Learning Environments

          The article A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change analyzes different approaches to viewing the culture of the learning environment and seeks to provide an argument in favor of a flexible and symbiotic relationship between the culture of learning and the learning environment. The authors, Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, describes two different types of culture in which people can view the culture of learning: 1) the type of learning in which there is a strict teacher and student relationship that typically results in a singular direction of learning and tests knowledge within a rigid boundaries of understanding, 2) a model of learning that is symbiotic in nature, a model in which it is understood that new knowledge is consistently becoming available and that there are multiple ways in which this knowledge can be approached or tested. The student has the creative and progressive capacity for choosing an independent style of learning; the boundaries of a subject do not hinder learning, but encourage further questioning and exploration of the subject in multiple ways.

            I was particularly intrigued by the topic of individualized learning, and how it was described as having boundaries that serve as catalysts for further learning. relates to my own experiences in a learning environment where we are encouraged to do independent research to further our knowledge of topics that we are particularly interested in, specifically in the Intro to Digital Art Class from last semester in which the basics of the digital programs were introduced to us, but we were encouraged to explore different tools in our works. After learning the basics in Dreamweaver, I was excited to have the time to discover how to do things that I was not taught in class, such as adding in superscript and anchor notes and altering the code to add spaces in between text, and found a sense of autonomy and pride in my discoveries. Having this experience boosted my confidence in understanding the program, while also resulting in the application of skills necessary to my project to differentiate my own creation vastly from the websites of the others in my class. Much of this learning was done on the Internet by looking at online forums and Youtube videos where people have posted instructions about every aspect of the Dreamweaver program.

            Another interesting note in the article was about the supposed lack of innovation in the workplace in the face of constant progression of information and media. In my Anime and Manga class today, we were talking about how the Internet has made such a large impact on popular culture and how it spreads. There are workplaces in industries related to popular culture that seem to be able to keep up with the progression of information- they must be fluid and attentive to trending topics, and utilizing the Internet as a resource to reach a wide variety of audiences, more specifically the younger generations that tend to be the ones that further the progression of culture and future knowledge, pushing boundaries. However, I would be interested in knowing how the author proposes to use the workplace as a place of fluid knowledge and innovation while also running an efficient and effective business, which requires training and handbooks. My mother works for an insurance company stationed in Florida, though she lives in Maryland. They never officially trained her, and so she has to learn new things every day. They gave her a training handbook with specific codes and names for certain types of information, but when asking co-workers to explain them, she finds that they have new codes and names, and even new systems and procedures: this does not result in efficiency of the workplace and good communication despite obvious fluidity and progression.

            The article already notes that there are pros and cons to both approaches to learning. The traditional view of learning allows for certain restrictions in focus, but it does not allow for an efficient level of flexibility in a time of constant change and progress in knowledge. But, the more flexible learning method posits that freedom and flexibility to learn a wide scope of subjects based in an individualized learning system, but not having a structure could allow for too many distractions or lack of attention to important areas of study. The article seems to suggest that the second area of study is more valuable and should be implemented on a wider scope because it allows students to create a sense of autonomy and creativity in accordance with their learning. Allowing freedom of learning is certainly valuable because it does not place too many restrictions, but finding a balance between the two types of learning would be frustrating, and lacking any guidance at all would result in an even greater frustration for the student. A lesson in understanding how to most efficiently use the Internet would be needed, but, would this attention to efficient Web-usage contradict the desire to move away from the idea of learning as needing to be efficient?

            Another problem is that the authors assume that the accessibility to technology is something that is universal, which is not true. There are still several people who do not have consistent access to the Internet due to connection issues, or the lack of affordability of computers, laptops, and other such devices. This could create a wide divide in schooling systems where there is a divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” where there does not need to be one. This raises issues related to socioeconomic hierarchies, potential social issues, and if it okay to “leave children behind” in academics. At Catoctin High School, where I used to attend school, they are implementing technology into the learning environment, but there are too few public computers and computer labs for every class to meet the time requirement for these lessons. The result is that the classes have to rotate their computer lab access for part of the week and implement classroom lessons with the technology that students bring to class. The issue here is that not every student has these devices, so it puts some students at advantage, creating social issues in the classroom, and a certain level of ‘inefficiency’.