Reflection of "Extending Cross-Generational Knowledge Flow Research in Edge Organizations"

In this article they immediately introduced the word ontology, a formal representation of knowledge as a set of concepts within a domain. The ontology they discussed was that for cross-generational knowledge flows along the edge of organizations. They collected their data from surveys and then analyzed it using social/organizational network analysis (a system of analysis that can be found using the Protégé program from Stanford University if I understand it correctly).  The study was very vague in this sense despite the fact that it included images of what the program was like and which tabs to press.

The authors included copies of the survey that they handed out to employees  in the methods section which was nice to see, to see what type of questions they asked and the way in which they were presented. Many of the questions were technicalities (how long have you worked for the agency, what year/ generation were you born to, etc) but the last page had very subjective questions such as rate your organization on how well there is a shared understanding of command intent among your team? For my study I think a majority of the data will be subjective.

According to the data workers from the Baby Boomers generation are often seen as powerful individuals in industrial networks, or close to power, with high performance rates. This information coincided with the picture of Baby boomers from the article on perception of the university shown through metaphors, that they are hard working individuals because they think hard work will progress them in life.

In one section of the article they discussed other articles they had read. While they seemed to directly relate the information the similarity in the wording to the hypothesis and data analysis makes me wonder if they had read the articles before hand and created a slight bias in their analysis.

Overall the article didn’t conclude anything that I could tell. It said that there was a clear structure the organization of knowledge transfer and, even more importantly, evidence that generations had tendency towards a particular location in this system. Even this was somewhat doubtful to gather from the data. They raised so many questions, though I suspect this is the way it will always be with research. The article had little information that pertained to my study but was a good sample of writing style. 

Response to Higher Education, Blended Learning and the Generations

The authors of this article introduce the concept that "blended learning is transforming higher education by altering the metaphors" used to describe the institution. The metaphor focused on is "knowledge is power". It's an age old expression and we've all heard it, I personally however have never thought to apply it to the way people approach teaching and learning.

As the article progressed the authors introduced four different "generations" and their different approaches to life and learning. First is generation "Matures", born before 1946, lived through WW II, the Korean conflict, the Great Depression, and the New Deal. The metaphor designated to this generation by the author was "hard work is the key to success."
The next generation is the Baby Boomers, born from 1946 to 1964, lived through the Cuban Missile crisis, the Kenedy assassination, the assassination of Martin Luther King. The metaphor given to them was "Buy it not, pay later. Everything is going to work out once I get my degree."
Generation X came next, born from 1965 to 1980. They lived through Watergate, anti-war protests, and massive layoffs. The metaphor given to them was "I have no idea what's happening after graduation." In this sense the university became another place to doddle in until you went out into the "real world".
The final generation known as the Millennial, sometimes as generation Y or generation why?, is born from the years 1981 to 1994. The author characterizes this generation as people who challenge any tradition, institution, value, or person they choose, and who are in many cases confused about the scandal and dishonesty in the government and business world. The metaphor given to this generation, applying to the university, is "I'm piecing together a program from four departments."
Because of the differences in the "nature" these generations grew up in the author proposed each generation takes a different approach to learning and to their view of the university. As a resolution to these different approaches to the university the authors analysed Blended classrooms ( a hybrid classroom that involves some online class time and some in face-to-face class time).
According to this study the more recent the generation the more the liked the blended classroom. the authors hypothesized that this was because it allowed for the generation to take more control of the classroom setting, which they have grown used to because of the internet and such instant gratifications. One potential downside is that is requires some of the skills, self control and commitment that the generation is supposedly lacking.
Over all this study helped me to have a more concrete understanding of differences that could take place between generations, and perhaps because one of the environments I would be study in (Huron County) is in my mind a lovely example of time selection (they make changes in the community structure very slowly and only after many years). I disliked some of the vagueness with which the authors referred to statistics (a few, or a bit more than). If you're going to quote a statistic quote it. This vagueness makes it sound like the authors are trying to fabricate information. I'm sure they're not it's just something to look out for. Sometimes it's not what you really said or did but how others perceived it.
 In fact this very problem is what the authors point out as a flaw with the current education structure. Students perceive the teacher and their role one way while the teacher fails to understand this miscommunication. An idea that the authors presented about this was the comparison of a dysfunction relationship of husband and wife and the teacher-student relationship, derived from misunderstanding and miscommunication.
Overall the study used a survey method (which I'm not a fan of) to collect it's data. It introduced some good theory about learning and the generations and has reminded me of the importance of the language used by my informants and during the interviews.

