e-chronicle

Seely Brown et. al, in 1999, described the Web as a transformative infrastructure, and likened it (and its impact on our way of life) to electrification. He envisioned it to be an interactive medium of multiple intelligences (abstract, textual, visual, musical, social and kinesthetic) that required a new form of literacy - information navigation, bringing about the discovery-based or experiential-based learning through navigation, discovery, borrowing and judgement in (virtual) communities of practice. Boundaries between knowledge producers and knowledge consumers would be fluid, allowing the producers and consumers to interact with each other at ease, beyond the constraints of geography. There would be a shift to use technology to support social learning.

Almost a decade later, what has changed? Seely Brown et. al found that Internet has created a global platform, allowing wide access to all sorts of resources (including high-quality, scarce and expensive tools), and fostering a new culture of sharing. The Web today has blurred the line between content producers and content consumers, and attention has shifted from accessing information toward accessing other people. Being a participatory medium, it supports multiple modes of learning and various aspects of social learning, providing infinite opportunities for content producers and content consumers to find and join niche communities. While the Web 1.0 of yesteryear expanded access to information, the Web 2.0 of today is a new user-centric infrastructure, creating open participatory learning ecosystems that support Learning 2.0 - active, passion-based learning.

Challenges and reflection:

• Although Web 2.0 has been adopted in varying degree in tertiary institutions across Australia (kudos to the few brave academics), the fact is many teaching academics are still grappling with (and resistant to) Web 1.0, and until such time when the majority embraces it, will they be ready for Web 2.0.
• Apart from the (reluctant) academics, there are returning students who are pre-Web 1.0 or last studied in the early days of Web 1.0. The challenge for these returning students is to learn and be comfortable in the technology framework as part of their new learning environment, on top of consuming and digesting the content of the course of study. And because the new learning environment is so self-driven and passion-driven, the challenge is also to maintain that passion and activeness throughout the whole learning journey.
• Seely Brown et. al identified the new literacy skill of information navigation in the current learning ecosystem. Should this be taught in schools, or do we assume that kids of today are imbued with the skill? Should this be included in graduate attributes (together with other literacy skills)?

Click on the links below for the full text of the two articles by Seely Brown et. al.
Seely Brown, J. & Duguid, O. 1999, Learning, Working and playing in the digital age.
Transcript from a conference on Higher Education of the American Association for Higher Education.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/seelybrown/seelybrown.html

Seely Brown, J. & Adler, Richard P. 2008, Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0, Educause Review, January/February
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/MindsonFireOpenEducationt/45823