Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Good article, well written. I have said in the past, "To teach is to model and demonstrate; to learn is to practice and reflect." Too little is said about the last part of that, the reflection. This article addresses that need. It argues that social interactions with others assist in the reflection process. "Such interactions can create the setting for misunderstandings, needing clarification and explanation, and consequently leading to situations where learning can take place. The resulting dialogues creates a possibility for negotiation of common ground between the speakers."

But not all social interactions create the conditions for learning (one needs think only of flaming and bullying, for example). Some important things need to be in place:
- there needs to be sufficient and relevant differences
- the environment must allow these differences to be explored
- dialogue partners need to trust each other
- they also need the skills to express themselves
The article also explores the technical considerations for tools intended to promote this interaction: they need to scaffold the needed behaviour, enable observation of the behaviour, provide instruments for self-assessment, and provide user control over the artifacts. Via. Here is the direct link to the PDF. Here is the Handle link (which will probably break first).

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2024 10:55 a.m.

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