Final Draft for HON 399

Key Questions:

Well, after a semester of reading and drafting and thinking its come to this... for now. 

How is motivation linked to the acquisition and application of knowledge? What roles does motivation play in the resources used by an individual? Is there a particular classroom/teaching/learning environment that best promotes the motivation needed to grow self-regulated learning outside of a structured environment?

Introduction

The classroom structure that I grew up with, likely seen in many public classrooms across the US, was one of clear boundaries. The students had clusters of desks all facing each other towards the center of the room with the teachers desk off to the side (some years it would be in the front and some it would be in the back of the classroom but always separated from the students). This arrangement made it easier to have student shift their attention to the teacher, by making it physically more difficult for students to not pay attention. Off to the side of the board would be the daily schedule, which typically followed a pattern depending on the day of the week. During a particular subject, the teacher would have a habitual method of teaching, for example history was frequently taught by having us pull out our books and reading the books. Then we would talk among our table or a small group and discuss what we had read in the book, trying to answer guideline questions that the entire class had. For math we would see examples up on the overhead or chalkboard and then get assigned a certain number of problems from the book for homework (every night until I came to college I had math homework).  For english we would always have some worksheets to fill out answering questions about books that we had just read (sometimes they were short stories, sometimes novels or poetry).

The mind needs organization and has been known to create it where the organization may not have previously existed (Dunne, 2012). For example people have been looking at the stars for millions of years, and they keep seeing or finding patterns in the random assortment of dots and their movements, like the big dipper or even the sun. It’s hypothesized that this skill came in handy way back into our ancestors past by helping ancestors to make associations between events and reactions as well as seeing things that just didn’t belong (Benziger, 1996). Today we use this part of our brain to read text and see symmetry in faces (perhaps why some appear more attractive to us) (Betran, unknown). The classroom setting previously described capitalizes on the ability of the human mind to appreciate patterns, but is not the only type of environment that is need for intellectual growth in the future.

In school we are told to excel, in sports we are told to push ourselves to our limits. We are told to take chances and step outside our comfort zone, that’s where we will really learn (Vygotsky, ). If these statements are true why are we learning in classrooms with so little changing during the lesson? Classrooms structured with more inherent, organic change in the future may lead to a deeper understanding in the students. The human mind is naturally motivated to find patterns in the world around it, so perhaps for us to learn to the greatest extent of our ability we should learn about the world in a situation that aids us in seeing patterns but has such a variance as to keep us “on our toes” mentally.

The more our surroundings change the more chance that cognitive dissonance will occur. The brain will naturally work to find a way to resolve this cognitive dissonance, providing an opportunity for some, like a teacher, to step in and offer a proper schema, or way of organizing patterns of thought (Bernstein). This would hopefully be a way of teaching that is closer to that which the brain has evolved under, a more natural learning environment.

One could hardly expect school systems to revolutionize their programs quickly. It also would seem important to discover what it is in classrooms and in people that keeps them searching for these patterns, and for more knowledge. Therefore, this research asks: How is motivation linked to the acquisition and application of knowledge? What role does motivation play in the resources used by an individual? Is there a particular classroom, teaching, learning environment that best promotes the motivation need to grow self-regulated learning outside of a structured environment?

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
-Albert Einstein

Literature Review

                When observing education, many researchers will need to acknowledge any preconceived notions they have about the process due to an enculturation in western methods they have experience through their education experience (Wilson, 1977). Before you set out on the task of “observing” and “documenting” learning, first a thorough understanding of what is being researched should be understood. To define learning, consider some implications or assumptions. Firstly what is intelligence? For the purpose of this study someone is intelligent if they have a possession of knowledge and the ability to efficiently use that knowledge to reason about the world and the ability to use that reasoning adaptively in different environments, simply put the ability to overcome challenges that present themselves in their environment (Bernstein, 2010).

