Learning by Sharing - the essay

Before starting to do any essay I have to note that I was quite taken aback by Mark Prensky and I have a lot of his articles open to read later. First I am trying to design a sketch or a mind map for my essay which I am basing on the article with the same name - Learning by Sharing and add some of the other notions I got from different sources. Especially Prensky.

Learning by sharing

Introduction

More and more information and communication technologies (ICT) are used in order to make learning more interesting. According to an internationally acclaimed speaker and education designer Mark Prensky, a traditional “tell-test“ school model is less than three hundred years old and is still in use today with the current Digital Native (2001b, p. 1) generation that was born into a society where computers and other technology have always been a part of their lives. These learners have developed new kinds of study skills and do not feel the excitement in the traditional classroom, because they are used to fast speed information processing and arbitrary thinking  (Prensky, 2001a, p. 2) compared to the current school model that originates from the 1800-s and was meant for preparing the workforce (Toffler, 2008).  One of the possible learning methods for this generation, besides games (as Prensky suggests) (Prensky, 2001a, p. 10), could be learning by sharing or collaborative learning.  
Wikipedia states that collaborative learning comes from Vygotsky’s views on social nature of learning and that it is a process where the experience of two or more people is shared by interaction (Wikipedia, 2009). This kind of learning can also be viewed as meta-learning. In this model the teacher is viewed as a coach, and the input comes from the student. The current essay elaborates on learning by sharing in order to understand the nuances of such approach. Three aspects are viewed: a) collaborative learning, b) Web 2.0 tools for online collaboration, and c) engaging different people in collaborative learning.

Collaborative Learning 

Maes et al. criticized the existing school system ten years ago, when the information society began to emerge. They noted that there was a global demand of education, but no possibilities for supply (1999, p. 2). The lessons were (and still are) conducted by a teacher who instructs the whole class to act according to the given guidelines (Maes et al., 1999, p. 4). Such actions usually help practising different learning skills to memorize information better. I agree with Prensky when he says that today's Digital Immigrant instructors see that something is different with the kids, but do not see what is really happening to them (Prensky, 2001c, p. 3), one can notice that a lot of classroom time is consumed to maintain order in the lessons. In staff room discussions it becomes clear that teachers often wonder why there are so many bad test scores and why the learners are restless. This kind of behaviour leads to thinking that there is something wrong and needs to be changed.
By learning collaboratively students can contribute to the process, thus being more engaged and interested in the activity. Today’s learners are more likely to adapt to new technologies than the teachers, therefore it is possible to share the acquired knowledge with their instructors. Digital Natives are contributors in their nature, and many of them like to invent new content (Prensky, 2001c, p. 5), this way they can be useful both to the group and to the teacher through interactive process. However, it must be noted that all learners should devote some (preferably equal) amount of knowledge to the group, because people in this group depend on each other. Collaborative learning enables students to choose their own pace and they become (at least in some amount) active participators of learning by sharing.  
This kind of interaction also enables peer-review and -feedback, which is very important to today’s learners, as seen from the examples of extremely popular social networks like Facebook, Orkut, and Rate.ee. Social networking is fairly important in today’s youth culture, because it gives a certain feeling of online success and belonging when a person “owns” a lot of (online) friends or acquaintances and/or has received many testimonies or reviews. Lindau advocates that social networking communities are so popular because they create user-centered networks where the users are is in the center of attention (Lindau, 2009).


