Education and ecstacy

Posted on October 11, 2006 by Stanley Frielick

network map
Internet map @ The Opte Project

Suddenly he saw the city as a vast network of thoughts …. The universities were places for self-perfection, places for the highest education in life. Everyone taught everyone else. All were teachers, all were students. The sages listened more than they talked; and when they talked it was to ask questions that would engage endless generations in profound and perpetual discovery.
Ben Okri – Astonishing the Gods

Although it’s a gross oversimplification (and I’m sure that all the different perspectives, nuances and complexities will emerge as the FLNW book takes shape) – it seems to me that one dominant theme runs through the debates on the Google group. I’ve identified this as the future of learning institutions in a networked world. There seem to be two main threads: Continue reading →

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Groups, networks and ecological thinking

Posted on October 9, 2006 by Stanley Frielick

downes_efest06
(click here for larger image)
Been taking a break from work to recharge after a hectic few weeks – and letting the ongoing discussion about groups, networks and the future of learning wash over me, reading all the posts, but having a more private inner dialogue. The challenge that all of this is posing for me is how to make my own ecological thinking more accessible – more in the ‘network’ rather than the ‘group’ as Stephen would suggest. Although I’m still not clear exactly what the differences are when those terms are used. Like Teemu I think there is a lot of confusion in the FLNW debate about “group learning vs network learning, formal learning vs informal learning”, but I also think that Stephen, Leigh, Mark and the other many contributors are debating something very important for the future of learning – although it should be rephrased as the future of learning in institutions. Continue reading →

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