Learning in Communities - Networked Collaborative Learning

 

The third topic is on Learning in Communities – Networked Collaborative Learning.

In our course material, Kay Oddone discusses personal learning networks (PLN), online learning communities and personal online learning networks.

According to Kay Oddone, there are quite a few definitions of PLN; but she also says that, in reality, it really is a personal experience.

The term PLN started to appear in the late 1990:s, in 1998 Daniel R. Tobin published a web article Building your own personal learning network. Tobin´s definition of a learning network was “a group of people who can guide your learning, point you to learning opportunities, answer your questions and give you the benefit of their own knowledge and experience”. According to Kay Oddone, the definition is still valid, although how we learn and what we learn through our networks have changed, partly due to new technologies. The power of online PLN:s come from the interaction that occurs. PLN:s are based on social learning, but the learning is driven by the individual. Following others is not enough to develop professionally.

One reason for the importance of networks, according to Oddone, is that with today´s information overload, it is more important to know “how to find information and knowledge when we need it than it is for us to carry this knowledge in our head all the time”. To filter large amounts of information is a much more important skill than simple memorization.

She is also referring to online learning communities, which are different from online personal learning networks since the groups are smaller and tighter and in general people know each other. “There is a high level of trust and reciprocity within the relationships”. The members have a shared goal and there is a sense of security, and relationships are stronger than in a PNL. A drawback might be an inward focus.

My most important personal learning network are my friends. We have somewhat similar educational background, work in different areas but there are still connections between our job roles and I place a great trust in them, their knowledge and their points of view.

I am also part of communities in my job, which provide me with more in-depth knowledge related to my role, but it is not always evident how to evaluate the information/knowledge and how I can use the shared information, since the relationships aren´t so close that I get “the full picture”. Solutions are shared but the prerequisites that made a presented solution successful are not always discussed.

When it comes to PNL:s, I have to admit, I am a slacker. I follow people, but I don´t interact. It is more a way for me to scan for trends and new information than an exchange and sharing.

What I do find difficult with the overload of information is to evaluate. What is true and what is relevant? How well researched are models, frameworks, ideas that seem to be popular and the “talk of the town”? And if they are well researched, during which circumstances do they work well?

A few months ago, I listened to a very interesting program on the public radio (so I assume the information to be true), where they addressed a problem with research results - research experiments with interesting results get published and receives attention in media, but quite often when experiments are repeated, results are not the same; the results are not replicable. One example is one of the most viewed TED Talks ever (summer 2021) on power body language. The presentation is based on results from an experiment that had been conducted only once. Later, when the experiment was repeated, the results were not the same. So is the research valid? And how to evaluate the information?

How do we unlearn all the invalid information we come across when we search for valid information? If we have read a text, we have read it, we can´t unread it! Information spreads globally and becomes part of the “collective consciousness”. We have read something somewhere and six months later we believe it to be true, we can´t remember exactly where we read it, but information becomes part of our belief system without us knowing how it happened. This raises questions: How can we check underlying data? How can we screen information efficiently?  Where do we search for information? Who can we trust in this world of online visibility and constant information upload? Who and what brands are reliable?

The challenge for the individual is not only filtering large amounts of information and knowing where to find knowledge and whom to connect with, but to evaluate information and decide on trustworthiness of online information and our relationships. And last but not least, to forget information that is not relevant or true!

PLN:s Theory and Practice, part 1 and 2, Kay Oddone

PLNs Theory and Practice - YouTube