1) How might Wenger's notions on practice communities relate to Prensky's on education?
Wenger (2001) came up with the idea of Communities of Practice, referring to the notion that learning benefits from experiencing a sense of community with those around you whom you learn with.
I believe that this related to Prensy’s ideas about education in that it implies that students can benefit by taking advantage of their ability to connect digitally, and so by doing so can form an online Community of Practice which will aid the process of education.
So for example, for digital natives, learning online through online lectures or computer games as Prensky suggests, and having the ability to discuss their thoughts and ideas with peers and tutors remotely through perhaps forums or instant messages, means that they will be able to create an educational community of practice, which according to Wenger, will help them to learn.
Therefore by combining Prenksy’s ideas about digital natives and how to most effectively teach them, and Wenger’s ideas about communities of practice and education, we should, in theory, create an environment which is conjunctive to their learning.
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I can certainly relate to this point. I can think of plenty of times when work hasn't been understood, but instead of tackling these problems f2f in a seminar or lecture, there have been mass facebook messages discussing the problems usually shared by a group in which we all aim to find an understanding.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've been part of similar threads etc?
Yes I have! I think I find it easier to admit that I'm struggling to understand something when not face to face. Putting your hand up in the middle of a seminar and admitting you're just not getting something is a lot harder than sending out a mass facebook message. Maybe it's the easy way out and I should pluck up the courage in a real life setting, but at least with the possibility to discuss problems remotely there's a chance of it being fixed. Without it I may just suffer in silence!
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