Sunday, January 27, 2008
personal SDL project: being iterative
In the interests of paying attention to my own self-directed learning as an iterative process (*waves at Rick*), I've decided to start having some fun with the fonts in the header of this blog. I'll change them regularly subject to my font whims, and I've started a flickr set to document the changes and keep track of what typefaces I'm using. Right now I'm using screen capture to make the images from word documents, but I should probably refine that process in the future. I'm also going to try and keep better track of where these fonts come from, who made them, etc.
Reading response: the internet as a cultural institution?
First off, let me start by saying that I haven’t forgotten about the report by Philip Candy in the “currently reading” section – the thing just turned out to be a lot longer than I expected (350 pages!), and it’s taking me a bit longer to get through it. Instead, I decided to tackle something a bit more manageable for this reading response.
In this article, Carr discusses some interesting ideas around learning in cultural institutions like libraries, museums and art galleries. This being a particular interest of mine, I decided to go for it.
Carr refers to cultural institutions as “invitational environments” – that is, they invite learners or users (depending on the type of learning undertaken) to visit. This is an important distinction from other types of institutions, particularly schools, which very rarely “invitational” (sometimes quite the opposite!). Instead, visitors to cultural institutions are offered a variety of resources (usually in one location) and varying degrees of support. Carr also discusses the conditions of learning in cultural institutions, which involves factors ranging from the tools and initiatives employed by institutions for self-directed learning, as well as the messages present in the institutions themselves. Carr states, “because cultural institutions are public places for private learning, the tasks and processes of learners in them is frequently invisible, undocumented, and unassisted. Learners depend on messages from the institution itself about use” (Carr, p. 58). If you stop to think about it, this makes sense. Museums present themselves as important sources and storehouses for information about the past, art galleries provide a window into current and past cultural events and objects, and libraries are a source of general knowledge (or lately, a source of information, a slightly different service). This makes me think: what kind of messages are other institutions sending out? Is there something we can do, at a very basic level, to make places more appealing to learners, to promote self-directed learning?
What interests me the most in this article is Carr’s discussion of the learning skills required to navigate and use the resources offered in cultural institutions. He talks about “museum literacy”, which he describes as follows: “As in other new environments, these skills involve the decoding of signs and the reading of maps. But, they also involve the ability to learn from objects, to generalize across experiences, and to pursue an interlocking chain of data” (Carr, p. 56). These are some very basic skills, which would be valuable in a variety of situations. Do institutions have an obligation to teach these basic learning skills? It seems to me that one of the first and most basic things people should learn is how to learn.
There’s more to the article than I will discuss here, but one thing kept coming up for me: how could this relate to other learning environments, particularly virtual ones – more specifically, would the internet fall under the category of “cultural institution”? I think if I asked, I would get a resounding “no” – simply because the internet is almost completely unregulated. Even so, I believe there is an equivalent “internet literacy” that allows people to make use of this resource for their own learning. Those skills may even be comparable to Carr’s museum literacy, particularly the ability to “pursue an interlocking chain of data” – after all, what is hyperlinking, but a chain of information? The reading of symbols and maps also plays an important role, though the skills would have to be suited to the environment. For example, most people know that blue underlined text denotes a link of some kind, as well as other common layouts and menus. This might be a worthwhile thing to figure out: what constitutes internet literacy skills? How can we use this in media literacy teaching? Can those skills be taught simply through internet use?
References:
Carr, David (1985). Self-Directed Learning in Cultural Institutions. In Brookfield, Stephen (Ed.) Self-Directed Learning: From Theory to Practice. New Directions for Continuing Education, no. 25. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, March 1985. pp. 51-61.
In this article, Carr discusses some interesting ideas around learning in cultural institutions like libraries, museums and art galleries. This being a particular interest of mine, I decided to go for it.
Carr refers to cultural institutions as “invitational environments” – that is, they invite learners or users (depending on the type of learning undertaken) to visit. This is an important distinction from other types of institutions, particularly schools, which very rarely “invitational” (sometimes quite the opposite!). Instead, visitors to cultural institutions are offered a variety of resources (usually in one location) and varying degrees of support. Carr also discusses the conditions of learning in cultural institutions, which involves factors ranging from the tools and initiatives employed by institutions for self-directed learning, as well as the messages present in the institutions themselves. Carr states, “because cultural institutions are public places for private learning, the tasks and processes of learners in them is frequently invisible, undocumented, and unassisted. Learners depend on messages from the institution itself about use” (Carr, p. 58). If you stop to think about it, this makes sense. Museums present themselves as important sources and storehouses for information about the past, art galleries provide a window into current and past cultural events and objects, and libraries are a source of general knowledge (or lately, a source of information, a slightly different service). This makes me think: what kind of messages are other institutions sending out? Is there something we can do, at a very basic level, to make places more appealing to learners, to promote self-directed learning?
