tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4717220359532645973.post5714972171009537977..comments2023-04-09T05:54:18.997-04:00Comments on Learning Complexity: #CCK12 - Shifting Gearskeith.hamonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08404376705918243534noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4717220359532645973.post-53878280913744063722012-01-30T19:16:09.536-05:002012-01-30T19:16:09.536-05:00I think it is more than a tug of war, Matt. It'...I think it is more than a tug of war, Matt. It's a crisis.<br><br>I'm reminded of a graduate course I taught in management information systems to a group of medical doctors pursuing their MBAs. I was engaging men and women who daily made life and death decisions with confidence and precision. Yet, as soon as they stepped into my class, they became students again, seemingly incapable of making the slightest decision about some rather inconsequential homework (at least, inconsequential when compared to their daytime decisions). They actually resisted invitations to manage their own learning, insisting that I tell them what to do, how to do it, and if they had done it correctly. It was a disheartening reminder of just how powerful the traditional educational model is for most of our students, especially the best students who make the best grades, such as those MDs.<br><br>I notice that a surprising number of people in the MOOCs have complained that Cormier, Downes, and Siemens do not provide enough scaffolding and feedback and monitoring. This is a very powerful paradigm that will take much effort to shift, I think, even if we get the institutions to agree to it. Most of the students will resist.Keith Hamonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08404376705918243534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4717220359532645973.post-45675116419245039492012-01-30T18:13:11.089-05:002012-01-30T18:13:11.089-05:00Hi Keith,I agree whole-heartedly with the need to ...Hi Keith,<br><br>I agree whole-heartedly with the need to shift emphasis from the teacher as the "font of all knowledge". By the time we teach them, almost all learners have been conditioned to expect instructions, information, recommendations, assignments and assessments all to originate from the teacher. I've been trying to develop techniques to draw learners' attention to each other's knowledge and skills and to see each other as resources. I've found some inspiration from educational researchers, for example Sugata Mitra who introduces a problem, says it's very difficult and then just leaves, saying he'll be back to see how his learners got on. Or there's what councellors and psychoanalysts do; reflect questions and ideas back to the individual or group, thereby breaking the "Q&A with the sage" archetype. Then again, learners usually need validation from their teachers, to tell them they're on the right track or affirm, and this leads into being the "gatekeeper of knowledge" again; the teacher juding what is correct or wrong when it's the learners' responsibility to decide.<br><br>It's a difficult tightrope to walk... or is it a tug-of-war with learners' expectations?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09988295289724757383noreply@blogger.com