January 7th, 2022
When we in our PBL group started out with this topic we had a pretty hard time figuring out what was really at stake (which was actually not the first time in this course to be honest :)). The title of the topic a bit provokingly anticipating that we should all be familiar with networked collaborative learning or personal learning networks (PLN) etc. We at first discussed PLN as it was also brought up in the webinar by Kay Oddone. Figuring out what could possibly constitute my PNL was thought provoking and something I had problems relating to. I don’t see myself as a person with a defined PNL I guess. But by loosely mapping down my everyday contacts and lines of communication and my online connection as well as my networks (although I seldom refer to them as networks) from work and private life I guess I somewhat started on finding out what my PNL actually look like. But when I afterwards thought about aspects that Kay brought up as ‘Managing a professional, digital identity’ I come to think about it from a different angle. As I think part of what I’m a bit provoked about is the corporate tendency in all these concepts and expressions. I guess it has to do with aspects as employability and design etc. But if working out an PNL could be a way of framing your professional online space as a way to limit it, not invading your personal or private space, then it would actually safe guard your private life, avoiding a feeling that we all need to get a smooth corporate image to fit in.
I think it’s obvious from this blog that my main issue during this course has been how to fit true critical thinking in to concepts of social learning, collaborative networks, PNL, social technology, employability etc. I certainly see that critical thinking at least in theory has a true place in all this in for instance an idea of open learning. A learning environment open to all kind of perspectives etc. But to me the process of fostering trust and creativity around collaborative learning contrasts with fostering critical thinking and I need to figure out why that is. The teacher in me would like to question all these aforementioned concepts as something we have needed to adapt to because of Alphapet, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple. So I need to come to terms with fitting the critical analytic thinking I see as a pillar in Academia with these concepts and expressions that I see as being originated from the corporate developing laboratories in Silicon valley.
The older teacher in me even had some hesitation around concepts as creativity in learning, creativity also being part of a vocabulary outside true learning and true scientifically based critical thinking. But thank goodness I have left that idea and I see myself with this course really wanting to learn how to work collaboratively with technology and how that can foster a creative learning environment (Gómez 2016).
But let’s leave that track as I understand this is more of a personal problem for me to deal with. I realize at the same time that the role of academia in training true critical thinking is more important than ever but also teaching true facts.
Ok, so this topic (Learning in communities – Networked Collaborative Learning) so many perspectives, questions and angles that we as a group had problem navigating towards what to focus on. But in our group discussion we left the PNL track pretty fast and instead landed in collaborative learning as the concept to work around and discuss. Experiences from old fashioned collaboration and group work all of a sudden became relevant to talk about.
So what good does group work do? We often talk about the ability to cooperate as an essential tool in working life, a generic skill to be part of the training in higher education. But these anticipated back-bone good of group work is also found be positively related to the quality of the learning experience (Brindley et al 2009). To me social learning is one of these ‘new’ concepts that sometimes stands in the way of the actual topic, in this case group work. But understanding social learning as learning as part of a group I understand it actually is just a new phrase for group work activities. But surely, to recognize social learning as a way for students to gain experience in collaboration and develop important skills in critical thinking, self-reflection, and co-construction of knowledge help us to defend group work activities in our pedagogical planning (Brindley et al 2009).
In our group assignment we decided to present our views on how we can get people to really recognize the value of becoming part of a learning community and experience the benefits of social learning? My answer was really mostly a comment and read like this:I think at least some of us need to be motivated by strong arguments to why working collaboratively is of value and benefits for all. These arguments of course exist, climate change for instance is one pretty strong argument to why we need to collaborate.
But that being said, we at the same time need to offer opportunities where collaboration can be performed and realized. Academia can sometime be quite contradictory in that they say one think and act another. So we need to show our students that this is for real, not only for show. We need to empathize with strength our own belief that collaboration is something WE value. By for instance find ways to credit collaborative behavior and acts. Academia doesn’t do just that, so we need to be creative and perhaps a bit normative, leave our comfort zone and our academic standards and regulations. We should try to act as role models in that sense, maybe teach in pairs where we prove how teachers can collaborate openly and without safety nets. If we as teachers can share the value of collaboration by actually collaborating ourselves, that that can inspire students to do the same.
Working with online courses at Karlstad University trying to get the students to stay engaged, motivated and interested I have come to really appreciate how we in trying to foster a true collaborative environment need to be true collaborative ourselves. Ourselves being part of the community we are trying to build around and with the students and that has shown to be supportive for learner satisfaction and retention (Brindley et al 2009). To me personally this approach to teaching in higher education has become a strong factor for motivation and inspiration.
References
Gómez, S. (2016). How working collaboratively with technology can foster a creative learning environment. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.tislid2014.420
Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3)