, and therefore any pedagogy toward teaching and learning.
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| http://www.tpck.org/ |
There are several ideas and theories, however, that support and enhance the philosophical outlook of constructivism. As Ackermann (2004) illustrates:
Playing "what if' or the ability to pretend (establishing a dialog between what is and what could be) is the means by which children as well as adults achieve the difficult balance between getting immersed and emerging from embeddedness. Play is an important aspect in human learning, from identity building to constructing knowledge about the world. (P. 31)
My recent investigations into social constructivism and supporting theories led me to the ideas of Yrgö Engeström. I am very taken and intrigued by how he explains the connections between Cultural/Historical Activity Theory and its relation to constructivism. From a series of interviews conducted by CSALT, Lancaster University (2002), Activity Theory basically stresses the impact of culture in its mediating effects on human functioning. People are always embedded in an activity that has its own tools, language, and community(ies): these activities may produce meaningful learning. The learning that happens is distributed between people as individuals, as peer or interest groups, and the materials, artifacts, tools and the available language signs and symbols. According to Engeström, we teachers should look at who learns in a different way: not to look at just the individual but to the whole activity system that is learning, including the distributed intelligence evidenced within and across groups; the learning objects created and used; and the historical intelligence and knowledge previously embedded and shared across activity systems or teaching/learning contextual moments. Interestingly, he sees great connections and a need to embrace the multiple literacies inherent in Communication and Education and its many related fields.
Engeström also explains his own extension to the above in his Theory of Expansive Learning: here when individuals find themselves in contradictory situations, those that are conflicting and causing intellectual discomfort for example, people will distance themselves from that context as they attempt to construct an expanded more encompassing one. This takes them beyond the information given and frees them from constraints so that they can learn something not yet there: learning by constructing a new activity or new setting for understanding. Thus, new learning is expanding horizons as you construct knowledge in different and interconnected activity systems.
Enthusiastically bringing and embracing the digital and technological world into these ideas, Engeström cautions against the tendency toward network learning and/or virtual learning becoming closed worlds. As he explains, there is a temptation to to envisage such worlds as complete, where we can assume identities, play any role, access information anytime, anywhere, and feel we can do almost anything. However, we should not forget that this is merely an interface into the other world. We have to return to the physical world, where we walk, work, and live with real people and it should not be excluded. We should maintain a mixed world phenomenon which allow for crossing and interweaving boundaries or hybrid worlds.
Engeström compares the closed world of Narnia envisaged by C.S. Lewis to the hybrid world of Harry Potter pictured by J. K. Rowling. To enter Narnia you pass through a closet or wardrobe into a bounded world: once you are there you remain there across a fixed boundary. In the different magical world of Harry Potter, the magician school, Hogworts, is placed within everyday society where students have to continually criss-cross boundaries.Engeström concludes that we should not construct closed online Narnia worlds but hybrid Magician School worlds where we and our students have to continually cross boundaries to face real people in the real world. Hence, we allow for everyday lived-hood and liveli-hood as well as dwelling on the web and embracing the many magical opportunities it proffers.
For Sir Ken Robinson, as he states in the above snippet of an impromptu interview, there are three purposes of school. In his words these are:
- "Ultimately it's personal: it's about helping people discover their personal talents and abilities and helping them become who they can be."
- "It's cultural. Education is also about helping people to understand the world they're part of: its background; its history; their own communities and other people's communities; and the fact that they are part of a broader world that goes beyond them."
- "It's economic. It's helping people develop the skills and attitudes which will help them to earn a living and contribute to the common good, the common welfare."
He concludes, "If we lose sight of them, we lose sight of education."
A challenge for ourselves in our summer session was to define knowledge!
Here is one representation of that definition using Stixy
The key idea for me is that the nature of knowledge and the meaning of learning in a digital culture is not conveniently definable and actualized: as stated in the image above, "It's Complicated." Thus, we continue to explore, collaborate, construct, and share our own complexity of educator knowledge about teaching and learning! The conversations will be fruitful and endless!
complex inquiry
narrative research
explore
delve
digital content!
continual discourse!
story
no ending
(Jeannette)
References:
Ackermann, E. K. (2004). Constructing Knowledge and Transforming the World. In M. Tokoro and L. Steels (Eds.), A Learning Zone of One's Own: Sharing representations and Flow in Collaborative Learning Environments. Burke, VA: IOS Press, Inc.
CSALT (2002) A Video Interview with Yrgö Engeström, Online Issue v2. Centre for Studies in Advanced learning Technology, Lancaster University, UK.
