Comments for Empathetics: Integral Life

Comment on Confessions of an informal learner who’s learning in school by Rafi Santo

Rafi Santo — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:54:27 +0000

Yes, I think a lot of what this is about is the social context of learning, as you mentioned. I think that studio models in the art world do this well, bringing together people that are passionate about something, engaging in deep practice, and having a culture of response and critique. I think these things are also possible in big corporate environments, as well as K12 schooling, but that we just need to be thinking and designing from a cultural standpoint in order for them to occur.

Comment on Confessions of an informal learner who’s learning in school by Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:04:26 +0000

Interesting thoughts. I had similar experiences in grade school and high school but when I attended college where my focus of study was illustration I excelled. I feel that the reason was partly motivation since I was paying for it and felt it was my “one shot” and the other part was the informal nature of my studies. We had no real tests, everything was based on critique and meaningful output (paintings, illustrations etc…). I was also physically moving around a lot and engaging with educators and fellow students with similar interests.

In the working world I’ve also seen parallels having great experiences working with small start-ups where everyone cared (positive) and large entities where many people were just showing up for a pay-cheque (not so positive).

Overall I think the social context is very important and fosters a learning atmosphere. Maybe this is what you are experiencing. Regretfully, K-12 can be a bit like a prison where the most meaningful learning takes place in the extra-curricular activities and dialogue with peers when the teacher is able to get the kids “pumped” about a particular subject which is rare given the constraints that educators have.

Comment on Moving on, and why working at Global Kids was the best job I ever had. by Confessions of an informal learner who’s learning in school « Empathetics: Integral Life

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:06:30 +0000

[...] has so many things that I can say about it in terms of my own learning to be a professional (and I have, if you’re again curious), but I’ll limit myself here. What I’d really like to [...]

Comment on Learning Technology for Youth, Learning Technology By Youth by M Levine

M Levine — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:41:10 +0000

Hi Rafi:

Allison Druin’s work at HCIL is terrific and appreciate your bringing her work to the fore in your post. One great resource you don’t mention is the amazing International Children’s Digital Library–the largest resource of children’s lit available in dozens of languages on the web

All best

Michael Levine

Comment on Avoiding the “Creepy Treehouse” When Using Technology to Connect Learning Ecologies by Rafi Santo

Rafi Santo — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:03:42 +0000

Thanks so much Bud. It’s a very good point – think about how creepy Facebook has become, and it’s “just connecting” things that we like, right? This comes back to values in design. What are the tools really about, and what agenda do they serve? As the old saying goes, if you’re not paying, then you’re the product. It would be my top priority to make sure a system like the one I’ve been talking about could never operate on that logic.

Comment on Avoiding the “Creepy Treehouse” When Using Technology to Connect Learning Ecologies by Bud Hunt

Bud Hunt — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:50:31 +0000

You hit the point I’d make near the end when you mention connective tissue. If point A is okay, and point B is okay, then the connection between the two should allow for the facilitation of “okayedness” between the two.

Of course, then, now I’m thinking about roads and how so many robbers would lie in wait for a traveler to come along and they’d rob them blind and beat them senseless. So perhaps the roads between safe spaces aren’t necessarily all that uncreepy. Nuts.

Useful post. Thank you.

Comment on Learning Technology for Youth, Learning Technology By Youth by Avoiding the “Creepy Treehouse” When Using Technology to Connect Learning Ecologies « Empathetics: Integral Life

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:12:24 +0000

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Comment on What Cognitive Tutors Can (and Can’t) Teach Us About Personalized Learning by Avoiding the “Creepy Treehouse” When Using Technology to Connect Learning Ecologies « Empathetics: Integral Life

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:12:18 +0000

[...] follow their interests and connect the various places in their life that they learn (more on that here, if you’re interested). While reading about Quest Atlantis this week, a educational game that [...]

Comment on A Model not for Technology in Education, but for Technology & Learning by Avoiding the “Creepy Treehouse” When Using Technology to Connect Learning Ecologies « Empathetics: Integral Life

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:12:16 +0000

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Comment on Learning Technology for Youth, Learning Technology By Youth by johannakeene

johannakeene — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:50:04 +0000

Rafi,

I agree that it is important to have kids as co-designers, and not merely an afterthought in a design process. I’m curious as to how you think that process could be improved. As you said, it is difficult to involved kids for various reasons, and I’m sure that from your experience you have some ideas of how to make that a smooth process without losing the kids’ voices. My fear would be that because of the difficulties the children would end up being merely bystanders, not really participating with the actual design. What can adults do to combat that?