Howard Rheingold discussed the natural instinct of people to seek groups and collaborate and how technology provides the necessary tools of collaboration across time and space.
The question posed, "Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to interact and work as a group, as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia?" I do believe that human beings have a natural desire to seek out people with similar interests. Humans are social by nature and need to have interaction with others regardless of location, socio-economic status or cultural beliefs. Rheingold determined that there are collective actions, stemming first from literate populations that guide our interdependencies and collaborative ways. With the ever advancing technology field, every desk top will become a means to communicate and share, further building on our innate desire to work with others.
At first glance, some may interpret this new collaborative movement sparked by ever evolving technolgy options, as one in which people meet face to face, but that is not the case. Many will still collaborate in groups and meet face to face, but with the influx of wikis and social networking sites, people can collaborate and create from anywhere and at anytime. With the increased availability of hand held devices, collaboration has become borderless, timeless, and ageless.
How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles? Technology can help to facilitate collaboration, the foundation of the costructivist theory. Those inhibited by meeting and sharing ideas in a face to face setting can still be a contributor to a final project simply by adding insight via technology. The sites available including wikis and google docs. permit additons and modifications to documents from anywhere. These new technologies have taken us from the time of hunting and gathering as a means of collaboration to solving a crisis across borders.
References:
Rheingold, H. (Artist). (2008). Howard rheingold: way-new collaboration. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html
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"People can collaborate and create from anywhere and at anytime." Collaboration has really come along. The people in the agricultural age would have really appreciated tools such as blogs and wikis to learn how to grow their crops better, to advertise, etc. I love the fact that I can talk to people all over the world using tools such as Skype.
ReplyDeleteTiffany
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to be able to talk with others from various places and be able to share cultures, ideas and innovations without ever leaving the comforts of the couch. It is also a great educational tool, enabling our students to share with others too.
I responded to the following blogs for module 3
ReplyDeletehttp://carollee387.blogspot.com/2010/04/educ-7105-module-3-blog-collaboration.html
I responded to the following blogs for module 3
ReplyDeletehttp://finleylearningtheory.blogspot.com/2010/04/module-3-collaborationis-there-need-for.html
Jane,
ReplyDeletePrior to enrolling in this degree program, the only collaboration tool I used besides face-to-face meetings was email. Since becoming a student, I have used numerous collaboration tools including wikis. Have you ever used Delicious? It is a great resource in which you can share bookmarked websites.
Angela
ReplyDeleteI have used Delicious and when I switched computers it made it much easier. I had all my sites.
Jane,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; with the use of technology, we are now able to communicate and work with one another "anytime anywhere". At times, I am still amazed that I have been able to not only complete my Master's degree, but am able to work on my Specialist's online - completely.
I also agree that we are born with the ability to want to work together and communicate.
Holly