Reflection for Week 1.1 Readings (4/3)
The main idea that I got from my readings of the three articles is the important role a community plays in learning. In the executive summary of "How People Learn", a community-centered learning environment was one of the four key conclusions discussed. In Rogoff's article, the author expounded on the importance of seeing individual development, i.e. learning, as a process of the individual's changing participation in the sociocultural activities of their communities.
I personally feel that we learn best in a community. Regardless of what the different learning theories say about how people learn, no matter what our individual learning styles are, I think most of us would agree that interactions with others play an important role in our learning. Our brain and mind is essentially social, and social interactions help engage us and facilitate learning.
Knowing the importance the role of community plays then, what are the implications for designing learning spaces?
I think there are two:
The first point is self-explanatory and obvious. We need to design spaces that foster connections rather than compartmentalization. Examples of this might be movable furniture and portable whiteboards to encourage interactions, appropriate use of colors and layout to create open, discussion-friendly space etc. Learning spaces - both physical and virtual - can play an important role in building and enabling (or deterring) of communities, and of students' learning.
The second point is about the importance of community involvement in creating a learning space. No one group or administration has enough information or sole insight to make all well-informed decisions. Stakeholders like students and faculty should be given an opportunity to voice their input as well. Their perspectives are valuable and they should be involved when planning or designing learning spaces. It will not be easy. Finding ways to get meaningful input from the various stakeholders and after that, balancing their views and needs with the purpose and the organization's constraints requires great effort and ingenuity.
Dan Gilbert Nice reflection here, thanks for sharing this. thanks for taking a good first step toward connecting theory and practice. I think your two points will be developed in this class and in others and I look forward to hearing how your thinking moves forward on these throughout the quarter.