Week 3 - Blog Posting #6 -Communities of Practice

In a sense, our very students are part of our community of practice.
They assist us in our own learning experiences too.
In my practice, I’ve had this very experience. Many times, I’ve had students needing to tell me what something is and explaining things in detail for me.
For instance, some years ago, I had a student introduce me to Photobucket.
Until then, I had never even heard of this service.

Initially, I was confused about it. I wasn’t sure why the service existed really.
Gradually, it began to make sense to me. Since then I was able to use Photobucket for some important freelance work.

Experiences like these could not possibly be my own. I’m sure many teachers over the course of their careers have in some way shape or form been influenced by their students and have become wiser because of it.

In this article syndicated columnist Dale Dauten explains how trainers and educators are to become better trainers and educators…by learning from their learners.
http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2006/08/20/good_trainers_learn_from_their_students/

It becomes a cyclical process, where both the teacher and learner are exactly that…both a teacher AND a learner. They wear both hats.



The Social Networking video brought out some great points.
The hidden connections that are in real life are truly evident. As a member of
Facebook, I am able to see at a glance who is connected with who.
Often I am surprised to see who my mutual friends and acquaintances are.
Just think that all this time, My friends and I know some of the same people, and never knew about it before.
Because of this Social Networking technology, what was once opaque is now transparent.


In an educational setting, this technology would be quite useful for students who are making the transition from school into the work place.

Here is a link to a service that enables users to remix the web in ways similar to Netvibes:
http://www.bloglines.com/

In my practice, it’s my hope that I can brig awareness of these technologies and how they will affect communities of practice for the students in their present, everyday lives, and get them to think of ways in which they can be more proactive in their educational connections.