I have been out of action for a while… away at a conference and then sick… then having to put together a timetable for my institution for next year.
I have enjoyed researching this current topic on facilitation, teaching and moderating. Leigh’s expressions were very real and express the struggles we may be finding in this course. It appears from my reading that facilitation is something that is not easy to achieve when we have been brought up with the ‘teachy’ style of education where the subject expert controls the information flows. This is becoming less and less possible with the access people have to information of all sorts on the web. So, in a web based environment I think there are differences to the terminology being generated/ reconstructed. What is learning anyway? Is it that I learned a certain amount of content or is it that I grew in my understanding, knowledge and social skills related to a feild of knowledge that actually networks with peoples attitudes, knowledge and actions? Facilitation in this environment feels like and sounds like being nudged gently in the right directions by the community with the possibility that someone in that community takes responsibility for the general direction of that. In our course that person could be Leigh. I may have said enough to prompt some responses from all of you on this…
September 1, 2008 at 10:17 pm
“I may have said enough to prompt some responses from all of you on this…” well, no
you haven’t. You’ll need to link to and comment on what others have said – dragging them kicking and screaming into your blog, leaving them no option but to respond. You mentioned my expressions generally – but without a link for reference, what expressions exactly? OK, we both know what you’re talking about because we are both sharing an experience with a course, but you never know who might be dropping around for tea in the online arena hey? A link reference ads your post to the comments in my post, that then draws others who are reading my post to yours! Connected by only a few degrees now.
Its a balancing act isn’t it, between teaching and facilitation. We (who are apparently experienced or perhaps expert learners) know that the most important thing to learn is how to learn. And with information and communication caught up in a spiral of technological boom, how to learn is arguably changing. But most of us what the quickest and easiest root to the bit of information and knowing possible. Knowing that you know, but knowing that you won’t tell me is very frustrating, and in some instances must compromise trust. “Why won’t he just tell me!?” They scream, and rightly so, because they see you as knowing, as expert, you are still the quickest most efficient line to knowing. Even in the age of Google at your finger tips.
So, does letting on that you are an expert compromise your “higher” goal of teaching people how to learn? I guess so long as there are prescribed things to learn within given, paid for time frames, that higher goal will have to go on hold – unless, you are NOT the expert, and just a professional facilitator who can put people in touch with expertise and information.
More links and references Russell
connect what you are saying with what others are saying.
September 3, 2008 at 1:50 am
[...] Russ wonders how this diffuse, fuzzy learning can occur. “What is learning anyway? Is it that I learned a certain amount of content or is it that I grew in my understanding, knowledge and social skills related to a field of knowledge that actually networks with people’s attitudes, knowledge and actions?” [...]
September 7, 2008 at 11:34 pm
My problem at the moment is learning the knowhow of making the links or bringing them into the conversation. I have been researching this and set up a de.icio.us account where my bookmarks etc can be seen within my blogg. I am going to give it a go and see what happens. I am reading what others are saying via the e-mails.. and tracking a few bloggs. I feel a bit lost in all of this discussion but need to make an effort to join in, once I know how…
March 3, 2009 at 12:38 pm
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