Perhaps one of the first examples of a learning within a network or community in the field of technology was that of Steve Wozniak and the Wednesday garage meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club. This was an informal group of computer hobbyists who in March 1975 began to hold weekly meetings centered around the development of a personal computer, one that average households, instead of only corporations and universities, could use and afford. One of those first attendees was Steve Wozniak who just three months working late at night by himself, would do exactly that. The story is recounted in his memoir, and he credits those meetings as a turning point; and as the inspiration in developing the computer that would became known as Apple I.[1]
His example seems to measure up to the characteristics Kay Oddone in her two sessions on PLN”s Theory and Practice (Part 1 and Part 2)[2] has identified amongst all the different forms of PLN’s as shared traits. She has conveniently broken it down into the words that made up the phrase –thus:
- personal (the network is created/sought out by the individual who has specific needs/interests and consist of people and sources (online or offline);
- learning (the learning is driven by the individual but it is social learning with the learner navigating amongst the persons, software and tools of the network to obtain the answers)
- and takes place in a network (of which the structure is organic, the membership is flexible and the goal is knowledge generation – but on a particular topic as pursued by the individual.)
Turning to the example above, one can identify an individual, seeking out a group who can guide him in his learning, help to answer questions, gain from their collective experience and knowledge, and then applying it to meet his personal goal; one that also happened to change the world.
There are therefore clear benefits to fostering personal learning networks, and the same can be said about groupwork or collaborative learning. The common thread that seems to run through all of them is that there is far too much knowledge out there for a single individual to hold or obtain, and when we work or share together we benefit from the collective mind.
But working in groups is not easy. We can all identify with the frustrations set out by Capdeferro and Romero in their article about collaborative learning experiences – to name a few: commitment imbalance, unclear goals, additional time and effort required, dominance of a member, misunderstandings etc.[3] There is therefore somewhat of a paradox to social learning: the joy and enthusiasm to interact with others, to benefit from a diverse group of people and to gain from the learning opportunity; but on the other hand, the not-as-painless process of working together, of finding consensus and producing an outcome.
And there is a distinction between working in a group and really collaborating. Siemens as quoted by Brindley et al [4]has identified a four stage continuum of involvement – first that of communication (ie dialogue amongst the members), then collaboration (where ideas and/or resources are shared and members work together) , cooperation (where they work together on a common aspect but with individual contributions) and community (where there is a common purpose). I would differ from Siemens in that I think collaboration is further down the continuum, after co-operation. In my experience, in the initial stages of involvement within a group, it is easier to chat to each other, and to each contribute a part . Collaboration requires slightly more of going beyond our own personal barriers, and for that to be done requires more of a trust relationship between the members. At the start of the ONL course one of our facilitators had indicated that real collaboration is not the same as groupwork and used the analogy of an orchestra where each musician plays his instrument and music sheet and the end result is a beautiful musical piece. And yet it was really only co-operation as each member still takes responsibility for their part, adds it to the others, whilst looking to the conductor as guidance, whereas with collaboration the parts become indistinguishable from the contributors and they look to each other for guidance.
During this topic our group did a SWOT analysis on learning communities and then looked at strategies for creating effective collaborative learning communities. It is available at this link. We flipped the traditional SWOT to a SOWT so to focus on the positives about learning in a community, as we all felt that one of the key learning experiences that should be encouraged in higher education. is to engage in collaborative activities. As Brindley et al had put it so aptly, “ Access to education should not mean merely access to content…; rather, it should mean access to a rich learning environment that provides opportunity for interaction and connectedness.”
Thus even when frustrations are encountered, when there are challenges in dealing with each other and information excesses, the inherent benefit of the interaction and connectedness should still be sought. And perhaps like in Wozniak and Apple’s case, who knows what turning point this ONL course can bring about in our lives, and what discovery we may make that may still change the world?
This blog is part of a series written as participant of the ONL 181 course.
[1] Biersdorfer, JD “Desktop Icon-Sunday Book Review” (1 Oct 2006) The New York Times” I can tell you almost to the day when the computer revolution as I see it started,” Wozniak writes halfway through the book, when he is still working days at Hewlett-Packard. According to Woz, it was at the first meeting of “a strange, geeky group of people called the Homebrew Computer Club in March 1975.” That meeting inspired him to start designing the future Apple I, the first computer to feature two elements — a video screen and a keyboard — that are used to this day by the beige, white, black or silver boxes parked on desks and airplane tray-tables everywhere. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/books/review/Biersdorfer.t.html.
[2] Oddone, K “ PLN”s Theory and Practice (Part 1 and Part 2)” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be.
[3] Capdeferro, N. & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences?. The International review of research in open and distance learning, 13(2), 26-44.
[4] 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)