Will shared a great post yesterday about the changing definition of the word ‘expert’ and how collective intelligence fits into it all.
A book he is reading, Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins, uses the Survivor ’spoiler’ community as an example. I’ve been on these sites before, and I have to admit that it really works as a powerful example of how effective dispersed groups working asynchronously can accomplish a task that would otherwise be impossible. Groups of people with no prior connection of outside relationship come together to piece together solutions to puzzles with barely any information to go on. It really is impressive.
It’s also a very valid model for what businesses may resemble in the next 10 years. The idea of working in an office from 9-5 is becoming increasingly dated. Why waste the money on an office when people can work just as effectively from home? And why work everyday from 9-5 if the people you’re working with are on the other side of the world and sleeping at the time? It’s more sensible for people to set the hours that are appropriate to their specific tasks. Obviously it depends on the persons’ profession, but I’m not talking about working at McD’s right now.
Of course, we have all grown up with specic structures in place, and they’re hard for us to tear them down. We’re used to thinking of jobs as 9-5 endeavors. Of weekends being sacred, of summers being for vacations, and of course, of teachers being experts. However, we’re beginning to understand that teachers don’t have to be an expert in order to teach effectively. In fact, sometimes being an expert inhibits good teaching. The very idea of one person being the expert may in itself be harmful to 21st century students.
Students today are moving into a business world that is increasingly decentralized. Work is being done by teams of people who often have little personal contact with each other. Today’s technology provides so many tools for doing so that are free and easily accessible to everybody, students included. Email, instant messaging, social networking, collaborative word processors, video conferencing, and wikis all promote collaborative work in a decentralized environment.
However, are educators really preparing students for that type of environment? For the most part, we aren’t. To do so, teachers need to relinquish control of their classes more often and allow students to work collaboratively using every tool available.
And I do mean every. Not necessarily all at once, but blocking access to something as simple as instant messaging inhibits their ability to learn to use a very valid technology in an effective way. Could it distract students from lessons? Absolutely. Just like in future years it could distract them from getting work done. So teach them to use it in a way that doesn’t get in the way of their education. It’s a lesson worth devoting time to.
I guess the point is that the tools we have access to today permit knowledge communities to become far more relevant than any individual expert could dream of. It’s why wikipedia has become such a powerful force. An organized, collective intelligence is far more powerful than the sum of its parts. And we need to be preparing our students to be a part of such communities, and to know how to take advantage of them.
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