“Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all. Pride and vanity can thus be greater obstacles to learning than stupidity.”
– Thomas Stasz

I think this quote says it all. In my experience, adult resistance to learning experiences has far more to do with shifting a person’s internal perceptions of their own worth and fear than it does with time, money, familiarity with technology, or personal life issues. If we want to, we can work around most of these ‘barriers’. The one that is most difficult to surmount is internal. Egos and icons..

Technorati Tags: resistance to learning, internal barriers

Top 10 lists are so much fun. Just ask David Letterman. He’s been using them for years 😉

Of late, I’ve come across two very interesting top 10 lists. The first was put together by Guy Kawasaki who wrote Ten Things to Learn This School Year. The second is Stephen Downes response to Guy’s list titled Things you really need to learn.

Despite the title, Guy’s list contains 12 items that suggests feels everyone needs to know to survive in the business world but won’t learn in school. I see a lot of lists like this floating around at work and they seem to be brief, simplistic and often revolve around the buzzwords of the day. I don’t necessarily agree with all of them, but I couldn’t help nodding when reviewing sections of his list. Most importantly, I think more emphasis needs to be placed on point 4 of Guy’s list:

How to figure out anything on your own. Armed with Google, PDFs of manuals, and self-reliance, force yourself to learn how to figure out just about anything on your own. There are no office hours, no teaching assistants, and study groups in the real world. Actually, the real world is one long, often lonely independent study, so get with it.

While I don’t agree with Guy’s “real world” sentiments, I do think that we aren’t spending enough time nurturing independant thought and encouraging curiousity in those around us. I worry that perhaps by the time we’re old enough to really appreciate self-direction and self-reliance in our learning paths, most people are so set in their ways that they have no interest in trying to develop these skills.

As I’m aging, I’m encountering fewer people who will attempt to discover an answer for themselves. Too many of my co-workers want to be spoonfed and I’m discovering my silverware drawer is empty.

Stephen’s list, like many of his writings, appears to be centered on a more holistic approach to improving self and society. Concentration on critical thinking (predicting consequences), comprehension and connectivism (how to read), learning to walk a mile in other’s shoes (how to empathize), and how each individual enters and moves through the learning process (how to learn) pervades his list of things Stephen believes we all need to learn in order to be successful in life. As you read his article, it’s hard not to recognize patterns within the content and how many items share connective tissue. Well, that’s how my brain is interpreting what I’m reading…perhaps others may see a jigsaw puzzle where I see a complete landscape filled with fields, rivers and laughter.

Both lists are interesting and have their own intrinsic value. I suspect that those who fawn over Guy’s list may be more business oriented or working in for profit corporate environments. As a corporate cubicle dweller myself, I can see some obvious truths and recognize pieces of myself, my co-workers and working environment in his commentary.

On the other hand, I suspect that much of the content of Guy’s list may have little meaning to anyone working in a non-profit or academic environment. Rather than bringing us closer by offering an all encompassing truth as his introduction suggests, Guy’s points can be used to divide one group of individuals from another by suggesting that their experiences or reality is of lesser value because it doesn’t match or reflect his own.

It is in this area that I find the true value of the list Stephen generated in reaction to reading Guy’s post. Stephen’s suggestions offer insight for encouraging personal growth and developing ourselves in order to understand and accept who we are. Rather than offering trite advice for leaving a useful voicemail message, Stephen suggests areas which, when properly developed, might help make the need for voicemail advice unnecessary. After all, if I’ve learned emphathy and problem solving, it might come naturally to me to connect the need for repeating self-identification and contact information in the message. By developing the self, I could be working towards making business skills instinctive rather than taught.

Don’t get me wrong, running a meeting properly or leaving a good voicemail message are important in the business world, but what use are these items outside of work? In my own blindness, I am unable to fathom how these back to school lessons will help anyone make important decisions, read between the lines, or lead a happier life.

Abject Apologies:
Anyone who has had to suffer through one of my conference calls knows that I desperately need to master Guy’s 3rd point (How to run a meeting). Until my skills improve, perhaps we can all work on improving skill number 2 (How to survive a meeting that’s poorly run).

Technorati Tags: Guy Kawasaki, Stephen Downes, top ten lists, literacy, self direction, critical thinking

I adore Stephen’s Web. I’m addicted to his OL Daily newsletter. It feeds me things to chew on. I’m well nourished thanks to his dilligence.

Today, Stephen included a reference and link to Charles Nelson’s blog post Plagiarism: Another Perspective. This led me to another of Charles’ posts titled Plagiarism: Perspective and Context.

