Learning By Doing & Incrementalism
Coaching and Mentoring Replace Teaching
Safe Failure Environments – Part 1
Safe Failure Environments – Part 2
Variety Keeps You Humble and Hungry
Short Bursts of Intensity Trump Prolonged Willpower
Encourage Postive Sum Competition
Organize Around Intent and Purpose Rather Than Goal or Cause

gml:
This is interesting. I subscribe to the RSS feed from On the Spiral mostly because it’s one of several blogs with a fresh view on alternative currencies. It’s my belief (or bias) that such currencies will play an important role in tomorrow’s learning.

So today when I saw a post about disruptive learning on a blog that plugs itself as “exploring the economics of value in all its evolving forms,” I dared to hope that it might focus on the finances of tomorrow’s learning.

Not so, but it’s still a thoughtful post and worth a read. Those of you who push the edges of learning will likely find much that sounds familiar and some that you’ll take exception with.

We need to change the structures and processes of the human system, and this change must be fundamental: it needs to be a true “worldshift.” At the same time change in the system that provides our basic life-support must be gradual, incremental, and respectful of the interdependence of its elements and processes.

gml: No histrionics, just good common sense.

Although information technology has had an undeniably salutary effect on scholarship and on the life of the scholar, new practices — enabled by technology — threaten to erode scholarship, isolate scholars, and marginalize the rightful place of the scholarly enterprise in an age dominated by knowledge and innovation. Within the academy and in society, technology may be fostering new practices that are sharpening contradictions within the community of scholars. Is the modern college or university, for example, centrally important as a storehouse of knowledge? As a purveyor of expertise? As a cultural arbiter? Despite the fact that many of our finest institutions continue to lead society in these ways, the overall answer to these questions is “no.”

gml: This essay is well worth reading. I suspect it will generate considerable discussion and raise the hackles of many college and university stewards. Some of the conclusions seem questionable, but not worth quibbling about here. It’s particularly telling, I think, that Katz distinguishes “scholarly enterprises” from “institutions” and sees a vibrant future for the former and a more uncertain future for the latter. The essay concludes with a daunting list of “ifs” that need resolution for higher education institutions to thrive (emphasis in original) :

We are the “lucky” ones: as our old world dissolves, at least we can participate in resolving the new one. If we can once again create a galvanizing metaphor, a general educational philosophy, a set of carefully constructed and widely accepted academic standards, a consensus on the nature of our footprint, a supporting and flexible delivery system, and a portfolio of global partners, then higher education and its institutions will prosper in the Digital Age.

Katz, unfortunately I think, considers educational change in the context of technology, when that is only one of many critical factors that will help shape tomorrow. Meaning that the tasks ahead for higher education institutions will likely be even more difficult than Katz anticipates.

Just suppose we are in a period in which the future of human life on the planet is seriously threatened – by climate change and all the negative economic, social and cultural processes that attend it …

[N]ation states may not have been able to get their act together at Copenhagen but surely Universities – supposedly engines of reason – can.

Assuming you agree with the proposition, the question I raise is: are universities optimally organized to address the fundamental ‘global challenges’ that exist, and at the pace these challenges deserved to be addressed? If not, what should be done about this organizational-ethical dilemma?

gml: Thanks to GlobalHigherEd for inviting Thrift to write a guest post. Most impressive is the scale of the imperatives considered (ie, the very future of human life on earth) and the gentleness but power in the question Thrift asks about higher education on behalf of all of us. Very nice.

But Bruce [Peter Bruce, founder and president of statistics.com] says Statistics.com’s educational model is not about minimizing costs as much as maximizing expertise. “Organizations that provide the ‘best’ online education in a given subject area will come to dominate others,” he says. In other words, as technology allows students to pick and choose courses from different institutions, the education providers that thrive will be those that concentrate their resources in particular fields.

gml: Subject areas constitute the normal boundary of academic departments in colleges and universities. The unbundling of subjects/departments from institutions exposes another fissure in the higher education business model. Examples like statistics.com are symptomatic of the broader unbundling of courses, modules, educational resources/objects, and teaching and learning more generally.

 
The grand alliance for the commons: the task of 21 cy. politics
Michel Bauwens. P2P Foundation. 02-April-2010.

Each of these moments has its own related but complementary vision of a world centered around the commons and civil society. For the environmental movement, the earth and its resources are a commons whose sustainability has to be protected; the social justice movements wants to make sure that the fruits of the physical commons are distributed in a fair manner so that no part of humanity is excluded from the basic demands of well-being; and the free culture movements protects the digital commons of education, knowledge, science and innovation.

gml: Yes, indeed, the commons, justice, and learning are entwined.

 
Truly Open Data
Nat Torkington. O’Reilly Radar. 09-March-2010.