What interests me the most in this article is Carr’s discussion of the learning skills required to navigate and use the resources offered in cultural institutions. He talks about “museum literacy”, which he describes as follows: “As in other new environments, these skills involve the decoding of signs and the reading of maps. But, they also involve the ability to learn from objects, to generalize across experiences, and to pursue an interlocking chain of data” (Carr, p. 56). These are some very basic skills, which would be valuable in a variety of situations. Do institutions have an obligation to teach these basic learning skills? It seems to me that one of the first and most basic things people should learn is how to learn.
There’s more to the article than I will discuss here, but one thing kept coming up for me: how could this relate to other learning environments, particularly virtual ones – more specifically, would the internet fall under the category of “cultural institution”? I think if I asked, I would get a resounding “no” – simply because the internet is almost completely unregulated. Even so, I believe there is an equivalent “internet literacy” that allows people to make use of this resource for their own learning. Those skills may even be comparable to Carr’s museum literacy, particularly the ability to “pursue an interlocking chain of data” – after all, what is hyperlinking, but a chain of information? The reading of symbols and maps also plays an important role, though the skills would have to be suited to the environment. For example, most people know that blue underlined text denotes a link of some kind, as well as other common layouts and menus. This might be a worthwhile thing to figure out: what constitutes internet literacy skills? How can we use this in media literacy teaching? Can those skills be taught simply through internet use?
References:
Carr, David (1985). Self-Directed Learning in Cultural Institutions. In Brookfield, Stephen (Ed.) Self-Directed Learning: From Theory to Practice. New Directions for Continuing Education, no. 25. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, March 1985. pp. 51-61.
Monday, January 21, 2008
personal SDL project: thoughts and cool websites
Embarking on a personal learning project while you're in the midst of a largely self-directed master's degree certainly is interesting. Learning for fun becomes a bit like reading for fun - you wonder if you really have the time, and you feel a bit guilty about it.
I also wonder about the authenticity of my learning process. As an educator and someone who has intentionally started to learn something for the sake of learning about learning, I wonder if my experience will be genuine. Already I know I'm not going about this like most people would. On the other hand, autodidaxy is by nature a very personal process, and everyone will go about it differently.
At any rate, I've decided the first place to start is to start finding learning resources. For the kind of casual learning I want to undertake, blogs are a nice answer - they're regularly updated, they provide a sense of community, and provide links to other resources. It seems that the field of typography is alive and very well on the internet, and there are a number of sites out there for people who want to learn more. I have added the I Love Typography blog to my bookmarks, and intend to check that one regularly. There are udpates and links to sites all over the web, and there are even straight up informational and historical articles as well. I think one of the best things about this so far is rediscovering my love of typeface. I love fonts, and I could look at them and play with them all day long.
I also wonder about the authenticity of my learning process. As an educator and someone who has intentionally started to learn something for the sake of learning about learning, I wonder if my experience will be genuine. Already I know I'm not going about this like most people would. On the other hand, autodidaxy is by nature a very personal process, and everyone will go about it differently.
At any rate, I've decided the first place to start is to start finding learning resources. For the kind of casual learning I want to undertake, blogs are a nice answer - they're regularly updated, they provide a sense of community, and provide links to other resources. It seems that the field of typography is alive and very well on the internet, and there are a number of sites out there for people who want to learn more. I have added the I Love Typography blog to my bookmarks, and intend to check that one regularly. There are udpates and links to sites all over the web, and there are even straight up informational and historical articles as well. I think one of the best things about this so far is rediscovering my love of typeface. I love fonts, and I could look at them and play with them all day long.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
personal SDL project: typography
Well, in the interests of time, I've made a decision for my personal SDL project. I'm going to learn about typography. Why? A lot of reasons, really. These days I find myself surrounded, nay, saturated with the written word. I spend my days reading and writing (no 'rithmetic for me!). It seems interesting to find out some of the mechanics behind actually creating letter forms. I'm a font nerd. I've spent hours agonizing over what typeface to use for term papers. Even when I was a little kid, I loved to copy logos and letters from bands and TV shows and products (darn, I bet you thought I was normal, didn't you?). I love books, and book design, and really enjoy seeing endnotes about typeface.
Other advantages to this project? There seems to be lots of information out there. There are books and websites and magazines. It's something I can work on, put down (hopefully), and come back to. I can also make stuff with this project: text-based artwork, drawings, sculpture - heck, maybe I can shoot for designing an ECMM 805 font! It's something that can be done manually, by hand, or on a computer. I think this will be good.
So what's the first thing most people do when they want to know something these days?
