Eric Balak

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Although there are many intricate interplays of various different, yet complimentary theoretical frameworks on what constitutes learning (behaviorism cognitivism, constructivism, constructionism, social-cultural, connectivism), it is my interpretation that learning is the ubiquitous outcome and measurable change in performance between individual minds (internally constructed knowledge) and socially-constructed artifacts in the world through mutual synergy amongst groups of minds (external distribution and negotiation of socially constructed knowledge) in interaction and participation with one another afforded by ready-at-hand [mobile] technology. Furthermore, it is my assumption that learning is a multi-faceted, complex phenomenon embodied within every aspect of human development occurring seamlessly throughout one’s lifetime (from infancy through adulthood) spanning across different contexts of home, school, and community, bridging together different environments (physical, digital, augmented, virtual), personal passions, academic endeavors, and peer cultures, ultimately, resulting in a change in performance or potential performance due to (in)direct personalized experiences and socially-situated interactions with materialistic, openly-networked spaces in combination with connected networks of peers and experts (of different ages, backgrounds, levels of expertise), as well as production-centered and interest-driven content and contexts, mediated by participatory cultures and technological tools (namely, Web 2.0/3.0 and social media).  

 

These inter-relationships seamlessly co-exist and co-depend on one another not as isolated entities of learning spanning one’s lifetime, but rather as a fluid, multi-modal, connected ecological system encompassing the functional development of the brain, social relationships, technological tools, and shared environments and contexts across space and time. In this regard, the educator is no longer presumed to be the ‘all-knowing’ expert, or sage-on-stage, who lectures at a group of individuals, but rather is one who holds many hats, (aka various roles), including orchestrator, connected networker, producer, consumer, coordinator, mentor, and facilitator whose primary responsibility is to help today’s 21st century learners, digital natives, to validate various degrees of knowledge (what, why, and how) by permitting them time within a safe space to play, to tinker, to make, to fail, and to receive ‘just-in-time’ feedback, all the while connecting them to a network, or community, of learning and practice of interest and of use through methods of seduction and pull. Therefore, learners who traditionally have been assumed to be merely passive recipients of knowledge, or knowledge consumers, instead; can be perceived as entrepreneurial, makers, tinkerers, remixers, curators, and active participants who are passionately connected to networks on topics of common interests within a community of learning and practice. With the emergence of Web 2.0/3.0 tools (wikis, podcasts, videos, collaboration, crowdsourcing, mash-ups, games, blogging platforms, social networks, etc.) and current upcoming educational technologies (augmented reality, 3D printing, mobiles), the boundaries across settings and contexts are seamlessly being blurred together and transformed to establish fluid, interchanging roles between the educator and learner within a personalized learning ecology, one which may potentially expand over one’s life-course.