A New Culture of Learning

What happens to learning when we move from the stable infrastructure of the twentieth century to the fluid infrastructure of the twenty-first century, where technology is constantly creating and responding to change?

This critically important question provides the impetus for a thought provoking book entitled A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. The authors, Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, have the perfect backgrounds and credentials to address this challenging question in a thoughtful, meaningful and provocative way.  Readers of this book will find a well thought out perspective of learning that is very different from the one which dominates all levels of education today. 

The authors start with the obvious - information abounds, it gets easier every day to get it, and the world (and consequently information) is changing more rapidly than ever before.  Along the way, they help us to recognize the multiple ways in which we all learn outside of the classroom through experiences of all kinds, with perhaps a bit of emphasis on play and failure. Through stories, they begin to draw out a description of a new culture of learning, one which involves using the new informational resources in a way that responds to personal needs, and results in sharing that experience in a way that helps to recreate the space of knowledge. 

This new culture of leaning is one which moves from the present mechanistic approach in which learning is treated as a series of steps to be mastered, to one in which learning should be viewed in terms of an environment -combined with the rich resources provided by the digital information network-where the context in which learning happens, the boundaries that define it, and the students, teachers, and information within it all coexist and shape each other in a mutually reinforcing way. Peer-to-peer learning moves to the fore in this new view, as learners participate actively in the collective learning process. Learners may become involved in defining the questions, helping to provide information needed to address the questions, structuring approaches, and deciding objective. Not all members of the collective will participate in the same ways, but instead each will find the modes of participation that are most individually meaningful.

The authors walk us through a number of conceptual changes that they believe are occurring such as:tacit knowledge is increasing in importance compared to explicit knowledge; and, questions are becoming more important than answers as learning becomes continuous. They use Mizuko Ito's work to categorize ways in which students are using social media to learn: hanging out, messing around, and geeking out. 

Throughout, the authors describe the ways in which games, both physical and virtual, lead to learning. In a world of near constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change, rather than a way of growing out of it.  However, not just any play will do to provide the desired learning. Thus we move onto the crux of the problem:

...traditional approaches to learning...have yet to find a balance between the structure that educational institutions provide and the freedom afforded by the new media's almost unlimited resources, without losing a sense of purpose and direction....

The challenge is to find a way to marry structure and freedom to create something altogether new.

The other continuing "crux" thread has to do with the passions of students - it leads to a fundamental principle of this new learning:

Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and operate within the constraints of a bounded environment.

I felt that this book clearly described the ways in which students and and other young people are using "informal" ways to learn today, and made a very convincing case that these powerful modes of learning should be brought into the educational mainstream. However, for me, the least clear aspect of the argument had to do with the bounded environment necessary to maintain the sense of purpose and direction of formal education. The few examples given seemed to relate to students who shared some common passion; the ordinary class may well have few overlapping passions with which to organize. And of course, one of the things education seeks to do, especially in the earlier years, is introduce students to subjects for which they originally may well have no passion in an effort to expand their horizons. What types of bounded environments will lead to graduates who posses the intellectual and work skills and knowledge expected of a graduate of the institution?  And more fundamentally, what are those expected skills and knowledge in this changing world?

This cavil should not detract from the importance of this book. It does not answer all the questions and objections that one might raise, but that is to be expected in a short book that is introducing so many new ideas. Its importance is that it will challenge some deeply held educational belief of almost every one of its readers.  At the same time, it forces most of us to look at education from a different perspective. And in these times - that is really good. 

Comments

[B Davis]

Very interesting topic and I agree that that learning evolves as the bounded environment transforms. In today’s learning environment, traditional approaches has its pros and cons. Students always learn best when they can connect to the materials in a way that is meaningful to their lives. Learners look for the relevance in the course material, and they seek ways to make a connection between it and their own experiences. This is central to the andragogy model.

[Ann-Marie]

When I mentioned cultures that are constant, I was thinking about the marginalized groups in some cultures. As you indicated, cultures really change but some more slowly; even within cultures that change, some peoples are not part of the change. I speak of the poor, illiterate, un-trained or unskilled, geographically segregated, and otherwise. For example, indigenous farmers in Mexico, who continue to farm using traditional methods; they are vulnerable to the unfair competition with more privileged farmers who benefit from modern technology. I am also thinking of inner-city Jamaicans who, despite the invasion of technology, cannot even afford electricity. I speak of rural communities that are denied internet access because communication technology providers believe it is not profitable to serve these communities. For example, while the Ministry of Education in Jamaica may have provided equipment and tools for e-learning classes in some schools across the island, the culture of some institutions remain constant because they have no access to infrastructure that facilitate the use of these equipment. Therefore, as the rest of the country moves along, they remain constant. Do you see my position?

Lloyd comments: Thanks, Ann-Marie, for the clarification about constant cultures. You are certainly correct that there are micro-cultures everywhere that seem to be at the very fringes of change- and because the main cultures are changing rapidly, this increases the gaps between the center and the fringes. With respect to this book, it is certainly the case that the authors are thinking of students who have- and have had for most of their lives - access to the internet and are deeply embedding in a culture of technology and access. My guess is that were the Jamaican students you mention suddenly to be given the equipment and infrastructure required to utilize the kind of approach suggested in the book, they would not find it attractive/useful in the short and medium term because it would not respond to where they are emotionally and experientially.

[Ellen Sorberg]

Sounds like a great book. As a graduate student in education, I will find this book useful in my online learning experience. Thank you.

Lloyd comments: you are welcome!

[Bob Bing]

A Comment:

As someone engaged in both the world of education and business, the notion of exploring a different model of learning and education (they are not the same thing) is intriguing. However,oftentimes in such efforts, I find the devil to be in the details. The authors make it clear, and justifiably so, that we are in need of a fundamental reassessment of learning models. To this point I am in full agreement. One of the issues I find intriguing is bringing balance to freedom and structure. Learning requires both, but precisely how this is accomplished is a point of inquiry I feel is largely unanswered.

Lloyd comments: Hi Bob. Thanks for your comments. I agree that the issue of balance of freedom and structure is not well addressed in this book. That is obviously the next big challenge in utilizing this type of approach. Perhaps some of our readers may have already begun to experiment in this area, and can provide us all with some insights.

[Ann-Marie]

The authors certainly addressed some of the modern trends in education; your post is an excellent take on the issues. Of course the evolution of technology and globalization in general purport new perspectives on education and learning. Access to educational opportunities has bridged the not just geographical, but cultural borders. My concern is how does this ‘new culture of learning’ consider the implications of one’s culture? What about cultures that remain constant while the rest of the world is changing?

Lloyd responds: Excellent question. In the first instance, this would seem to be a question left open by the authors' relative silence on the structures within which these new learning approaches are to work. However, the approaches being suggested are clearly reflections of changing behavior on the part of learners, and may not be descriptive of where students in many cultures are today re. interactions with technology, social media, etc. But are there really cultures that are remaining constant while the rest of the world changes, or is it just a question of rate of change? What examples are you thinking about?

[Wanda Carter]

Greetings everyone:

I agree that technology is ever evolving and learning has taken on many forms. With Ipads, mobile technology, game boards and laptops, learning has become an ongoing process that requires the institution of new applications to operate these gadgets.

Learning is no longer restricted to a building anymore, an individual can be riding a bus, a train or a plane and be engaged in research to complete a lesson plan or proposal for an upcoming meeting.

Learning has now become a way of life for those of us who are encouraged and inspired by the evolution of technology.