I have spent a non-trivial number of hours talking to government departments and scientists about open data, talking up an “open source approach” to data, pushing hard to get them to release datasets in machine readable formats with reuse-friendly licenses. … I’m kicking myself because I’ve been taking far too narrow an interpretation of “an open source approach”. I’ve been focused on getting people to release data. That’s the data analogue of tossing code over the wall, and we know it takes more than a tarball on an FTP server to get the benefits of open source. The same is true of data.

gml: There are a number of good suggestions in this article for better managing, making available, and using open data. What I like best, however, is its feel of reality. Anyone who has spent time living in datasets knows how much effort and thought and iterative work it requires. We’ll get some early success with open data, but I suspect the real benefits will only appear gradually.

The Data Singularity is Here
Michael E. Driscoll, Dataspora Blog, 08-March-2010.

I conjecture that the largest share of data on the planet sits in log files; these are the EKGs of the server farms that manage our cell phones, our e-mail accounts, and every other facet of our online existence — and which consume 3% of the US energy budget.
…
Collectively, these logs reveal the pulse of the planet — flight delays, package shipments, job losses, and human sentiments.

And as I’ll discuss in my next post, those who can extract a meaningful signal from this thunderous cacophony — the analysts, statisticians, and data scientists — are uniquely positioned to change the world.

gml: Promises to be a fun series of posts by a thoughtful commentator about “Big Data, open source analytics, and data visualization.” I don’t know, however … “data singularity” and “uniquely positioned to change the world” may both prove to be exaggerations. It’s tough to move obstinate elephants.

 
Time to Start Taking the Internet Seriously
David Gelernter. Edge. 05-March-2010.

11. The Internet will never create a new economy based on voluntary instead of paid work — but it can help create the best economy in history, where new markets (a free market in education, for example) change the world. Good news! — the Net will destroy the university as we know it (except for a few unusually prestigious or beautiful campuses).
…
23. The Internet’s future is not Web 2.0 or 200.0 but the post-Web, where time instead of space is the organizing principle — instead of many stained-glass windows, instead of information laid out in space, like vegetables at a market — the Net will be many streams of information flowing through time.

gml: For reasons that defy me, this article is arranged in 32 numbered paragraphs. Regardless of the reasons, the post has been stirring up some cackles lately. Honestly I don’t quite know what to make of it. I cannot comment intelligently on much of the article. But with regard to Gelernter’s prognosis for higher education, I think he is wrong. Given enough time, it may be true that the “Net will destroy the university as we know it.” But it seems far more likely that many universities will adapt and coexist in layers of rich tapestry with new forms of learning.

The second article, called The Learning Society, is unique in its source (a corporation), its breadth of external review and contributors, and its call for a new learning system concurrent with existing systems but based on a new set of principles and organized differently. The recommendations, however, don’t live up to the promise of the new principles.

The third document is cast as a challenge: “how can technology increase access, improve quality and lower cost?” It was published by Contact North, which was founded in 1986 by the Ontario government to serve the education and training needs of people in rural and remote areas of that Canadian province. It’s unclear exactly how the document was prepared and by whom. Some parts make provocative reading.

After considering each of the documents separately and in conversation with the others, I’m left a bit unsatisfied. Maybe that’s not unexpected. Imagining the unknown devolves with the degree of specificity.

My own take is pretty squishy at this point. Yes to a new learning society of some sort. Yes to the inclusion of everyone. Yes to its inception in entrepreneurial innovation rather than strategic planning. Yes to the criticality of innovation under the severest of constraints. And yes to concurrency with, but alternatives to, existing educational and financial systems. Beyond that the fog deepens and visibility disappears.

From the Campus to the Future
Diana G. Oblinger. EDUCAUSE Review. January/February 2010.

Higher education faces numerous challenges posed by the drivers of change, including worldwide demand for education, financial constraints, and a constantly changing knowledge base. Those of us involved with information technology in higher education thus need to ask ourselves several critical questions:

• …
• If we were to transform the student experience, what would it look like? What would we do differently? How would those changes affect the individual? The workplace? Society?
• …
• If the college/university metaphor today is a network rather than a campus, what does that mean for our work in information technology?

The Learning Society
Richard Halkett. Cisco Systems (GETideas.org). 2010.

The principles that characterize the Learning Society are informed by the demands of the 21st century, by emergent innovations at the very leading edge, and by what we now know about how learning happens. The result is the following set of principles designed to meet society’s new demands for learning and to realize the learning potential of every part of society and every part of the globe.

The Learning Society:

• Engenders a culture of learning throughout life.
• Aims to develop motivated, engaged learners who are prepared to conquer the unforeseen challenges of tomorrow as well as those of today.
• Takes learning to the learner, seeing learning as an activity, not a place.
• Believes that learning is for all, that no one should be excluded.
• Recognizes that people learn differently, and strives to meet those needs.
• Cultivates and embraces new learning providers, from the public, private, and NGO sectors.
• Develops new relationships and new networks between learners, providers (new and old), funders, and innovators.
• Provides the universal infrastructure they need to succeed—still physical but increasingly virtual.
• Supports systems of continuous innovation and feedback to develop knowledge of what works in which circumstances.

Fast Forward: How Emerging Technologies are Transforming Education and Training [.pdf]
Contact North. Challenge Paper, January 2010.

This is a foresight paper, not a policy or planning paper. It seeks to imagine what could happen for learning systems with technologies currently in various states of development. It does not address how change could be made or what these changes may be.

