Eva wrote:
...well, not denying politics, but don't forget that a lot of the best
learning generates noise -- that's one of my assomptions. As soon as you
collaborate with other people, I'd say the interaction gets tangibly
audible... I mean, quietly turning the pages of a book or silently gazing
at the object you are concentratedly making a painting of, may be good
learning situations, too. But a lot of the time learners want to talk (and
move stuff around), and they should be able to do that without the
escalating effect of talk at a large party, where everybody gets hoarse.
Wow !! I love all this wonderful information and feedback I am getting. I
hope it all comes together for me in the end.
Well Eva, I agree with you completely that learning generates noise, and
collaboration is the best way to make that noise. You'd think many people
would realize that this whole collaboration thing seems necessary because we
are a very social people, and I don't know if it was you, Eugene, or diane
who said that we learn from making mistakes, but we need a safe environment
for making them. So, by making mistakes we've given ourselves and our society
several models to build off of, and I'm sure we've brought these models or
made these models in our school systems. Haven't we made mistakes in our
educational system? ..But, have we ever used those mistakes, "learned" from
them, and adapted our school environments to them? Why not? I'm going to say
because most people are stubborn and ignorant.
So much, I hope I can or could change education in some way, and sometimes it
seems aggravating that it may never change for the better. I'm sure there are
other people out there that feel the way I do.
By the way, this kind of goes to everybody. I admire a lot of the people in
this discussion group. My admiration comes from the knowledge I can gain from
these experienced sources, and for those who take an interest in my pursuits,
seeing as I am a member of a very different professional community (not quite
yet though :) )
I love this knowledge. Thanks everybody.
-- Stephen Van Hoose 5th Year B.A. Architecture Student Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture Troy, NY mail: vanhos who-is-at rpi.edu web address: http://www.rpi.edu/~vanhos