Look it up on wikipedia.
Now I need a new notebook/sketchbook for this venture. yay!
Other advantages to this project? There seems to be lots of information out there. There are books and websites and magazines. It's something I can work on, put down (hopefully), and come back to. I can also make stuff with this project: text-based artwork, drawings, sculpture - heck, maybe I can shoot for designing an ECMM 805 font! It's something that can be done manually, by hand, or on a computer. I think this will be good.
So what's the first thing most people do when they want to know something these days?
Look it up on wikipedia.
Now I need a new notebook/sketchbook for this venture. yay!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Reading response: I like Candy
What drew me this week to Philip Candy's work was previous exposure: I had run across his work for a class on Adult Education. What I really liked about that (and this chapter as well) is the way he conceptualizes ideas about different types of learning. Rather than seeing self-direction and autonomy as an either/or thing, he views it instead as a spectrum, with an inversely proportional relationship between teacher direction and learner control (more of one means less of the other). In this particular chapter, he expands on this concept by proposing two different areas that overlap: the instructional domain, which consists of teacher direction and learner control, and the autodidactic domain which consists of assisted autodidaxy and autodidaxy. The two areas overlap, or as the author puts it, they are "laminated or layered" (Candy, p. 18). The result is a spectrum that stretches across both domains and ranges from a learner in a teacher-controlled environment, to a completely independent learner pursuing their own interests.
One of the most valuable things I got out of this chapter was an outline of the distinctly different learning phenomena to which the term "self-directed" is often applied. Candy summarizes it thusly: "These four phenomena are self-direction as a valued philosophical ideal (i.e., personal autonomy), self-direction as the ability and willingness to guide and direct one's own learning, self-direction as the independent pursuit of learning opportunities without instructional support or affiliation (i.e., autodidaxy), and self-direction as the acceptance of responsibility for valued instructional fucntions in formal education contexts (i.e., learner-control) (Candy, 1987)" (Candy, p. 38).
This summary provides insight into the issues that are tied to the area of self-directed learning. There seems to be a regular relationship between SDL and adult learning, as it is often adults who pursue learning in a more self-directed manner. The notion of motivation also plays a huge role in SDL, as this is what drives learners to be self-directed. It looks like this particular subject area is bigger than I thought it was.
This chapter serves as an overview of the field, and makes recommendations about research methods and directions. Most of all, the author argues for "the acceptance of the person-in-context as the main unit of analysis" (Candy, p. 40). Candy talks quite a bit about perspective, and calls attention to the importance of knowing whose perspective (the learner, the teacher, the helper, or the researcher) is being represented when it comes to self-directed learning. His views seem to draw a lot upon Constructivist ideas: learners and teachers construct conceptions of learning and knowledge, and these perceptions have a huge impact on the learning process.
References:
Candy, Philip C. (1988). The Transition from Learner-Control to Autodidaxy: More than Meets the Eye. In Long, H. B., Advances in Research and Practice in Self-Directed Learning (pp. 9-46). Norman: Oklahoma Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education.
One of the most valuable things I got out of this chapter was an outline of the distinctly different learning phenomena to which the term "self-directed" is often applied. Candy summarizes it thusly: "These four phenomena are self-direction as a valued philosophical ideal (i.e., personal autonomy), self-direction as the ability and willingness to guide and direct one's own learning, self-direction as the independent pursuit of learning opportunities without instructional support or affiliation (i.e., autodidaxy), and self-direction as the acceptance of responsibility for valued instructional fucntions in formal education contexts (i.e., learner-control) (Candy, 1987)" (Candy, p. 38).
This summary provides insight into the issues that are tied to the area of self-directed learning. There seems to be a regular relationship between SDL and adult learning, as it is often adults who pursue learning in a more self-directed manner. The notion of motivation also plays a huge role in SDL, as this is what drives learners to be self-directed. It looks like this particular subject area is bigger than I thought it was.
This chapter serves as an overview of the field, and makes recommendations about research methods and directions. Most of all, the author argues for "the acceptance of the person-in-context as the main unit of analysis" (Candy, p. 40). Candy talks quite a bit about perspective, and calls attention to the importance of knowing whose perspective (the learner, the teacher, the helper, or the researcher) is being represented when it comes to self-directed learning. His views seem to draw a lot upon Constructivist ideas: learners and teachers construct conceptions of learning and knowledge, and these perceptions have a huge impact on the learning process.
References:
Candy, Philip C. (1988). The Transition from Learner-Control to Autodidaxy: More than Meets the Eye. In Long, H. B., Advances in Research and Practice in Self-Directed Learning (pp. 9-46). Norman: Oklahoma Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
personal SDL project: decisions, decisions...
