May 9, 2022 post, Updated 21 Dec, 2024.
In 2002, John Seely Brown, fellow of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence was promoting a book he’d co-authored. He said that we were facing “exciting times“. We had lived through the rise (and fall) of the internet economy and the transformation of the entire ‘learning landscape’. Changes ranged from universities to the corporate world. They changed our understanding of how we understood knowledge, and information. The author explored emerging ‘technological drivers‘, and suggested that aspects of education and learning would need a reset.
“.. we can be key participants in designing environments that enable us to distinguish what is important from what is incidental, the effective from the merely efficient, and most of all, knowledge from information.”
Fast forward two decades. Individuals and organizations are more aware of emerging technological drivers that affect learning programs, businesses, and a lot more. Design choices involving the use of, and the access to any kind of tech are not a minor thing. Technology is just an element of many that may affect the livelihoods of people. Properly designed it enables us to develop ideas, products and services. We are able to foster, adjust and monitor changes that will help us grow.
We read about major investments in technology almost every day. Yet even with the best tech available, you may find yourself stuck. Are you applying outdated ‘learning’ methods in relation to the tech you are using? How does the content that you share relate to your audience today? These are some of the questions that come to mind.
Learning and cultural traits
” … progress implies an idealized future, nostalgia presupposes a highly romanticized past”. (Eviatar Zerubavel, 2003).
A historical period of disturbances related to changes in a technological drive will probably have diverse narratives of it. Often times, stories of human failure and catastrophe revert into great examples of survival, resilience, and even growth. Ground-breaking accomplishments have emerged out of necessity.
A learning ambient that fosters curiosity tends to favor mistakes. (Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, more likely it informed its options). Making mistakes and having the disposition to learn from them, as learning challenges, is what drives significant learning. You can’t do this by memorizing chunks of correct answers.
Learning challenges can’t be bought as a package and applied mechanically. They need to be seeded, nurtured as part of a learning system. Learners participate in the learning process and there will be lots of mistakes! Identifying the time frames and ‘maps’ of diverse narratives and perspectives may come handy.
Are you looking forward to learning challenges? How about improving your language skills with a coach? We’ll help you figure out which voice and range of words suits you better. And we’ll provide you with learning challenges that will orient you towards your goals.