Some individuals learn this through education, but what is education? What does it mean to be educated? For this study the term education is making use of the cultural narrative to manipulate the environment, thus enhancing one’s ability to overcome challenges. In this sense, one would be educated if he is a farmer who understands the growth of his crops and the impact different environmental factors may have on it. Farmers need to rely on their observations of previous growing conditions in their surrounding area, they need to be able to “read” the plants and determine if they need water or food. Farmers can create ditches going through their fields or tile the field to overcome an abundance of rain. They can place sprinklers in their fields if there hasn’t been enough rain. All are different aspects of them showing an ability to overcome challenges in the environment enhanced by their use of the cultural resources around them (technology in many cases). They would be educated if they used internet access to read up on articles about increasing production or quality of crop (assuming internet access). They would also be educated if they began talking with other farmers in the surrounding area about their growing methods.

The definitions of intelligence and education call on the use

of analytical skills and a certain amount of interpersonal

 communication by the individual. Like sports would not be

 present without athletes and the physical motion unique to

each game, so to education does not exist without the learners

 and those learning. So, what is learning and who are the learners?

	Knowledge (the stimulus around us) can be viewed as the droplets falling around the cylinder. On top of the cylinder is a funnel (education), so to be educated would to be able to move the funnel around to collect the most droplets in the cylinder. Intelligence is not just how many droplets fall into the cylinder, but also the allocation of droplets. The entire system is the process of learning.

 

Some anthropologists have come to view learners “as mentally and physically active seekers of knowledge and skill” (Zimmerman, 2010). Modern western society has created school systems, internships, etc to further the knowledge certain individuals have, but is this too closed off a look at learning and education for a “truthful” interpretation of what is going on. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, the authors of Reflections on Situated Learning Legitimate Peripheral Participation, claim that “learning is a process that takes place in a participation framework, not in an individual’s mind.” (Lave & Wengner, 1994) Imagine, your mind is completely depending on the people that you surround yourself with. It’s a rather frightening concept.

Another scary concept, and it would seem to me one not talked about enough, is that of the changing brain. The concept generally held by our society is that once you reach a certain age your brain stops changing, but new research is finding out that it doesn’t stop. It may slow down but your brain is changing in response to your environment as mode of survival (Carr, 2010). Why isn’t anyone warning us of this when we do things like watch TV or use the computer? Consider if you pull through most fast food joints and get a cup of coffee there will be a warning on the side of the cup “caution: Hot fluids”, there’s no warning on the side of your computer “mind altering device, limited time advised”. Why is that?  The more important question is: is this changing a bad thing?

                The environment we surround ourselves with, including the technology that is a part of that environment, is in some ways an attempt to homogenize the way we learn. Then the prevalence of new technology in everyday life can be used to the advantage of humanity, to further our learning in a classroom setting. Chan, a professor at the Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology of the National Central University in Taoyuan Taiwan, proposed a few “conjectures”. Firstly that a “digital classroom wave- is imminent” (essentially that technology is constantly improving an invading other aspects of our lives thus has to intersect the education sphere at some point, as shown in the image to the right). The next conjecture was that “classrooms undergo radical change over the next 20 years” (for this Chen held his own small experiment on a classroom to create an ‘individualized’ classroom setting). One conjecture was “individualization will be increasingly emphasized”, for this change in classrooms to occur Chen suggested that “teachers (would) increasingly (become) Mentors”. The final conjecture I will mention though Chen goes on state a few more, is that these new classrooms would solve the age old “all-up-to” and “mobility” problems.

The “all-up-to” problem is that the education system pushes all students to reach up to the same standard. Think of an industrial packaging line, packing all the minds of students with the same information and expecting to get a uniform result of educated people out (Robinson, 2011). Industrialization has had a worldwide impact, so it would make sense that its influence on education has been worldwide and that in itself seems rather odd. In countries such as America where individualization is said to be highly prized and encouraged, the school systems don’t yet show this value.

There is the idea among some education researchers that “institutions are responsible for the indoctrination of the young and that they aren’t doing it effectively” (Chomsky, 2012). Financially most students of today face rising debt due to the cost of university education. The debt is created in such a way that students once they have gone through this process of indoctrination are from their limited monetary resources that they are trapped into conformity (Chomsky, 2012).

