An insightful online presentation by Stephen Downes (and a nice illustration of how to practice what you preach). Downes discusses Web2.0 in relation to supporting your own learning using three areas, interactivity, usability and relevance, to focus his discussion (download his video presentation). Take a look…
For those of you keen on reading…I’ve done a bit of a rehash from notes I took while watching his presentation…
- What elements ring true for you?
- What challenges you to re-consider what you do?
- What simply wouldn’t work? YOU decide!
1. Interactivity: We need human contact for engagement and motivation to learn. We also need human content – to know what others know (that is different to a printed page). Traditional (online) approaches centre on broadcasting information rather than a more emergent approach which includes a network of interested people, sharing ideas. You can use email, IM, Skype, and forums to connect with others and to put out your own thinking and see how others react to your thoughts and opinions. You can also blog for this purpose too. This additionally helps to capture the process, and as Downes says, you can develop your own knowledge base. Real-time online communication is also beneficial as are virtual online spaces in real-time, which help to provide a situated, multi-layered conversation which is quite a rich way of interacting.
Pull is better than push, according to Downes – you choose what you want rather than having content shoved at you that you don’t necessarily need. Downes also suggests to speak as yourself (and listen for authenticity in others), be genuine – if it’s not comfortable to do so, then you need to keep practicing. Share your knowledge and experiences and opinions to make the most of interacting with others – you get out what you put in. Make it habitual – it should be a priority – it’s an investment by you in YOUR own learning and growth.
If you are limited in interaction tools – create it! Start a blog, use a wiki, set up a Gmail account – you say yes, you don’t need permission from others! Combine with other (closed) systems – eg. embed javascript (eg. YouTube) and RSS into LMS. Learn ways to conenct those that can provide a workable network for yourself. YOU judge what you need and YOU build the system you need to do that.
2. Usability: two key factors are consistency and simplicity. You shouldn’t need a manual to take you through a service or system if it meets usability needs well. It’s also important to be consistent as a learner too. What do YOU understand about learning? How do YOU like and prefer to learn? Get organised, on your own terms! Use a Content Management System (CMS) (eg. wiki) to manage your own knowledge base. Simplify the the information by summarising it until you understand it in your own words. When you search later on, you can use your own vocabulary/language rather than others – tagging with your own words helps to describe other people’s resources (you can define these in your own terms), in a way that makes sense to you.
Social conventions and connecting to others helps your own learning. You also have personal knowledge needs – are they being met? How? How do tools support your learning style/s? You need to focus on your personal learning needs as well as how your learning might be similar to others’ (i.e. social learning ), in order to manage your learning and develop in yourself; developing a consistent approach enables and enforces this process to emerge and continue to develop.
Downes advises to set up a distributed knowledge management system. Use external systems (or back-channels, as Downes calls them) to support other organisationally-provided tools. That is, don’t rely soley on the tools provided by your organisation, because as you move on your information and elements of your network won’t come along with you. Use a wiki to manage your information like a project page. Use a blog to record your commentary as well as those comments made by others that you’re interested in. Photo-sharing is also a good way to share your information that is less text-based, which is great if you’re a visual learner (and can connect with other learners).
3. Relevance: Downes advises to make sure you get the content and information you need. Location is also important. It’s helpful to have the information exactly where and when you want it. RSS and web feeds help to maximise your information sources (e.g. feed readers like Google Reader or Bloglines). Downes suggests you “filter ruthlessly;” pick and choose (if you don’t need it now, delete it!!). Being able to prioritise your own needs helps determine the information you need, when you need it. It really comes down to exercising and then trusting your own judgement. it’s also important that you can switch off when you don’t need to connect, as well. To do this, connect online to any place or time when YOU want it – work, home, travelling, etc. You’re free to access the WWW when you want it and to switch off when you don’t.
I like these principles of relevance, outlined by Downes:
- information is about flow not collection (think repeated exposure, rather than memorising/storing)
- back-channels are “unofficial” communication lines that can complement official ones
- go for project-based pages (for easy access to forms, templates, etc) to manage information when and as you need to
- demand access to blocked services!!! show that these services serve your needs and learning to use them wisely is a better option!
Finally, Web 2.0 is really not about technology. It’s about how we choose to organise our experiences through and on the Web. You are centre to your own learning and development via your networks. You make connections, interact with others and can direct your own learning – take charge and manage it yourself. This is also how we should teach, so we teach others to learn in this Web 2.0 way. it doesn’t mean being a lone ranger, but it means you should be central to those choices made about your own development. But…don’t take my (or Downes’) word for it, test it out for yourself!!