Web 2.0 Tools for Online Collaboration 

One can find various options for sharing educational content online with the help of Web 2.0 devices. The latter provide a wide range of cooperation tools from blogging and Wikis to video conferencing, which makes the Internet a rich environment full of different useful learning aids. The best part is that learners can produce their own materials online and share them with their peers – either through collaboration tools, weblogs, social networking sites or instant messenger (IM) conversations – Web 2.0 tools are oriented to creation (Raud, 2009),  thus enabling easier access to contributors. It is possible to learn even by using mobile phones (M-learning), and game consoles (game-based learning), because one can access the Internet through various gadgets. As it was mentioned in the previous chapter, this “twitch-speed” (Prensky, 2001a, p. 9) generation is good at learning things from scratch, often using no aids but their own brain. This leads to creation of various learning materials ranging from simplistic to professional (Prensky, 2001b, p. 5).
A typical technology-filled school in Estonia is a sufficient environment for stimulating live interaction and cooperation. Unfortunately one cannot find such equipment in all of Estonian schools, but nevertheless, in most homes and libraries there is (free) Internet, as in a wide range of cafés. Learners can easily access content, which plays a decisive role in engaging the youth in such activities. Hereby an example of a simple collaboration project, a blog named “Catch a Smile” is examined to illustrate the understanding of the students’ input. The concept of such weblog is to post a photo with a smile and add a story to it. As we already know, handling cameras and posting content on the Web is fairly simple for Digital Natives, but all of them have a different perception of the notion “smile”, which produced versatile content, and also contributed to the teacher’s perception of a smile. 
Estonia has taken a huge step towards E-learning and collaborative learning. Tiger Leap Foundation has offered great support for such initiative by providing schools with computers, students with laptops, and published a lot of online educational content. In the current economical  situation in Estonia it is cheap to use a computer and a projector or a Smartboard in the lessons to save on paper and stationery costs. This technology, in turn, is enough to carry out a collaborative lesson, for example an eTwinning project. The aforementioned initiative is a good example which connects European teachers with similar interests through a wide range of projects, enabling interaction and shared learning for different schools without having to pay for travelling. 

Engaging Different People in Online Communities 

Online learning makes it possible to interact with different people from countries across the world. Such communication enables the learners to get acquainted with other cultures, experiences and topics of interest. The best learning is learner-centered and -initiated, because then meta-learning takes place. Online communities may be one way of gathering such people together to share each other’s experience and gain from the collaborative effort. In the aforementioned environment people develop trustworthy relationships and can get positive feedback and encouragement.  
An online community may be a portal or a bulletin board where people can post topics about various issues. Digital Natives prefer Internet for searching information as they are computer-centered, this plays a decisive role in choosing an online place to turn to for immediate help. With a small number of people the concept of community may fail, but with a large number, certainly, the community will be richer in essence (Preece, 2000 p. 89-70). Communities offer several outcomes for people – learning, sharing, solving problems, making friends, etc. In Estonia there are two popular teacher’s communities – Class Teachers’ Community and Maths Teachers Community. These two display an illustration of active participation. These entities involve file sharing, exchanging experience, news, and social chat, in addition to working perfectly because they have massive content input. The community users can learn from each other’s mistakes or success stories, and can benefit from the content that is created by using it in their lessons. Pupils have communities of interest like Mängukoobas (Play Den), which is devoted to games and interaction. This place is a thoroughly premeditated concept where children can play games, earn points, etc. – similar to social networking sites with a financial touch in it. Spikrivabrik (Cheating Factory) is a more traditional bulletin board where one can get advice on cheating in the lessons. Both of these conceptions accumulate learners with similar views or perceptions and make them interact within the community boundaries because of their interesting, user-centered content.
To conclude this topic, I will introduce the notion of caring in communities. The concept of online community certainly originates from the society, and the Internet is operated by real people with real feelings  (Leigh Smith et al., 1992 p. 2). Although it may seem that the person behind the screen (if it is online learning) cannot see you, certain code of conduct is demanded from the participators. Above all, large web-based entities need certain rules in order to keep trouble away and to make people contribute to the content. Users need guidance in navigating the communities (Ibid. p. 86) to maintain them in order and not to let people create false identities or post flames (Ibid. p. 83). Usually the rules help keep trouble away from study communities, because these people come with enthusiastic perceptions of learning through collaboration.

Conclusion

This essay elaborated on learning by sharing within three main categories, which touched upon the topic of collaborative learning, online tools for conducting such learning, and finally engaging different people in learning communities. The underlying aim of collaborative learning lies in sharing, caring and the code of conduct in the Internet. As Web 2.0 is already changing to Web 3.0, there will be new nuances of E-learning, thus the traditional educational environment has to change at some point, or it will stay far behind the current learner needs. In order to be a better teacher for today’s generation of fast learners who need instant access to various sources and constant praise and feedback from peers and instructors, one must take into consideration further exploration of the area.

References
 

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