During the enlightenment era learning was viewed as harnessing the quest for knowledge but during the preceding eras in education more of an emphasis had been placed on the rote memorization of facts rather than the quest to acquire them. The Enlightenment era shifted emphasis onto the methods and the ability to question doctrine, authority, and work with others, not simply on the conformity and rote memorization that most standardized education now contains (Knowledge, ). This is important now because of the developing belief in American and world culture that the process is more important than simply the end. However this does not mean the end has no importance.

In today’s world, the ability to cultivate knowledge is imperative because it means an individual can function on their own and create new ideas. This is especially important because of the access to the internet that many of today’s students have, access that creates in many cases an overload of information that without self-regulation can create feelings of despair or incorrect understanding of the topic. Students without the proper guidance may have a “cultish”, inaccurate understanding of the topic they are trying to explore on the internet (Chomsky, 2002). If all you know about a subject is a fact here and a different fact there the image that you have created from these facts will be very different from the image of someone who had background knowledge or at the very least the ability to cultivate their knowledge may have created. Imagine seeing the same picture in the dark with only a match to illuminate it vs. looking at a more or less complete picture. Ultimately does not teach students how to cultivate their knowledge to their best ability. Modern classrooms are not teaching people to be free thinkers, who can be trusted to make the right decision, because they are not teaching them enough about learning.

(If you give a man a fish he will eat for a meal, if you teach a man to fish he could eat for a lifetime.)

Methods

In Anthropology, participant observation is a frequently used technique to gather data.  Participant observation is an ethnographic technique that involves engaging in the day to day activity as fully as possible while at the same time maintaining an analytical distance for quality observation. During the act of collecting data through participant observation one must do a few things. First, establish a credible role within the group being observed. This is fundamental in the research and data later collected. The researcher should “work methodically to avoid being identified as the member of any particular group” as this might limit access to information or the quality of information obtained (Wilson, 1977). Aside from establishing your role in the community being observed, the researcher should be careful to avoid emotional attachments that will over bias the results of the study. If such a thing were to occur new research subjects should be found (Wilson, 1977).

Another technique frequently used by Anthropologists is the interview. There are three major kinds: the structured interview, in which the interviewer has a set list of questions and does not deviate from them, the semi-structured interview in which the interviewer has a list of questions but can ask them in different order and ask other questions as the interviewee begins to answer, finally the unstructured interview in which the interviewer has no questions and lets the interview direct completely where the interview goes (Bernard, 2002).

During the summer months of 2012 I will be traveling to observe the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation in the formerly polish community of Huron county and surrounding areas. As that area is where my Grandmother and Grandfather lived for most of their lives and they still have family up there I will be using some of the family connections created over the years.

I will need a recording device, a journal to keep notes in and a computer to transcribe my interviews and observations daily. First I will meet with the sources and develop a stronger network in the community, as is suggested for participant observation. I’ll ask certain older members of the community about their family history (particularly focusing on when they were learning to farm). Also I will shadow the younger generation, in the process of learning and perhaps hear more stories about the family, as well as be able to observe the methods with which they teach/ learn.

During the same summer I will build contacts at Michigan State University’s agricultural department. During the fall of 2012 school year I will analyze the data collected over the summer in the Huron community as well as take beginning observations of the classroom settings in the agricultural department. By the end of my study I will analyze the interviews and primary modes that each group used to convey their knowledge to the “students”.  The different bits of learning that are passed on and the observable difference in the students’ attitude towards learning it and then applying said knowledge should be discernible from transcribed data.

For the collection of data in Huron County I will use participant observation methods, perhaps scattered with impromptu interviews. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted for primary collection at MSU, however I would also be doing a bit of participant observation in the classroom.

The interviews they can be sorted by three main lenses. For this study I shall sort the interviews by relationships (so as to better define the “classroom” settings found in Huron County) (Jennings). Included in the research may be family maps, and property locations to better explain the possibility people have to interact with certain individuals in the community, thus “learn”.

