The learning ecology

What is the learning ecology?

Four articles stand out when considering the learning ecology.

The first is "Learning, Working & Playing in the Digital Age."The author of this article is John Seely Brown, the guy who (I think) first coined the term "learning ecology." Here we have a serious attempt to account for learning beyond our little boxes and to see space time connections in the real world.

The second article is "Little Boxes, Glocalization, and Networked Individualism". (Barry Wellman - very established in his field). This article is a description of the changing world which from little box communities, have been transformed into glocalized (globalized local) communities and now to digital point-to-point/peer-to-peer networked communities. Given these conditions and the existing mechanisms put in place already, it makes a case for expanding your ecology beyond just your small little worlds.

A third article on the learning ecology is "Learning Ecology, Communities, and Networks Extending the classroom"
by George Siemens (2003). This is a short article and builds on the work of Brown

Siemen's article opens this way:

Opening summary
Learner-centered, lifelong learning has been the cry of knowledge society visionaries for the last decade. Yet learning continues to be delivered with teacher-centric tools in a twelve week format. Society is changing. Learners needs are changing. The course, as a model for learning, is being challenged by communities and networks, which are better able to attend to the varied characteristics of the learning process by using multiple approaches, orchestrated within a learning ecology.

Learner-centered, lifelong learning has been the cry of knowledge society visionaries for the last decade. Yet learning continues to be delivered with teacher-centric tools in a twelve week format. Society is changing. Learners needs are changing. The course, as a model for learning, is being challenged by communities and networks, which are better able to attend to the varied characteristics of the learning process by using multiple approaches, orchestrated within a learning ecology.

This is how he concludes:

Conclusion
Variety is a central requirement for learning. There are certainly times where formal, structured courses are required. Some times the knowledge requirements are such that the course model is best - if learning needs have a start and an end. In other cases, learning needs are complex...and difficult to anticipate. The more complex the learning needs, and the more quickly the field of knowledge evolves, the more valuable a learning community and network becomes.

The task of managers, administrators, and Instructors is to create the ecology, shape the communities, and release learners into this environment. Segments of the community can bring in other members (potential employers, graduates) allowing them to grow and learn with existing learners. Through the process, each learner is connected to a network allowing for life-long learning and the ability to care for their own learning needs in the future.

Finally, one short article which is critical for helping us understand educational options is "Blended learning: Let's get beyond the hype" (Margaret Driscoll) Driscoll provides different definitions of what blended learning could be and then concludes that the possible blends are many. That is good - that really extends our repertoire of strategies which we can apply for setting up teaching-learning processes.

(Note: I tested out that link and it is not accurate although it was the url I went to several months ago to get the article. Click here to get it. What does it say about the nature of the ecosystem?

Some final reflections:
1. Ask yourselves this question: Where is the information featured in this entry coming from from? Would it have been possible if the Internet is not a pervasive presence in our present world? Would be possible if the Internet is not already an irrevocable reality and an established, vital part of this learning ecology?

2. How does this idea of the learning ecology relate to the education of leaders of churches like you? Isn't it true that being the peculiar people of God who are holy, chosen, called, there is a call to conserve and preserve the values of the church rather than allow the larger ecosystem to "taint' it?

On the other hand, not being aware of, withdrawing yourselves from the larger ecosystem leads to institutional and personal self containment, isolation, disengagement from life issues, loss of credibility, the inability to be incarnational.

How does the learning ecology idea apply to the life long learning for the church/seminary?