I’ve always found the topic of plagiarism fascinating. Since participating in ethics discussions at U of A, the topic has garnered more and more of my attention. However, I think a lot of my interest in plagiarism and it’s changing faces has to do with a lack of understanding about just what is and isn’t considered plagiarism. I know when I first attended university (over 12 years ago), there were no formal discussions in class about what it was, how to avoid it (proper citation methods) and where you could review the written university policy. In fact, it just didn’t seem talked about at all.

Fast forward to 2004 and I had returned to university. The field of study was different the second time round, so I was instructed to shift from MLA to APA citation styles in papers. Despite this shift in writing style, there was still no explaination of what plagiarism is, etc. There was, however, a huge emphasis on whether or not you got the capitalization correct in the references list at the end of the paper. *bangs head against wall* You can imagine the confusion that ensued when I asked how to go about referencing a conclusion made in an earlier paper (my a-ha moment if you will) in another paper later in the year.

So, what’s all of this got to do with Charles’ posts? In Plagiarism: Perspective and Context, Charles’ writes:

If university folks can disagree on the nature of plagiarism, then it seems likely that our students with their digital background will find the notion foreign — not incomprehensible, just foreign.

He’s referencing on-line plagiarism in his statement, but I think it could just as easily cover any form of it both inside and outside of the classroom. With the current state of confusion surrounding what is and is not considered plagiarism, and the varying shades of grey associated with the determination, it’s no wonder that I and many others struggle with the topic and are drawn to it moths to a flame.

If plagiarism could be clearly defined, outlined, taught from a young age and the definition made readily available to all, perhaps it would become less common rather than a seemily daily event. If nothing else, it may help reduce the amount of unintentional plagiarism – which in an academic world can be just as damaging to a person’s reputation and further study as intentional plagiarism – occurring today.

Side note: If anyone is aware of the proper method of citing your own unpublished work in papers please let me know. I ended up citing it as if it were a published article/paper but never did get clear direction at the time of writing. I’m still very fuzzy on the rules for avoiding self-plagiarism. Also, I’ve always wanted to know how something can be considered self-plagiarism if the content has never been published (though it has been reviewed and assigned a grade) and I’m still the copyright holder?

h/t Stephen’s Web

Technorati Tags: plagiarism, citation

I couldn’t sleep when I arrived back at the hotel today. This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. So, after posting to my blog, I decided to surf some others. In my wanders, I came across a blog titled dropping knowledge. It’s an amazing concept. Gathering important questions for a period of time, then posing a total of 100 questions to 112 inspirational individuals in Berlin on September 9, 2006.

dropping knowledge is a global initiative to turn apathy into activity. By hosting an open conversation on the most pressing issues of our times, we will foster a worldwide exchange of viewpoints, ideas and people-powered solutions. However knowledge is definied, by dropping it free to others, we all gain wisdom.

I am certain I will be returning to this site again and again.

Technorati Tags: dropping knowledge

I admit it. I’m a closet horoscope reader. My friend DA has a great theory about horoscopes. If you read them at the beginning of the day, they can influence the outcome of the rest of your day by colouring your perspective and approach to the things that you do. She admits to reading them, but waits until the end of the day when any damage can be mitigated by quickly heading off to sleep.

She’s got a good point, but since I have my horoscope blaring across my My Yahoo! pages, it’s hard for me to make it through the day without checking it out at least once.

I’m pleasantly surprised by today’s horoscope, which I think really reflects how I’ve been feeling the past few days (granted, it might have been better suited to my position earlier in the week):

“It’s not just your retirement portfolio that should be diversified — think about your life portfolio. Instead of doing what’s comfortable and safe, think about what scares you just a little bit. Then tackle it.”

See, I’ve been desperate to blog about training, learning, elearning and distance education issues. I’d put off doing it for so long because I wasn’t sure I had any right to start ranting and raving about any of these topics. I’m so new to the field of adult education that my shoes still squeak. I’m devouring everything I can on the subject and continually working to improve my own understanding through course work, research and dialog. However, I never really felt certain that I should blog about any of these subjects. What if someone laughed my opinions off the face of the planet? What if I’ve completely misunderstood the point and have done nothing more than display my ignorance?

Blogging about the military, travel, and life in general is pretty safe. After all, descriptions of your experiences globetrotting or the colour you want to paint your office aren’t likely to be challenged. Blogging about learning is a whole other kettle of fish. The prospect terrified me.

Despite my fear earlier this week I began blogging about the things that fascinate me, the things I’m passionate about – learning, analysis, design and performance. I’ve jumped in and discovered that I do have something to offer. In the end, it wasn’t so terrifying after all.

Thanks so much to Harold Jarche and Tony Kerrer who didn’t laugh when they read my post but instead offered more insightful questions for me to chew on over the next few days.

Technorati Tags: learning, blogging topics, fear, horoscopes