Purpose

Eventually the analysis of both types of learning methods may prove relevant to all those in the academic community. Once the study is complete the western academic community will be able to have a better understanding of students from the Huron community’s lifestyle learning (the learning styles they group within the community around them). Students will also be aware of this, and if necessary make changes to their approach to learning to learn better in the new learning environment. It may also provide key insight into the gap between generational learning and Western education, the synthesis of which could provide a well rounded and well educated individual and support network for learning purposes.

Refrences

Benziger, Katherine, and Sue Holmes. "The Human Brain." Benziger Thinking Styles Assessment. Unknown, 1996. Web. 03 May 2012. <http://www.benziger.org/articles/brain.php>.

Bernard, H. Russell. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2002. 213. Print.

Bernstein, Douglas A. Essentials of Psychology. 5th ed. Vol. 1. [S.l.]: Wadsworth Pub, 2010. Print.

Betran, Cecilia. "Beauty and the Brain." HubPages. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://ceciliabeltran.hubpages.com/hub/The-Power-of-Beauty>.

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

"Chapter Three: Knowledge Through Prescribed Experience." Knowledge Through Enlightening Experience. Hermes Press. Web. 08 Apr. 2012. <http://www.hermes-press.com/Perennial_Tradition/PTch3.htm>.

"The Purpose of Education." Interview by Graham Brown-Martin. YouTube. Learning Without Frontiers, 1 Feb. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNAUJWJN08>.

Dunne, Tim, and Maggie Dugan. "Assumption Busting." What Does It Take to Innovate?2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <http://www.instantbrainstorm.com/bust_assumptions.html>.

Jennings, Gayle R. "Interviewing: A Focus on Qualitative Techniques." Tourism Research Methods: Integrating Theory with Methods. Cambridge, Mass: CABI, 2004. 99-139. Print.

Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.

Wilson, Stephen. "The Use of Ethnographic Techniques in Educational Research." ERIC – World’s Largest Digital Library of Education Literature. Spring 1977. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true>.

Zimmerman, Barry J., and Manuel M. Pons. "Development of a Structured Interview for Assessing Student Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies." Jstor. American Educational Research Journal, 2010-2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1163093?uid=3739728&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=56139756663>.

http://loldaddy.com/pics/3981 (4/21/2012)

During interview: Watch for family pressures, individual vision of the future and the present (how do they see agriculture, how has the community’s history played into the teaching and application of knowledge)

a brief history of the Huron Community may be important to include in this study (perhaps also that of the agriculture program at Michigan State University).

The importance of self-regulation in learning (my preference for learning without being presented a structure to put the ideas in) my derive from an inherent distrust of the source the information, and a desire/ free will to place the facts in the location the learner sees fit.

The difference between knowledge and skill

Part one of a final paper Introduction

I know I was supposed to write about methods but I found myself writing an introduction. I needed to work on cementing what I was doing before I could write about how I was going do it.



Introduction
In the observing and documenting of learning/education one must use more specific techniques to gather a complete picture than might be used to study a different subject. Before you set out on the task of “observing” and “documenting” learning one must first understand what it is you are trying to observe and document. To define learning one must considered some implication or assumptions. Firstly what is intelligence? For the practicality of this study we shall call someone intelligent if they have the ability to overcome challenges that present themselves in their environment. Granted that is a lose definition and may not be the best definition for all case studies but for the purposes of this study it shall suffice. Next was does it mean to be educated? What is education?

 (Need to expand and introduce some of the articles that have been read over the past few weeks)

For this study it made sense to embody the term education as making use of the culture narrative to manipulate thus enhancing one’s ability to overcome challenges. In this sense one would be educated if they are a farmer who understands the growth of their crops and impact different environmental factors might have on it. They would be educated if they used internet access to read up on articles about increasing production or quality of crop (assuming internet access). They would also be educated if they began talking with other farmers in the surrounding area about their growing methods.

Both the definition of intelligent and education call on the use of analytical skills and a certain amount of cultural currency by the individual (term used properly?) Like sports would not be present without athletes and the physical motion unique to each game, so to education does not exist without the learners and those learning. So, what is learning and who are the learners?

