We started class talking amongst ourselves about the market hourly rate of an Instructional Designer. Kim joined the conversation and related the subject hourly rates for Instructional Designers to our reading, putting us in the role of "Insider" in ID. Those not in the Instructional Design Community of Practice would likely not understand much of the conversation.
After our brief discussion, Kim sent the class, in groups, on a field trip. She sent each group to a different spot on campus, instructing us "eavesdrop" on random groups of people for 10 minutes. We were to see if there is learning going on in the conversations, and to report back to class the kind of learning that we observed.
Kim reminded us that learning can be informal, not just classroom style. She told us to look at interactions between people. Note the makeup of each group based on race, gender, etc. Listen to what they're talking about, and categorize the conversations. Also she asked that we note what makes each of us gravitate toward the conversations, noting if we chose groups that were part of one of our own Communities of Practice.
When we returned from our field trip, Kim began by noting that the focus of this class was to remain aware of our own learning process. Keeping this in mind will help our work in designing instruction for others. We need to remain sensitive to different styles of learning. This seemed to be one of the goals of our field trip assignment...we were to observe others learning and identify what type of learning they were doing, so that we will be able to identify what types of learning will be most effective for our target learners.
Here are some highlights of what the groups experienced:
One group visited the café near the Burk hall. They overheard several conversations ranging from cheese to dating to math homework. Kim brought the discussion back to the topic of situational cognition, describing the progression of a new-hire at the cafe. In that position, you learn "on the job". You cannot practically train all of the nuances of the job in a classroom. In the case of a café employee, an experienced employee has a wealth of knowledge and they impart this knowledge on others while doing their job. In this case, the existing employee is the "Insider", and the new-hire is a "Peripheral" member of the community.
In one case, the target group was speaking in Korean. One of the class members speaks Korean, so she homed in on this group as a member of the Korean speaking "Community of Practice". Another group that she overheard was speaking in Japanese, explaining how to set up PDF file. While our class member did not speak Japanese, she was able to discern what they were learning/teaching by observing the gestures and looking at the subject of their conversation.
Another part of the same group observed some students near the offices of an Asian Student organization. They were working on a banner. One worker was talking with someone about their relationship with someone else. This person mentioned that the two peopele were "that close", making a gesture indicating that they were very close indeed. This case illustrates how learning uses non-vocal cues as well as vocal. This is an example of "Semiotic" communication/learning (using signs).
Another group went to the Student Union building. A member of this group observed a conversation where one of the participants had given a to someone else, but now wanted it back. The observer was not able to hear the entire conversation, but was able to figure out that they wanted the gift back using non-vocal (Semiotic) cues. How did the observer learn what was actually happening in the conversation? Past experience within the American culture told him how to interpret the conversation, including the angry tone of the participant's voice.
Kim interjected at this point, pointing out that researchers need to be an expert in teaching to be able to observe and pick out the subtleties that become "data points". Many of the cues in the angry conversation were subtle, and the observer was only able to interpret them because he was a part of a similar Community of Practice (culture).
In a related point (and I've forgotten how they were related, but I'm sure that they were somehow), Kim pointed out that setting up a learning situation where students can teach other students is often very effective.
Another (this time unrelated) point that came up is that often there is stratification in the college environment, especially in a social area (leisure hours). Often people of the same ethnicity, race, religious, or other background will end up "hanging out" together. Research backs this up. Also, topics of conversation are usually different than what they discuss in a classroom setting (things such as cheese and dating rarely come up in math class).
Another class group observed several people (all male) dancing at the Student Union. One group was dancing, and two groups were observing. Those dancing were teaching each other moves, showing off moves, etc. There was quite a bit of interaction between them. Again, the "Insiders" were the dancers, while the "Peripherals" were observing. They also observed a gender-mixed group playing soccer. The observer noticed that when one of the guys had the soccer ball, other guys would get up close to try to take it away. However, when a girl had the ball, they wouldn't get as close. In this case, the Insiders and non-Insiders were not clear, since many of the signals (such as distance from each other in the observation above) may be ambiguous to learning. In a formal learning community, the distinction between insiders and others is often quite obvious.
Kim again offered some observations about the dancing group. If someone were to walk up who knew how to dance but was not familiar with the group, they may start as a "boundary" person. However, they would progress rapidly to the status of Insider, as he/she has expert knowledge of the community (dancing in general).
From here we shifted our focus to last week's assignment.
Some think that Situated Cognition should stand alone. Others think it's part of constructivism. For example, plumbers have professional organizations (Community of Practice). They go to conferences and share knowledge among themselves. As this knowledge is shared, the new knowledge brought by an individual becomes part of the community. However there are other variables, such as culture. Plumbing here in the US is going to be different, and US plumbers' knowledge may be useless, when taken to Africa. US plumbers may go to build a house in Africa but they cannot complete it because materials that they are accustomed to using are not available. Knowledge is VERY MUCH culture and context-bound. "Knowledge is in the situation".
