Comments on: Questions re. solitude and learning http://learn.5tein.com/2009/09/15/ipt682-02/ Jared Stein's grad-school-community blog on teaching and learning. Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:35:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: jaredstein http://learn.5tein.com/2009/09/15/ipt682-02/comment-page-1/#comment-7 jaredstein Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:56:09 +0000 http://learn.5tein.com/?p=6#comment-7 @David I think its a challenging question, but also that the semantics matter in this distinction. We can say that literacy allows us to talk to dead people (as Gardner reminds us)--is that the same as talking to people? I'm inclined to answer that solitude requires lack of interactivity with living people, rather than use synchronicity as the distinguishing factor. I suspect there are a myriad of factors that originate from the social that can affect intellectual and creative pursuits that are absent in solitude (e.g. peer pressure, scrutiny, digressions, politeness). But I do have to now wonder if there is a difference in solitary experiences that are connected to programmed data networks (e.g. Google, Wikipedia), vs disconnected, period. I suppose one could relate it to wandering a library, but there is an addictive quality to clicking hyperlinks that may not be comparable. Who would fund it? Maybe no one. Perhaps the NEA -- not the National Education Association, mind you, but the National Endowment for the Arts? Any organization that is invested in studying the psychology of creativity, perhaps. I'll have to consider this further... @David
I think its a challenging question, but also that the semantics matter in this distinction. We can say that literacy allows us to talk to dead people (as Gardner reminds us)–is that the same as talking to people? I’m inclined to answer that solitude requires lack of interactivity with living people, rather than use synchronicity as the distinguishing factor. I suspect there are a myriad of factors that originate from the social that can affect intellectual and creative pursuits that are absent in solitude (e.g. peer pressure, scrutiny, digressions, politeness).

But I do have to now wonder if there is a difference in solitary experiences that are connected to programmed data networks (e.g. Google, Wikipedia), vs disconnected, period. I suppose one could relate it to wandering a library, but there is an addictive quality to clicking hyperlinks that may not be comparable.

Who would fund it? Maybe no one. Perhaps the NEA — not the National Education Association, mind you, but the National Endowment for the Arts? Any organization that is invested in studying the psychology of creativity, perhaps. I’ll have to consider this further…

]]> By: David Wiley http://learn.5tein.com/2009/09/15/ipt682-02/comment-page-1/#comment-6 David Wiley Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:33:56 +0000 http://learn.5tein.com/?p=6#comment-6 "...is a form of disconnecting from others, not from information." Since information sources come to us "asynchronously" from other people, does solitude imply a disconnection from synchronicity, not from people? The idea of the cycle of async / sync seems really interesting. If this exercise has given you more to chew on, then it's been successful. Now see where the shower, dishes, and lawn mowing take you. As for who would fund, what sounds like a "higher risk" study than someone who brazenly rejects the conventional wisdom about the messianic role of always-on social media in learning? “…is a form of disconnecting from others, not from information.” Since information sources come to us “asynchronously” from other people, does solitude imply a disconnection from synchronicity, not from people?

The idea of the cycle of async / sync seems really interesting.

If this exercise has given you more to chew on, then it’s been successful. Now see where the shower, dishes, and lawn mowing take you. As for who would fund, what sounds like a “higher risk” study than someone who brazenly rejects the conventional wisdom about the messianic role of always-on social media in learning?

]]> By: jaredstein http://learn.5tein.com/2009/09/15/ipt682-02/comment-page-1/#comment-3 jaredstein Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:18:16 +0000 http://learn.5tein.com/?p=6#comment-3 More questions and clarifications: (Define "informal".) How important is members' solitary work for (individual | collective) success of self-forming online learning communities? More questions and clarifications:
(Define “informal”.)
How important is members’ solitary work for (individual | collective) success of self-forming online learning communities?

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