Some Anthropologist have come to view “learners as mentally and physically active seekers of knowledge and skill.” (Zimmerman Pg 614, 1986) Modern western society has created school systems, internships, etc to further the knowledge certain individuals have, but is this to closed off a look at learning and education for a “truthful” interpretation of what is going on. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, the authors of Reflections on Situated Learning Legitimate Peripheral Participation, claim that “learning is a process that takes place in a participation framework, not in an individual’s mind.” (Fave pg 15 Year)

 Anthropologists are familiar with the term participant observation. During the action of collecting data through participant observation one must do a few things. First, establish a credible role within the group being observed. This is the fundamental in the research and data later collected. The research should “work methodically to avoid being identified as the member of any particular group” as this might limit access to information or the quality of information obtained. (Wilson, 254 1977)

In a presentation online the author claims that “Man coming to grips with his environment and to understand the nature through experience, reasoning and research” (Sidhar, 2008) I sought to understand my life, I am a college student after all, and the basic principle behind it.

Upon my initial research period, my question had been “how do the keywords typed impact the knowledge that we would “learn” from what came up and then how we applied that knowledge later in life?” To start gathering information, as every good study starts, I began typing words such as “education”, “learning”, “internet” or similar words into the Google scholar search engine and waited calmly for it to generate a list of articles that I could choose from. I also read Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. It was a bit of an Ironic way to gather information on the impact keywords would have on our intake and application of knowledge.

The concept that our brain was literally being altered every day as we use technology resonated deeply within Carr’s text. It is a scary concept and it would seem to me one not talked about enough. Consider if you pull through most fast food joints and get a cup of coffee there will be a warning on the side of the cup “caution: Hot fluids”, there’s no warning on the side of your computer “mind altering device, limited time advised”. Why is that?

After reading Carr I began to read some o f the articles that had come up from Google scholar. They began to be on the synthesis of education and technology and were surprisingly oriented in East Asia.  One of these articles focused on the future of East Asian classrooms over the next 20 years. Chan, proposed a few “conjectures”; firstly that a “digital classroom wave- is imminent” (essentially that technology is constantly improving an invading other aspects of our lives thus has to intersect the education sphere at some point, as shown in the image to the right), the next conjecture was that “classrooms undergo radical change over the next 20 years” (for this Chen held his own small experiment on a classroom to create an ‘individualized’ classroom setting), Conjecture 3 was that eventually with both the option of e-books and e-boards people would choose the just as efficient but more practical e-book, conjecture 4 was “individualization will be increasingly emphasized”, for this change in classrooms to occur conjecture 5 must occur “teachers increasingly (become) Mentors” , the final conjecture I will mention though Chen goes on state a few more, is that these new classrooms would solve the age old  “all-up-to” and “mobility” problems.

The “all-up-to” problem is that the education system pushes all students to reach up to the same standard. Think of an industrial packaging line, packing all the minds of students with the same information and expecting to get a uniform result of educated people out. (Robinson, 2011) Even though Chen was discussing East Asian classrooms, Robinson who makes a similar mention of this problem was talking about worldwide classrooms so I think it safe to assume this dilemma crosses cultural boundaries. Robinson when addressing this problem also raises a serious question; is this how we want out students to be treated and to end up?

In a talk by Noam Chomsky on the purpose of education talks about the “crisis of democracy” arguing that certain “institutions are responsible for the indoctrination of the young and that they aren’t doing it effectively.” Chomsky claims that the debt that most students of today face was created in such a way that students once they have gone through this process of indoctrination are so trapped from their limited monetary resources that they are trapped into a light of conformity. He contrasts this to the classical view of learning and education that rose out of the enlightenment era. During the enlightenment era learning was viewed of as harnessing the quest for knowledge. It placed an emphasis on the methods and ability to question doctrine, authority, work with others not simply on the conformity and rope memorization that most standardized education contain.

Later in this interview Chomsky points out the importance of the ability to cultivate knowledge. This is especially important he claims with the access to the internet that many of today’s students have. Without some guidance he claims that students will have a “cultish” understanding of things. If all you know about a subject is a fact here and a different fact there the image that you  have created from these facts will be very different from the image someone who had background knowledge or at the very least the ability to cultivate their knowledge may have created. Ultimately does the education system teach student to cultivate their own knowledge. Are modern classrooms teaching people to be free thinkers who can be trusted to make the right decision or people who cannot be expected to really understand what’s going on?