Perhaps one of the most difficult parts of undertaking a self-directed learning project is deciding what to learn. There are so many things out there, and it's difficult to decide! I think part of my problem stems from the fact that I'm undertaking a learning project for the sake of learning, rather than out of another necessity. It's true that necessity is the mother of invention, but I think it gives birth to learning as well. People learn things when they have a need for it.
Because of this particular situation, I've found that I have some different priorities than other self-directed learners might. My list of personal requirements for this little venture includes the following:
Coming soon (tomorrow): A response to the ideas of Philip Candy, and digging out my copy of Ronald Gross' Peak Learning.
Because of this particular situation, I've found that I have some different priorities than other self-directed learners might. My list of personal requirements for this little venture includes the following:
- Fun - a big must. I don't want something that's professionally useful, or will help me in school (although you could argue that almost anything, and the plain fact that I'm learning will benefit me). I want something cool and interesting.
- Hands-on - I like to make stuff. I want to have something to show for what I've been doing.
- Something I can learn on my own - it occurs to me that there may be things out there that are very difficult if not impossible to learn on one's own. This is a question I plan to grapple with a bit more.
- Something I can afford - sure, wouldn't we all like to learn how to cut diamonds? With any learning project there are practical considerations like this.
- Something I can fit into my schedule - many leisure learners find themselves up against this one. Too often an excuse for not pursuing an interest is "I just don't have the time". There's an argument too, that if you want to do something bad enough, you'll make the time.
- Origami - hands on, cheap and produces something. It seems to fulfill my requirements.
- Calligraphy - something I've been interested in for a while. Supplies could get expensive though.
- Typography - also something I've had a passing interest in, and possibly one that could include elements of calligraphy in it. I've always been interested in letter forms, ever since I was little (even though I didn't know what typography was!). Also seems appropriate considering I spent my days surrounded by printed text.
- Penmanship - I have bad handwriting. Just today, I was told "for a girl, you have pretty atrocious handwriting". Ouch. But true. I prefer to think of it as a sign of creativity. I do enjoy the physical act of writing though, so this one is worth considering.
- Bass - I love music, and I've been interested in learning bass for a while now. The problems with that include time commitment and the logistics of getting an instrument (not to mention the auditory sanity of my house-mates!).
- Woodworking - I want to build furniture. Cool furniture. Definite problems with this one include not really being able to learn it by myself, getting access to materials and facilities, and time constraints.
Coming soon (tomorrow): A response to the ideas of Philip Candy, and digging out my copy of Ronald Gross' Peak Learning.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
What are my intentions?
The first and biggest question to be answered is what am I trying to accomplish here? What do I want to get out of this independent study course?
I want to become familiar with the field of self-directed learning. I've looked around for courses offered here or at other institutions, and there don't seem to be any. So, the obvious answer is... to do it myself. Talk about ironic fulfillment of desire. This becomes my main goal: to learn more about self-directed learning.
There are a couple of ways I hope to accomplish this. Firstly, I want to become familiar with the literature and research in the field. To that end, I intend to read and post about at least 1 resource (a journal article, chapter in a book, etc.) per week. I'll try and get to some of the "classic" writings (this week's, Philip Candy, probably falls under that category), as well as more recent work, particularly work that relates to the connections between educational technology and SDL.
Secondly, I also plan to undertake a self-directed learning project of my own. That's right, I plan to learn something this semester. I still have to decide what I'm going to learn about, but that's all part of the plan. I will reflect on this experience both through a learning journal and in postings on this blog.
The final product for this course will consist of a term paper that draws upon the resources generated throughout my experience - both the research I conducted and my own personal experience. The paper will be a summary of, and a reflection upon, my foray into the field of self-directed learning.
I want to become familiar with the field of self-directed learning. I've looked around for courses offered here or at other institutions, and there don't seem to be any. So, the obvious answer is... to do it myself. Talk about ironic fulfillment of desire. This becomes my main goal: to learn more about self-directed learning.
There are a couple of ways I hope to accomplish this. Firstly, I want to become familiar with the literature and research in the field. To that end, I intend to read and post about at least 1 resource (a journal article, chapter in a book, etc.) per week. I'll try and get to some of the "classic" writings (this week's, Philip Candy, probably falls under that category), as well as more recent work, particularly work that relates to the connections between educational technology and SDL.
Secondly, I also plan to undertake a self-directed learning project of my own. That's right, I plan to learn something this semester. I still have to decide what I'm going to learn about, but that's all part of the plan. I will reflect on this experience both through a learning journal and in postings on this blog.
The final product for this course will consist of a term paper that draws upon the resources generated throughout my experience - both the research I conducted and my own personal experience. The paper will be a summary of, and a reflection upon, my foray into the field of self-directed learning.
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