This leads to the question: "Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia? I believe that humans have a basic instinct to do anything that they can that leads to self-interest. One quickly learns that the chances of success increases with interactions with others, but sometimes it leads to negative consequences before the positive ones can be found. I don't think that there can ever be success without any failures.
How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles? Technology provides a tool that allows groups with similar self-interests to find each other, work together, share, and discuss. This can be two people on opposite sides of a classroom, or 100 people in locations spread throughout the world. Constructivist principles allow the learners to create learning experiences that are relevant to their own contexts. When cooperative groups of learners can band together and join forces, the amount of learning and impact on social change can be limitless.
Lewis,
ReplyDeleteYour experience with your students to not want to share designs brings up an interesting question about our instinct to work together. Aside from instinct, I agree that 'self-interest' is one of the motivators that drives humans to work together. But as you stated, "one quickly learns that the chances of success increases with interactions with others..." While it's natural for us to want to work togther, there is a significant learning component that drives our willingness to do so. We have to learn "how" either by trial and error or through coaching.
Lewie,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read your post, the first thing that came to mind was that something drastic must happen to kids between the elementary years and middle school. Though young children do naturally gravitate towards one another, the concept of collaboration and sharing does not always come naturally. Of course, a child's background and upbringing can have a profound influence. Do they lack basic necessities and have to fight to survive? Do they have everything they want and are spoiled? Sharing and collaboration for many children must be explicitly taught, modeled and practiced. I visited some kindergarten classrooms the other day and saw some stark differences in the climates. In one classroom, the children were involved in activities in table groups and discussed the tasks among themselves, negotiated the sharing of materials, etc. The teacher used language to promote cooperation and sharing. In the other classroom, children sat independently and were complimented for getting "the most work done." The teacher gave out toys to the three kids who spent "the most" time on the computer doing the math drills. I am wondering if the second scenario might have the potential of producing children who cannot collaborate effectively because of the importance put upon self-interest, competition and winning. If collaborative workspaces are to be viable instructional tools in educational and work settings of the future, we must not leave out the consideration of coaching our younger students on how to cooperate and collaborate.
lewis
ReplyDeleteYou statement on collaboration gave me food for thought. There are lots of people that will only share for selfish reasons, but I feel because of the globalization of the web people are becoming knowledgeable of other people and with the knowledge of other cultures people are willing to share.
We have copywrite laws that enables one to share and receive credit for their ideas. Others are able to build on the ideas, and use APA reference and citations to give credit where it is deserved. Man must be able to build on other's ideas through collaboration snd continue to progress as species.