Over and over these scholars raised the same question essentially what is the final goal of our education system? To me, while this is a very interesting question, I want to look at not what becomes of people as they reach then to of the education system but rather as an anthropologist look at all the modes one might learn.  The contemplation of this question in its many forms leads me in a logical circle. How is technology going to change and alter the way that students of the future learn? Is how students of the present are being taught appropriate for the outcome they want from the education system? How does the outcome they are imaging when they reach the “end” of education differ from the end that the system has in mind? Are there different modes that people could take to achieve a “learned” status? Assuming there are what are they and how do the end results of students then compare to the prized scholars of an education system?

These questions began churning in my mind and I honestly was feeling overwhelmed as I looked into the vast abyss of this thing we call learning. What was I going to finally pick for my research question? It would need to be something that I could research in real life not simply research through the pages of others ideas (though that is a very important part of any research process).

My mentor suggested I create a mind map of what I had learned thus far, so I did. I think this is an appropriate moment to point out the connection in my own personal experience to the guidance that Chomsky refers to. There I was floating of my own free will, wonderfully ignorant among a sea of knowledge, only truly aware of the potential all of this had because of the mentors that guide me. They could have simply told me what to think about certain ideas.

When I think of the many talks that Dr. Griffith and I had when she could have simply said this is what you are supposed to think about this subject. But she didn’t Dr. Griffith asked me questions on what I thought about it, why did I think that, had I heard about an article on a similar subject about this, or a writing by a different author about that always providing me the opportunity to find out more about a topic and allowing me to reach my own conclusions. They may be a bit murky right now in the study, and in all truth probably will be murky for as long as I desire to research, but they feel like my murky ideas and that seems incredibly important.

Feeling this as I was learning in my study, and talking to fellow students who felt frustrated about classroom settings brought up another important issue with learning the feeling that you had control over your learning environment and most importantly the implied motivation that was strengthened by this belief in control or lack thereof.

My question had begun to form itself. I could feel it circling around the relationship between learning modes and motivation (implied in there is the potential access to resources that the learners would have). One day in a meeting with my mentor we narrowed down the question to What factors influence the acquisition and application of knowledge? Perhaps I will do my study on the different forms of education. From the “on-demand” adult learning, to childhood quests for knowledge, to higher academic classroom learning what are the key moments in the learning experiences and how do the end results compare. 

(Need to find a better transition)

Importantly I believe, based on my research so far and my own personal experience, that all people have the potential to have access to learning and with the ability to become learned given a consistent motivation. At the risk of sounding to far removed from the reality of one with limited resources I would propose that anyone could reach the same point of knowledge as anyone else once said knowledge has been made physically present in the world (such as might occur during the printing of a book). Two individuals may have to overcome very different obstacles, one may need to overcome more obstacles than another, but theoretically once the knowledge has reached a physical state all living people have the potential to obtain it.

For example a by living in an American lower income suburb who comes from a home where English is not the native language but has the desire and motivation to learn more about quantum physics has several obstacle to overcome. The boy has several options as I see it that he could take to gain this knowledge. He could learn English, find a way to attend higher education and ensure that he becomes a quantum physicist and use the resources then available to him to answer his questions. On the other hand the boy could forgo the years of education and use access to physics knowledge on the internet (either through a personal computer or a public computer) or in a public written text to the point where he has developed an understanding of the text.

Both ways would have created a deep base of knowledge in physics but through different paths extremely dependent on the motivation of the boy do reach his end result.  The end may not take the classic path that many think of when “learning” is talked about but many an individual has been learned without a college diploma and many have overcome obstacles such as low socio-economic status, war, racial differences, etc. to reach an end desire.

In my study I would examine the different modes people took to learn a concept, examine the different forms of motivation (perhaps even the ways that this motivation is altered by internal and external sources) and look at the over all results. 

Notes:

Research on kindergarteners sounds like it could be good. The students would still have the “fresh” perspective on how to access certain knowledge without the training of formal education but would their physical development impair the research collected?

Need to find a way to work in more outside sources and smooth the transition between definition of learning, intelligence, education and the actual research being conducted.

