When you think back, 1999 was a year of significant changes in the world: Y2K, the great Hotmail debacle, and Star Wars: Episode I. There was no Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter. In 2008, President Barack Obama was elected, Facebook was just below Blogger for the most unique visits¹, and gas was over $4/gallon. And yet, John Seely Brown brought encouraging words to us across that decade about how we as educators can capitalize on the benefits of Web 2.0. Brown’s ideas guide us in the 21st century towards new ideas as he crafts insights into what was and how that will shape what will be.
The two articles in question this week are Brown’s 2008 “Minds on Fire” treatise on learning and his transcription of the 1999 talk “Learning, Working & Playing in the Digital Age.” For the sake of brief review, I found that both articles had me nodding in agreement, wondering how he could have been so prophetic in ’99, and sharing thoughts with my co-worker who shares my cubicle. Brown’s insights may as well be Orwellian in the fact that though his words were written in the past two decades, they resound with truth today. He makes the statement that we have “shifted attention from access to information toward access to other people” (Brown, 2008), and I see this idea to be true in my daily experience.
I say experience because that encompasses the breadth of my day: when I wake up and check my phone, I am looking for what has happened to my people overnight; when I get to work and boot up Outlook, I am looking to see what my people require of me; when I get home from work and jump on my Wifi, I am looking for what my people have done all day. Most importantly, in each of these situations, I’m not just looking to look: I am looking to respond and react. In fact, when I get home and check Facebook or Twitter, something that my people have done that day may directly guide the itinerary for my evening.
“Have you seen Luke Cage on Netflix?! It’s amazing!”
“Hudson introduced the National Concealed Carry bill to the floor today.”
“Check out this DIY I just did in my living room – your entertainment center will never be the same.”
Three very different statements can impact my life decisions for the next night or week! Suddenly, I’m saddled in with popcorn, reading up on Concealed Carry laws, or preparing my shopping list for Home Depot. In this way, Brown is highlighting in both of his articles that the features of Web 2.0 are creating Learning 2.0. The information that I consume directly impacts the information I produce and therefore correlates to the information I retain. Consumption and production, in healthy balance, guide every Web 2.0 user to new levels of knowledge and learning.
If we were to leave mankind alone, outside of education, with naught but Web 2.0 and time, we would still learn. While Brown takes the time to analyze and critique this process as it has changed over the years, I think we are led to a specific question: what is the role of the teacher-student relationship in a Learning 2.0 world? With tools like Terra Incognita, Second Life, and OERs, what will we do to save the teacher from extinction?
I think the answer lies somewhere in the relationship of time and distance to education. A colleague of mine, Bradley Kemp, spoke at an event at my institution about the future of digital learning. At the event, he highlighted the relationship of time and distance as the crux of educational technology.
@willingworthy a pleasure!
— Brad Kemp (@brdkmp) November 2, 2016
In Kemp’s prediction, what we will do to transform the classroom will focus on how much time it takes to learn and how much space we can reduce between the learner and their target environment. If “We are entering a world in which we all will have to acquire new knowledge and skills on an almost continuous basis” (Brown, 2008), then I think Kemp is onto the right idea.
To VR and beyond!
WVHI
Class Prompts
- How is learning presumed to occur within the context of Web 2.0?
- The presumption about learning in the 21st century is that it will be social. As is everything we experience in Web 2.0, interacting online necessitates social interaction. While some may prefer to be consumers and others will overproduce, all participants in Web 2.0 technology are actively engaged in the give-and-take of technology. The below Storify is an example of my personal participation in a Professional Learning Community that desires to live out Learning 2.0.
- What are the differences in the role of the learner and the facilitator as compared to ‘traditional’ learning environments? (Do you consider these roles and processes viable/valid given your philosophy of learning?)
- As noted in the heart of my blog content, I think that Learning 2.0 could negatively impact the role of the teacher. While I utilized hyperbole to emphasize my point in the blog, I do not believe that teachers will become extinct as a result of the democratization of information. However, I do believe that teachers need to rethink their tactics. Teaching for a Learning 2.0 community requires technology, software, and innovation. It requires budgets, commitment, and a lot of PD. The traditional learner may have been contented with following prescribed curricula, but the 2.0 learner is even more willing to question the status quo. We must sensitively work together, student and teacher, towards a codified Learning 2.0 structure. Right now we are simply exploring the differences between traditional learning and 2.0 Learning, but soon we will need to realize the distinction.
- What implications do these shifts have for how we think about designing learning environments?
- Ironically, I’m taking LDT527 Designing Constructivist Learning Environments right now, so I expect that my input on this matter will mature by the end of the semester. However, in the meantime, I believe that we need to eradicate tech-less teaching. While I think there are some subject areas that demand less tech than others, I do not believe that it is efficient or appropriate to have educational experiences that are not influenced by technology. Whether it’s as simple as ensuring that all districts have a learning management system or as complex as mandating the presence of 1:1 programs, we must take the steps to technify education. As a result of that process, I think that we will see a rise in distanced and digital collaboration, which is already a staple of the workforce.
References:
Brown, John Seeley. 2008. Minds on Fire:
Brown, John Seeley. 1999. Learning, Working & Playing in the Digital Age. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/seelybrown/
¹https://techcrunch.com/2008/12/31/top-social-media-sites-of-2008-facebook-still-rising/