To provide a flavor, here’s one implication that appears in a section called Knowledge Engines, Networks, and Hubs:

Students will leverage technology, peer networks, robots and artificial intelligence in support of their learning challenges before institutions adopt them — acting as consumers, they will drive some changes in the system. They will access knowledge from global knowledge engines available through the semantic web. They will seek credit recognition for their work. They will demand acknowledgement of learning from a variety of sources. The opportunity thus exists to shift to a new paradigm for the management of learning outcomes — a paradigm likely to be resisted to those committed to the old paradigm, which has a strong and successful six hundred year history.

Today’s theme is one of design. Is there a way to use data analysis and visualization to engage people enough that they follow their curiosity into exploration of complex issues?

I very much like the problem orientation of the auto technician interviewed in the New York Times article. Don’t treat symptoms; look for the root causes; and start with the money. His question “why does it cost so much?” is equally valid for higher education.

In the second post, a designer provides a five-stage model of how to create participatory experiences within museums. The model uses a me-to-we flow that starts with “individual consumes content” and progresses to “individuals engage with each other socially.” Step two (“individuals interact with content”) seems particularly important.

Data analysis and visualization may provide an entry point. But interaction with the content is essential to provoke curiosity and the urge for more exploration. Beyond curiosity a transition must occur and stories may provide help. I’m a big fan of storytelling for precisely the reasons that John Hagel mentions in the third post.

Do you see where I’m headed? Suppose we take an issue like the high cost of higher education. There is absolutely tons of data available on this topic and no end to the research done on it. But is there a way to design visual analysis as an entry point for individual interaction with the topic and then provide a way for people to explore the complexities with stories?

If any of you are aware of web sites designed in a similar manner (around any topic), I’d very much appreciate it if you would provide links in the comments. Or email me with links. Many thanks!

In Colorado, Craving Reform of Health Care and Congress
Robert Pear. New York Times. 10-January-2010

“I am an automotive diagnostician,” Mr. Seyfer said. “We look for the root cause of problems. If we treat the symptoms, the problem always comes back. With health care, we are not treating the root cause: Why does it cost so much?”

A Revised Theory of Social Participation via a “Me-to-We” Design
Nina Simon. Museum 2.0. 25-Janurary-2010.

[I]f you want to support social engagement among people, especially in an unfacilitated setting (i.e. no tour guides or game masters), you need to start by designing personal services for users, then linking up users through shared interests or objects to promote interpersonal connections. You don’t start by designing “for the crowd.” Instead, you design ways for each person to feel acknowledged and valued as an individual. You make them comfortable interacting on their own, and then start providing opportunities to connect with others.

From Research Monographs to Story-Telling: New Forms of Communication in the Big Shift
John Hagel. Edge Perspectives. 22-January-2010.

Stories provide powerful filters that help us to orient ourselves in complex and rapidly changing worlds. On a daily basis, we are bombarded by an ever expanding array of stimuli that spread our attention ever more thinly and risk disorienting us in terms of a sense of what matters and what is simply noise. Stories help to focus our attention. The task of the story teller is to reduce a complex situation to its essence, making difficult decisions about what matters and what is simply extraneous while still preserving the relationships and textures that drive forward movement. The result can be very helpful to listeners in terms of communicating what is really important in a world that distracts and diminishes our ability to focus. At the same time, stories also encourage listeners to use their own imagination to enrich the context of the story – they pull listeners in and invite them to co-create the world at hand.

Brazil’s new Latin American and global integration universities launched
Susan Robertson. GlobalHigherEd. 03-January-2010.
“[T]hese three new universities are intended to enhance national, regional and global integration, and demonstrate to the world that it may be possible to unite different countries through education.”

You Can Get There From Here: Websites for Learners
Amber Simmons. A List Apart. 03-November-2009.
“As an industry, we haven’t done our best to make our content-rich websites suitable for learning and exploration. Learners require more from us than keywords and killer headlines. They need an environment that is narrative, interactive, and discoverable. … Discoverability, as I use the term, refers to how well a website lends itself to organic exploration by a curious reader. Rather than relying exclusively on an orderly, hierarchical navigation, a discoverable website helps readers choose their own adventure.”
gml: This post and Udell’s (see above) nicely complement each other. In a sense, learning is context assembly. There is no one correct context to be discovered, but rather lots of unique contexts variously assembled during learning.

Drumbeat idea: open web skills @ p2pu
Mark Surman. commonspace. 17-December-2009.
“Another Drumbeat bootstrap idea that’s getting traction is open web skills courses delivered via the Peer 2 Peer University. It’s a simple concept: people combine self organized, collaborative learning with open curriculum materials to improve their skills in areas like HTML, CSS and Javascript. Over time, a peer to peer certification system could emerge as well …”
gml: People creating tomorrow one small step at a time, no doubt failing repeatedly along the way but nevertheless learning and persevering. You’ve got to love it. Especially today, on the day after the earthquake in Haiti, this reminds me of the Haitian proverb that served as the title for Tracy Kidder’s book about Paul Farmer: Beyond mountains there are mountains.