Needs many more go overs to trim to desired material

Works Cited (Incomplete)

M, Sridhar S. "Introduction to Research and Methods." Research and Methods. SLideshare.com, 17 Dec. 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.slideshare.net/mssridhar/introduction-to-research-methodology-presentation>.

YouTube. Dir. Gram Brown-Martin. Perf. Noam Chomsky. YouTube. Learners without Frontiers, 01 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNAUJWJN08>.

Interesting Guy :)

I wish he elaborated more on bringing computers into schools.
His vision of how to see the future seemed very insightful.

What I have already done? (Part II)

My next "assignment" was a reflection a TED talks by Ken Robinson. The first was titled, "Changing the Education Paradigm" and the second was about how schools kill creativity. These animated speeches were a very interesting way for the information to be presented and raised valid points about the education system. Among these were that every school across the globe places particular emphasis on the value of math and sciences over art and music (this might be because singing won't build a bridge to get you to the other side but science and math might), that schools are designed (right down to the bells) after industrial systems, and that standardized testing isn't really testing the most useful skills, because of this education is not teaching the most productive to society skills that an individual might grow.
Ken introduced the idea that as standardized testing has risen so have the number of cases of ADHD. The thing that Ken repeated and that stuck out to me the most was; “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” Perhaps this is something I should keep in mind as I plan further study, etc.

I go forth on my revised searching with the idea fermenting in my mind that:

Perhaps the schooling system we are looking for is something that is not ethnocentric as it would seem the vision we try and conjure up are, but rather a fluid beast that we can pull up from the visions of the past and the dreams form the future that will live and grow as people change. As anthropologists we are taught to look at cultures as equal, no one way better than the other. Is it perhaps the fact that there seems to be a discord with this thought and the way education is taught that we feel when evaluating today's schooling.

In attempts to focus these searches I have been shown a way to create mind maps online (so cool!)Links or the maps themselves should appear on the blog and the just help the reader and myself to visualize the ideas brought up in this study.

PS I cannot create links the articles I have already read using Popplet (the web mapping source that I prefer right now)but am working on coming up with a creative solution.

What have I already done?

This semester started with a question, a yearning for understanding in essentially the reason why people though the way that they did about internet searches. I was able to, thankfully, conduct an independent study allowing me to research this question through alternative ideas (looking up articles that had similar questions/keywords and gather information pertaining to the subject).

As the weeks progressed I found myself less and less motivated to search the internet for relevant articles, and less motivated to read the longer article I had found. I think perhaps this sentiment expresses itself in my criticism of the authors methods or theories.

My searching started out with me reading The Shallows by Nicolas Carr. It was a very good book, vague at points but written over a depth of opinions and topics so as to be perfect as an introduction to the topic of how technology might be influencing peoples thought process. (Perhaps I will go back and look over it one more time to see what perspective fresh eyes will grant me.)Carr presented a rather bleak, War of the Worlds like opinion of the changes technology might be having on the human brain and thought process.

It was cool and the physical changes were very interesting but they seemed to be entering into a realm of the scientific community I wasn't ready for (not enough background experience) nor that I wanted to explore (I was more interested in the characteristics these changes caused and if/how one might alter them).

The next article that I read was on the changes East Asian classrooms were going to be making over the next 20 years, written by Tai-Wai Chan. It talked about "case studies" in which classrooms had been "updated". Students were given access to computers and the teachers were trained in a different method that would allow the students to "independently" travel through guided lessons. The benefits, Chan claimed, were that the students hierarchy should be erased, students would get to accel through classes at their own pace and under more personal learning environments (though the environment would be virtual).

After this article I happened to have another article on the students beliefs about self-learning. It also happened to take place in the Eastern Hemisphere. This article concluded that students that learn one way would accel if they were tested in a similar manner. Also that students who felt that learning was a constructive scenario, not simply passive, learned better than other students who did not.

Around this time I had been introduced to TED talks from a different class. I watched and review Keith Barry's talk on hijacking the brain. It introduced a very interesting idea to my mind that has stayed, the human mind is incredibly susceptible to illusion and can easily be tricked. People everyday are being influenced by factors unacknowledged.

I then read an article on adult learning in the science era. This article really enforced the differences between the generation that had learned to use the internet and computer technology, and the generation that had grown up learning to use it like a second language.