One can become an "insider" by being in the situation. One takes a medical doctor to a hospital to learn to be a doctor. One takes a teacher to a school to learn.
Some highlights from our own Communities of Practice (from homework):
One of our classmates was a member of an International Student Org. In fact, he was an officer. Now, having done his overseas "stint" and having been graduated, he is outbound. He still participates, but is no longer a full-time student. However, he still has people asking him questions. He has travelled the entire cycle from inbound to insider to outbound.
Another is a professional trainer (not the fitness type). He works on teaching people skills that they can take back to others to use. He creates Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This is an example of a Boundary trajectory.
Kim says: Any job has a learning community. One person learns and passes it on. Companies have deliberately structured situations to foster this. This idea is also present in ITEC. Some years the ITEC studet organization has organizers who can bring in speakers, etc. They are insiders since they have the knowledge and contacts to bring in the speakers, who in turn share their knowledge with others.
All examples so far are real world, not based on book knowledge. Knowledge gained in these situation was based on experience that you constructed. It was learned through concrete experience, not abstract ideas from a book. Th idea that Kim wanted to pass on is the need to reflect on concrete experience to guide you in your later experiences. You need to apply "theories" that you develop based on early experiences to help interpret additional experiences.
More examples from homework:
One class member is also a member of a teaching community. He is an insider, but feels tha the is at the boundary level. He's an english teacher, but uses technical methods that are different than what other english teachers use. Part of the curriculum is to have students go out and create audio documentaries. He works at the school , but also works with the non-profit organization that organizes the interview exercises that the students participate in, so he is actually the boundary between the school and the non-profit. However, he sees his role changing now as he learns more at the University level, and so is possibly outbound now.
Another is a member of a Motorcycle community: The Southbay riders. He began as a peripheral, making sure he can keep up with other riders, etc. Now he's inbound. He has found the group to be very instructional, teaching to ride safely, know the parts of his bike, etc. Now the knowledge is coming to him, so he is feeling that he is on his way to being an insider where he can share his knowledge.
Kim says: Being an Insider comes with responsibility because you need to share knowledge with other inbound members.
Ex-member of a co-op nursery school: As a arent she worked there but was also a parent. She began as an Inbound, being part of the school and contributing to the school, then progressed to become a board member, then director. Now she is a member of another daycare that is not a co-op. It is still a community, but she is not as much a part as they were in the co-op. At the new day care, she is a peripheral member of the community of practice since she not at the heart of the day-care management, but also feels Inbound since the day-care focuses on the community, an she can continue to increase her involvement.
Marriage: This is an illustration of a Peripheral level progressing to Inbound, and eventually Insider, as a couple grows together. Marriage can also be viewed as outbound since marriage can force a move of one member from one comminity to another (in this case, SoCal to the Bay Area).
Kim Says: In 1990s we began to see that learning is context based. We learn as we become connected to communities. We can learn more as an insider, and in turn pass knowledge on to other Inbound individuals. This causes a separation between classroom and real world learning. Knowledge that we learn in the classroom can become unused as real life uses different knowledge. There is a great deal of debate on how we can change learning environments for young people from classroom to something that will impart more useful, real world knowledge.
Kim raised the question: "Why didn't this theory (of community-based learning) come in earlier?" The answer is that in the early 20th century, we were focused more on productivity. We needed people to make products, so behaviorism was king.
One of the students brought up the idea of the Socratic Method - proposing a question for his students to answer in a group discussion. This learning theory was being used in ancient times!
Next week:
- Digital story telling. Kim showed some examples, including a very touching story that she shared (her first story of this type).
- Next week bring your script (200-300 words), pictures, music, etc., and you will edit it together using iMovie or Movie Maker (or something similar).
- We will do story editing in-class, and production will be on your own time. You can borrow a microphone if you need to from the learning lab.
- Can be on any topic, but should be something that fits into 2 minutes.Should use voice, so that you actually write the story. Use pictures and music to augment.
- There is a link from iLearn to KQED site with examples.Be sure to think about your background music, as it will add alot.
- You will want to choose a starting event and show the steps leading to an ending step. Use images to illustrate the different steps.
- On the iLearn site - Updated manual on how to create your story. First, find the experience. then tell (write) the story. Then create the piece. then publish the work.
- When complete, you will publish to your SFSU website and Kim will link to it from iLearn.
One thing that Kim has noted is that this exercise also builds your community ties in theclass. We will move to a different level as we find out things about each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment