Collective Intelligence: What it
could mean for Education
Bullock starts by
saying that we tend to teach on how we were taught while growing up, according
to the social patterns. Tyack and Tobin referrer to this as "grammar
of schooling." Wiki's, blogs, and social networking have the potential to
drive a powerful educational reform of improving students’ quality of learning
in the classroom. Bullock makes a reference on digital immigrants and
digital natives. "I find the distinction between digital natives and
digital immigrants unproductive at best, and ageist at worst." He states
the reason for this is that the faculty uses Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or
instant messaging to help organize one’s personal life, which can cause a lack
of engaging the student in learning opportunities. Creating a blog to
share one’s personal life is different from working with others to share and
create knowledge. However, there is radical change, referred to as "Web
2.0". Bullock states, "that humanity is in the midst of a
period of major social innovation as a result of the digital technologies often
grouped together as Web 2.0." Society of all ages is able to
communicate, socialize, and share experiences. There are four types if
interaction that people use for social interactions; sharing, co-operation,
collective production, and collective action. “Traditionally, the education
system in North America has been geared toward individual achievement and the completion
of individual tasks," states Bullock. There have been failed
attempts to change in education. Jigsaw-group work and co-operative learning
were attempted in the schools but the overall consent to these strategies were
disagreed on.
How Collective Intelligence
Redefines Education
Ilon begins by saying, "Google, Linex, Wikipedia and numerous user help centers are accessed constantly as learning tools throughout the world – in business, civic life, government, social circles, religious communities, home life and personal growth. Some schools even allow their access." But their overall effectiveness isn't used as a learning tool, it is used to find the information. The reason why these tools aren't used for teaching is that many teachers are receiving the training or technical skills. Ilon goes on to mention that change doesn't need to start with the educators, but with the over view of the system change, or the culture of education. "Formal education systems were designed to give people the knowledge and skills
that they could not obtain in their everyday
environments" (Ilon, 3). It is said that knowledge passed down was
from educated adults, who had all the expert knowledge. Functional
education systems were also adopted. This is when a set of guided lines
and procedures were adopted by a central government and were passed down the
line to the educators. Schools were to be controlled by the government
because people were afraid that companies would control schools, and be more
worried about a profit rather than a social development of a student.
Knowledge can be found, tested, and mastered. It can be found in
textbooks and websites, and it is highly respected when mastered.
"Thus, collective intelligence cannot create knowledge unless the
people behind that system are fully vetted as experts" (Ilon, 3).
"Outcome Defined" is another major characteristic in formal
education. This can only be mastered, and success rated, on a
standardized test. Facts are used in these tests, and facts prove to be
knowledge. "An efficient educational system finds ways of delivering
educational content for lower costs without deteriorating test scores or
serving fewer children" (Ilon, 4). It does not lead to higher test scores,
it only leads to different way to teach skills on more creative and time
management budget. A main problem that Ilon stated has to do with "underlying
economics." If the schools take a second and look at the students’ primary
learning rather than test scores, there is a possibility that the school is
doing well after all. Value is being created all through our society.
Things are getting easier to obtain because many wants on are on the
internet. "The chance to improve our lives through e-government, social
networks, medical data files, email, global news networks reminds us that the
word ‘industry’ is outmoded to capture where value is created” (Ilon, 10).
If the government can run and serve our economy better by placing
services on the internet instead of opening offices, they are offering a better
value by doing this.
7 things you should know about...
Personal Learning Environments
Personnel
Learning environments are also known as "PLE"; services the
individual needs. The individual needs
are self directed learning targets and educational goals. A typical
"PLE" student is leaner-centric, might incorporate blogs, and their
ideas may be drawn from experiences on the web. Universities such as
University of Mary Washington in Virginia, Penn State, Baylor University and
University of British Columbia offer housing where students can use PLEs to
share and return too. These universities provide a framework for the
student body to use. A desktop applicator or a web based service can be
used to collect the students’ workings and social contacts. To every positive,
there is always a negative. The downsides to PLEs is that they are still
very young and new to education. The student must be extremely self
driven, and as the article mentioned, the student must be mature. Another
tough challenge for PLE is the reflection of tools and learning processes that
best serve themselves. PLEs will force the student to reflect on their
learning targets more, and that will turn out a student who will have a more
engaged and deeper understand for content that they are learning.
An example of a PLE by a 7th grade
student
The
student had her PLE organized, with her blogs and Facebook account across the
top and her school icons on the bottom. When she enters the class, she
will check out her science agenda to see what is going to happen during the
day. There are videos to watch, other assignments to complete, but she
decides what she can do. For her writing assignments, she publishes the
work on Google Docs so everybody can see it. She uses a note taking strategy
that helps keep track of all of the information on the internet; since there is
a large amount of information, her note taking also keeps track of where she
found the information. The student has emailed professors asking them to
give her a peer review on her projects and also has used Skype to ask
scientists questions.
Reflection
Bullock stated in the 2nd to last paragraph that internally motivated me.
He stated, "Teacher educators have a golden opportunity to disrupt
the effects of mass acculturation through traditional schooling by using
digital technologies that are likely to contribute to collective
intelligence." Now is the time that technology can be used in the
schools, because the large student mass have the abilities and knowledge to
accept it as the part of the classroom. Since Bullock stated, "we
tend to teach as we were taught according to familiar cultural patterns",
it only seems fair that we teaching using technology, so that the future
educators will teach the way they are taught.
Ilon
stated, "Thus, collective intelligence cannot create knowledge unless
the people behind that system are fully vetted as experts." I
disagree with this; you can have high knowledge on a topic and you don't have
to be an expert. For example, my nieces love their American Girl Dolls; are
they experts? No, but she does know everything about them. So she can
still create knowledge on a topic that she isn't an expert in. I love the
concepts of PLEs. It will force the student to take a more active role in
their education because they have to reflect on their learning. Using
PLEs also forces the students to utilize blogs, social networks, links, and web
tools to locate all of the information on the web.
My
reflection and opinion towards the example of the PLE from a 7th grade student
really changed when she said she feels more responsible because she knows that
there is so much information and resources on the internet, that she can choose
when and how to do an assignment.
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