[Virtual Universities] [Index]
Introduction : Organization and learning
Guidelines on organization
Preliminary conditions for organization
Guidelines on learning
Documentary notes on learning
Guidelines on organization (^)An organization operating through a network and producing goods and services must satisfy three basic functions in order to work properly:
communication
search and selection of information
spreading and sharing of informationcoordination
elaborating data and taking decisions
recording datacooperation
preparing activities
executing tasksThe fulfilment of these functions (missions) requires the presence of some preliminary conditions.
Preliminary conditions (^)The implementation and development of a networked activity by a group of individuals demand the presence of preliminary conditions related to the quality and type of human and electronic resources in place. The main aspects concerning human resources refer to:
regard : there must be a reciprocal interest in the exchange arising from and producing a common benefit (shared benefit) in the long run.
reciprocity : there must be the will to exchange something (reciprocal ask/give).
reliability : the exchange must be counted upon (be reliable) with reference to the individuals who exchange data and to the content and form of the data exchanged: moreover, there must be a certain level of security as to the continuity and validity of the exchange.
If one of those conditions is not satisfied, the exchange either does not take place or has limited or no value.
In more specific terms the members of a community of education and research should act according to the formulation of Robert K. Merton (1942) on the basis of an ethic centred on the following values:
Universalism. «Universalism finds immediate expression in the canon that truth-claims, whatever their source, are to be subjected to preestablished impersonal criteria: consonant with observation and with previous confirmed knowledge.»
Communism. «The substantive findings of science are a product of social collaboration and are assigned to the community. They constitute a common heritage.» «The institutional conception of science as part of the public domain is linked with the imperative for communication of findings.»
Disinterestedness. «A passion for knowledge, idle curiosity, altruistic concern with the benefit to humanity and a host of other special motives have been attributed to the scientist.»
Organised Skepticism. «The temporary suspension of judgement and the detached scrutiny of beliefs in terms of empirical and logical criteria.»(Robert K. Merton «The Sociology of Science», The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1973, chapter 13, pp.270-278)
Guidelines on learning (^)An activity of Research, Information and Formation that takes place through group networking should be based on the following guidelines:
- individualization : accepting the existence of a plurality of levels and types of knowledge.
- personalization : recognizing the existence of a variety of learning styles and paths of cognitive exploration.
- autonomy : acknowledging that a learning and research process is started and driven mainly by the learner-researcher.
- cooperation : need to facilitate and promote the exchange of experiences, viewpoints, data, knowledge.
- integration : no separation amongst the various tools, supports, accesses, activities.
- imagination : valuing and developing creativity and originality in tackling and solving problems
- activation : learning and research based mainly on action and on the resolution of problems through a process that takes place permanently (always, on demand) and with no boundaries (everywhere, without physical constraints).These guidelines translated in the practice of research and learning assign a very important place to the individual and lead him/her to experiences made of:
- experimentation (solution of poblems, implementation of projects, etc.)
- expression (presentation of concepts, visualization of themes, etc.)
- exploration (navigation through knowledge, analysis of topics, etc.).
Documentary note on learning (^)The list of guidelines here presented is a personal elaboration of ideas based on series of theoretical and practical contributions coming mainly from the field of psychology, sociology and educational sciences.
On of the best contributions concerning learning has been given by
Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn (1969).
According to him, a "significant or experiential learning"
- It has a quality of personal involvement ("the whole person in both his feelings and cognitive aspects being in the learning event.");
- It is self-initiated ("Even when the impetus or stimulus comes from the outside, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending, come from within.");
- It is pervasive ("It makes a difference in the behavior, the attitudes, perhaps even the personality of the learner.");
- It is evaluated by the learner ("He knows whether it is meeting his need, whether it leads toward what he wants to know, whether it illuminates the dark area of ignorance he is experiencing.");
- Its essence is meaning ("When such learning takes place, the element of meaning to the learner is built into the whole experience."). (p. 5)For a critical analysis of teaching refer to the classic text by
John Dewey, Democracy and Education, (1916)
and to
Ronald and Beatrice Gross (editors), Radical School Reform, Penguin, Harmondsworth. 1972,
especially to the contributions by J.Kozol, J.Holt, J.Henry, Mario D. Fantini e G.Weinstein.For a perspective very critical towards conventional teaching see:
Percival Goodman, Compulsory Miseducation, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1973
and
Neil Postman & Charles Weingartner, Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971.An interesting collection of documents expressing the frustration and discontent of the French students (Mai '68) against the state system of education can be found in
Quelle Université? Quelle Société?, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1968.A radical critique of the current system is in
Everett Reimer, School is Dead, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971
and
Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, Calder & Boyars, London, 1971,
Ivan Illich, After Deschooling, What?, Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, London, 1974.The "deschooling" position is the most advanced in view of overcoming completely the traditional school system. To this respect see the documents contained in:
P. Buckman (editor), Education Without Schools, Souvenir Press, London, 1973
and
Ian Lister (editor), Deschooling : A Reader, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1974.On the topic of learning see
Brian O'Connell, Aspects of Learning, Allen & Unwin, London, 1973.On the different types (strategies) of learning the classic work is
R. M. Gagné, The Conditions of Learning, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1970.Learning styles, i.e. personalized strategies for learning, are dealt in
Asher Cashdan & Victor Lee, Learning Styles - Personality Growth and Learning, Units 1 and 2, The Open University Press, London, 1971.For the debate on learning strategies from the point of view of the psychology of learning see
Martin Tessmer & David Jonassen, Learning Strategies : A New Instructional Technology, World Yearbook of Education 1988, Kogan Page, London, 1988.
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