Monday, October 3, 2011

#Change11: Competence and Collective Learning

October 3, 2011 - Week 4 of the #Change11 MOOC and I am catching up today.  As I reviewed materials from previous weeks and then read today's post on collective learning, I am struck by the lack of discussion around competence.  I admit it, I like to learn from a subject matter expert.  Now, with that said, I also remember college courses - especially my computer courses - where I knew as much and sometimes more than my instructor.  I definitely believe in learning from the collective.  But, I think filtering out those that speak and don't know what they are talking about is sometimes the hardest part.

Learning for the sake of learning is one thing.  Learning for the sake of solving a problem is another thing.  Learning in order to achieve a level of competence on a given subject is yet another thing - one which I contend requires greater structure and accountability.  In the world of education, the one thing we know about our students is one size doesn't fit all.  This applies to much more than just the individual.

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