Assessment Task II, Part II: Learning Community Design June 6, 2008
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It was only recently I realised that being part of a group in a work or study environment is something I really enjoy. Initially this was pointed out to me by a colleague and as a result made me reflect as to why the notion of group work does not instil fear and apprehension in my being, whilst others may be cringing with despair at the very thought of it. Why is it that some may be a little reluctant to partake in a study group? Is this due to having to rely on others to a certain extent, which implies relinquishing some elements of control? Perhaps it is a degree of the unknown that must be accepted when dealing with a ‘people factor’?
Examining Wenger’s view on communities of practice, and in effect our group was a mini community of practice, it is clear that he views learning as very much a social activity (Wenger, 1999) which comes naturally to human kind. Put simply, learning does not necessary need to take a formal form in order for learning to occur. Learning activity is ongoing and ingrained into our every day lives, be it through interaction and engagement with others. Within our group, a significant level of engagement was generated, as each member was able to contribute something of a value, which was then shared with and integrated into the group.
Having to complete a ‘Group Charter’ at the beginning of group’s formation was certainly the right step in addressing some of the questions or concerns that participants might have been experiencing. It really served two purposes: firstly allowing learners to voice their expectations as to what they were hoping to achieve in terms of a mark, what they were willing to bring to the group and what their past experiences were. Secondly, it also gave learners an opportunity to develop some understanding of other member’s expectations and experiences. This exercise provided the right foundation for our group to commence the task.
From the beginning it was fairly clear that the members of our group shared similar objectives. The group was determined to perform well in the task presented and for this reason met together early on to discuss plan of attack and to distribute responsibilities. This is consistent with the description of learning process occurring within a given community of practice when its members work to a common purpose (Andrew, 2008). In our instance in order to complete the task, group members had to acquire and develop a certain degree of knowledge first.
One observation is that the group members, assumed individual responsibilities that were most pertinent to their own individual strengths. As a result, the group had an administrator and a Second Life (SL) subject matter expert, an overall technical expert and a researcher. The division of responsibilities catered to the individual’s strength and preferences. This in turn, allowed other group members to observe and replicate accordingly. This is consistent with the explanation of social comparison theory, where learners can learn by evaluating their own learning by benchmarking themselves against others and emulating those that appear to be successful in what it is they are doing.
In order to develop an understanding of the chosen subject, this being SL, the group embarked on a SL tour with the assistance of one of the members who already had some experienced with this tool. It has been noted that adults are able to easily learn by observing others (Saunders, 1999). In the case of our group this notion holds true, seeing that most of the group took their first steps on SL with the assistance of one of the group members, who demonstrated the ‘how to’ by taking the group on the virtual tour of SL. Once somewhat familiar with the SL surroundings, the group was then able to experiment further with the look of their own ‘avatar’. Any new SL findings or discoveries were then shared amongst the group. The group then replicated any of the actions that were deemed ‘successful’.
Through joint collaboration, group members were able to facilitate each others first hand experience in the virtual learning environment together as a group. After all, SL is a community of practice (Antonacci, 2008) where the members are able to interact with one another at least in a virtual form, share experiences, exchange feedback and chat.
Furthermore, our group had a number of tools at its disposal, which provided for further learning opportunities. Apart from the opportunity to learn hands-on on SL, the group utilised opportunity to meet face to face on a number of occasions and also engaged in conversations through the instant messaging tool such as msn. Having an opportunity to engage in a learning conversation with one another provided a further opportunity to articulate thoughts and form ideas. Learning conversations (Saunders, 1999) can too facilitate further learning and collaboration. Certainly in the case of our group, learning conversations ensured that group members were on the same page in terms of developing understanding of the subject and working through the task.
Another tool our group utilised was Wiki. It took the group a little while to figure out what was the best way of using this relatively unfamiliar tool. The Wiki proved to be a great asset in building and developing a joint project. The main reason being is that each group member was able to contribute to the body of work without physically having to be in the same place. The tool also provided for feedback, meaning that the members were able to provide one another with own reflections, suggestions or tips on various elements of the project. Constructive feedback can also enhance adult learning (Saunders, 1999).
Learning communities come in different shapes or sizes. Based on the experience described above, however, learning communities are similar in that they need to incorporate a number of key elements such as collaboration over a common educational objective, opportunity for social interaction, be it face to face or on-line and learning conversations which incorporate sharing and constructive feedback.
*Andrew, N. 2008, ‘Building on Wenger: Communities of practice in nursing’, Nurse Education Today, Volume 28, Issue 2, pp 246-252.
*Antonacci, D. 2008 ‘Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds’, AACE Journal, 16(2), 115-126.
*Saunders, S. 1999, ‘Social Psychology of Adult Learning’ in James Athanasou (ed.), Adult Educational Psychology, Sydney Social Press
*Wenger, E. 1999, ‘Communities of practice’, Cambridge University Press, pp.225-229
Assessment 1 - Part 2 May 8, 2008
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Please click here http://sabs.edublogs.org/assessments/assessment-1-part-2/to view Assessment 1 - Part 2.
Warning: Edublogs are addictive! March 23, 2008
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Lets see if I can figure out what exactly is happening here. After days of hesitation and contemplation as a Edublog novice, at last I have developed somewhat of a comfortable fluency of e-Land language. No, I am not implying that all of a sudden I am an expert on the subject. Just take a look at my blog, it is far from being a finished product, more work and configuration are still required, but its looking better than it did yesterday. It is also highly likely that tomorrow it will look better than today.
So here I am at 12 o’clock at night, way past my bed time. What is going on? My theory is that edublogs are addictive. How is it that someone who starts out feeling unsure and somewhat apprehensive in the business of blogging, in a matter of a few days evolves into a fully fledged edublogs addict? Still far from being an expert, I’ve just figures out the principal difference between a ‘post’ and a ‘page’ in an e-Land speak. But how fascinating! It is as if you’ve just learnt a new word in another language which you must immediately utilise by slotting in in every conversation…
March 17, 2008
Posted by sabs in miscelleneous.Tags: e-Learning, instructional design, masters
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Welcome to my blog!
I am a Learning and Development professional, specialising in instructional design. Currently I am in the process of undertaking masters in e-Learning. This is the part where I am supposed to put to practice my learning. This is my journey. So why is it so nervewrecking? After aren’t I am supposed to be a hands-on learner, then why is this so scary? This is my journey.
One challenge is that here I am getting back into study mode, after completing Bachelor of Arts in Social Science (Organisational Communications) back in 2000. Clearly I’ve gotten a bit rusty over the years. Sure I did complete an odd course here and then. However nothing that required so much time and dedication. The pressure is on.
Over the years I did contemplate resuming some kind of study that would relate to my chosen field. Having said this, I didn’t really miss my uni days, which by the way I completed via part time and was totally relieved when my degreee was finally completed.
And so here I am back for more - How much has changed! For starters here I am on-line, as opposed to being in a classroom. For someone such as myself who tends to be mostly disorganised the option of doing most of work on-line is truly a struggle. Not sure why but for me there was definetely lot of comfort in a face-to-face learning situation. How do I prepare myself for this completely new style of learning? I supose there is only one way to find out. I will just have to dive in, in hope that I can actually swim.
Regardless of my apprehensions, I am determined to make the most of it. I’ve decided to adopt a ‘trial and error’ approach. Stay tuned.
