It counted to my good resolutions for this young year to blog more than the last. And so this post is about my thought of the day in January 1th 2010.
Linda asked me to tell a bit more details about group and our podcasting work and the bildungsreporter asked for some details even so. So I started thinking about the theoretical background on what we are doing so and why we are doing it in the way we are doing it. And to be honest the last question is still unanswered, because the AG Podcasting is a dynamic group of human subjects (subjects and not only individuals!) and finally I learned I can simply talk for my own.
So the question which can be answered here is to be more precise: Why I am arranging the room for learning in the way it is? (Sorry for the self ad here)
To go through this to a sufficient answer, you should get introduced in some things we are doing, just for the case you don’t know 😉 The group of students calling themselves AG Podcasting is a freely joined Group of students at the university of koblence-landau, arranging, preparing, hosting and filling the Podcast called „Bildung im Dialog“ which is in mainly german language. Doing so the Podcast and the group exists since 2006. The members of „AG Podcasting“ changes dynamicly, which means in fact there are students stying, there are students leaving for what reason ever.
(End of self/group Ad here)
So trying a reflective view (as it its possible but I am honestly trying) on how this learning space is arranged there you can state some things: First: The focus of our work is oriented on the content. Thats the student’s starting point and thats there inner drive. Focussing on the content means that from the beginning a lot of technical questions are from their point of view unanswered. But there were named or are obvious.
This fact brings up challenges but raises also in advantages. I count it to the challenges in the start of each semester explaining the world of social media and we are located to bring this in their own horizont. I also talk about the supported tools which they are offered to use. There is our podcast, there is the blog, there is the wiki, there is a groupware, there is …. social bookmarking etc. But on that on it is ok having them named and explained and from that on stopped forcing them anymore in the technical details. OK Thats my way to handle this, because of my inner meaning of learning, which means 1) Learning is the process who takes place inside the students and 2) Learning can happen in finding a way of creative expression on what is focus of the mind and 3) Learning means to have learned to pick the chance and get this as challenge. Which means: Learning is an offer you are enabled to pick.
So how to continue on this to get it to my first learning experience in 2010?
I spent a lot of thoughts on how to bring those deep learning experiences to other experiences those of colleques (also more than only HE students in mind) so compared to them and that may be annoying to you: I am not teaching the social media as tools. They are rare moments in the case of general topic on request, in situations where interest driven short interjunctions are a good moment to place them. But as technology or techtalk in general i am leaking. So why I decided to do this in this way? There are organisational aspects. We are educators in our main subject. So the genuin topic is more bound to the content. There are also my frustrating experiences about claims and complaints on the next login and the next tool. From that moment on I remembered about: Teaching is not Learning. You cannot offer learning when you are not beside the interests of your learners. And thats not only the motivation part – there is a good home of educational theory called ‚expansive learning‘ based on Holzkamps Theory founded in the critical psychology who allows the view: Teaching is not learning and outside the interest of the students you can only reach defensive learning. Defensive learning is what Holzkamp calls the opposite of the real and expansive learning valued by the view of the subject (not individual).
Thats were the theroy of my at the moment big piece of work is based on and thats what drives me through the years on what i am doing here.
So the learning of today is twice: First nice to see theroy in work but there is a deeper thing: Reflecting on my theoretical work and reflecting on the own learning assisting experience and observing there came a sentence in my mind:
„Teaching the use of social media and focus on the technical tools means ….
… to enable people speaking.“
So it said is a good thing teach the tools when needed and having all the people in mind, i knew over the web on teaching all the technical and digital literacy skills. For me it means: To enable to get out of the thoughts into production and having the sure way to move inside as outside digital world. But there is my but: For me this left my horizon at the moment. Where to start, where to stop on the technical level? I want to reach the horizon abroad. I don’t want simply the students are enabled to get inside a technical tool and make a post. Whats behind those thoughts? What is my deeper sense?
„Teaching means enabling learning by giving the room to use social media by the tool of choice and the mode of choice by self addicted quality mesurement means …
… to enable to express the own learning and enable to talk.“
Am I right there is a difference between to speak and to talk? Am i right the difference is anyhow between being articulated and in conversation? If I am right here so there is the base not being misunderstood. What is my hope bound to the ‚talk‘-learnership? It is related to partners in conversation. Partners thats the filled sense of the you, you got in terms like „user“. Partner are listeners, Producers as well as simply enjoyed people. The second related to ‚talk‘-learnership: Being in conversation you have the best base of learning ever: Reflection. This means to be enabled express yourself as well as ourselves – struggeling, cheating, teasing and fighting for the right meaning of sense. Is there a better place to do?
Finally and thats my last learning today: I feel honored not being recognized as teacher in the traditional meaning. This makes it easier to me to be a learner too.
Thanx for reading and a happy 2010 to all our friends and partners in learning
Bis denne
Andreas Auwärter
