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Creating a Culture of LearningLeveraging and Extending

Open Educational Resources

Cartesian View of Learning

K l d b tKnowledge as substance

And pedagogy as knowledge transfer

Leading us to think of learning like this...Leading us to think of learning like this...

“The delivery model:I teach - you learn”

“Cultivate the neat rows of disciplinary knowledge”

we participatetherefore we are

The Social View of Learning

understanding is socially constructed

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Suggesting we view learning more like this

“We learn in and through our interactions with others and the world”

Nothing Beats Collaborative Study Groups –especially around homework & exam preparation.The social construction of understanding is real.

And this works virtually as well -IMing or Second Life

The social life of learning on campusAnd in virtual worlds on/off campus

Second Life

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Terra Incognita And in social networks across communities/friends

Blogs – Facebook – MySpace – LinkedIn, …

Now study groups or just plain bull sessions can naturally extend to peer groups galore

CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public OpinionThree tiers:

Harvard Law Student, Harvard Extension Student, Internet user ‘at large’

As Harvard extensionVideos

LecturesDiscussion groups

Office hoursAll on Berkman Island

(Second Life)

we participatetherefore we are

Learning as supported through a participatory medium

understanding is socially constructed

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ExplicitLearning about

Beyond textbook learning:

learning-about ====> learning-to-be

TacitLearning to be

dimensions of knowledge(Michael Polanyi)

ExplicitLearning about

Reversing the Flow

TacitLearning to be

Key: unleashing productive inquiry

• writing code to be read• engagement thru useful additions• social capital matters

The Open Source Movements:

Open Source as a Participatory Learning Platform

A form of distributed situated learning(cognitive ‘apprenticeship’)enculturating to a virtual

community of practice

open code, open system, open community discussion

Faulkes Telescope Project

Students get remote access – run real experimentspool and analyze their results with a master.

Physical Location -- Maui

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Bugscopevirtual laboratory accessed via the net by kids

educating future scientists by providing access to virtual instrumentation

Tokay Geckos

Virtual Scanning Electron Microscope

Tokay GeckoTokay Gecko

iLabs: MITInternet access to real labs - anywhere, anytime

New kind of learning/scholarship platform:the specialized scholar’s portal(allows for mini-papers as well)

New ways for students to engage in researchNew forms of peer review – a view into a practice

Brown Univ.

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Tinkering as a learning platformand its death and rebirth as remix, mashups, etc

Noun 1. tinker - a person who enjoys fixing and experimenting with machines and their parts.

tinkerer as experimenter: a person who enjoys testing innovative ideas;

"she was an experimenter in new forms of poetry"

Life in the Digital Age –A culture of participation:

Tinkering, Building, Remixing & Sharing

Creating meaning by what I produceand others build on – a remix, opensource culture.

Remix & Mashup creative tinkering & the play of imagination

But it is also ‘creative reading’ like in fandom – fans filling in the back story in highly imaginative ways. in highly imaginative ways.

Ah, creating meaning by integratingtheir imagination with that of the‘author’ in remix.

sometimes seen on YouTube

The Bigger Picture

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The Long Tail in Teaching..The Long Tail in Learning

leveraging and supporting each segment differently

Supporting the rise of an ecology of learning/doing niches

Ah, I am passionate about this niche topic.I want to learn/do more!

The Brewing Perfect Storm of Opportunity

eScienceeScience

Transformative Initiatives

OER …OER …Tying it alltogether:

content/tools/activities

Open Participatory Learning Open Participatory Learning InfrastructureInfrastructure--

with feedback/loops galorewith feedback/loops galore

Open Participatory Learning Open Participatory Learning InfrastructureInfrastructure--

with feedback/loops galorewith feedback/loops galoreeHumanitieseHumanities

Web 2.0 & beyondWeb 2.0 & beyond

Creating a new kind of ecosystems for intertwining

knowledge creation, learning & mentoring

Active Blending –beyond just taping resources

Researching, re-searching & learning meldinto a new kind of distributed

learning/knowledge ecosystem with mentors:peer based, masters & intelligent tutors

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innovation

Key traits for the 21st Century(are we preparing our students, accordingly?)

inspirationimagination

When recreation becomes an act of

re-creation/remix & productive inquiry

Culture of LearningCulture of Learninga culture that thrives on

participatory life long learningand perhaps

the ultimate sustainability model .

Th k YThank You

and special thanks toEmma Kiselyova