Dear LO'ers, dear At,
Thank you At, for your chrystal clear answer. I have little to add to your
contribution. It made again clear how important it is to pay intense
attention to education and the way of learning and teaching. How important
the stimulation of knowledge loops is and that the change of free energy
is the crux.
You have illustrated your explanation with a very vivid and imaginative
story of the flowering and fruit production of some types of trees. I have
enjoyed that very much. When you described the olicarpic tree 'Cussonia
paniculata' (with a nasty English name, but I love its South African:
Bergkiepersol), I thought of my banana tree at home. The way both trees
produce their flowers and fruits, seems similar. But I hope that the
release of my free energy is not that devistating. It is a joyful thought
that my children will run further with the relay baton, but I like to
survive as well :-)
There is one minor remark. At explained that Rote Learning LR has a linear
outcome; Authentic Learning AL has a non-linear outcome.
>This gives an indication why the 18 years case is often preferred above
>the 25 years case. If in bothe cases it was more Rote Learning RL than
>Authentic Learning AL, then it is easier for the 18 years person to
>change from RL to AL than for the 25 years person. (the change from RL to
>AL is possible, but not the change from AL to RL since AL is
>irreversible).
This is clear too. However there is a theoretical possibility that
oscillation between the two might occur.I realise that the circumstances
of oscillation are very much defined and very rare.
Thinking further on the irreversibility of AL, I wonder how the energy of
the system (In this case the very person) is furtherly feeded. I mean that
if no new energy is added, the loop of AL will die. So new energy must
be added, probably in pace and dose, but still.
What form and what content will this new energy be?
And articulated this question, I came to the following conclusions:
Rote Learning is a misleading expression. RL has nothing to do with
learning. It is the injection of data or information. Information that
others (outside the 'learning' person) have formulated through Authentic
Learning AL, based upon pre-existing data + information.
Authentic Learning AL is the creation of knowledge, and if articulated,
information.
So maybe I can try to compose the following historical steps (starting
with Eve and Adam):
1. collection of data through RL
2. this gives rise (inside Eve and/or Adam) to knowledge by means of AL
3. this knowledge escapes from Eve and/or Adam as information
4. this information together with old and newly collected data is
collected by the next generation through RL
5. return to 2), but change Eve and/or Adam by 'next generation'.
I think that this is the way to feed the total energy of a person, and
thus the potential free energy. If next generations will not explode
(becoming crazy or committing suicide) because of the building-up of
internal energy (by the injection of data and information from their
surroundings), they have to do AL, releasing the free energy by means of
the creation of knowledge. The future generations have to cope with the
newly produced information in the same way. If not, mankind will finally
poisened by the overflow of data and information. (a nice theme for a
science fiction story).
However, AL is not the only way to get rid of your free energy. You may
also start running in the park, or do some nice work in the garden, or at
your office, the (learning) organization. Do this, before you have been
injected with too much data and info.
PS This whole story reminds me of the tale of the boiled frog
(communicated some months ago on this list). It is the difference between
the slowly added energy to the system, or the fast added energy.
Quick, quick, slow. Dancing through the learning world upon a
multi-dimensional floor.
Thank you At, you invited my thoughts for a tango.
dr. Leo D. Minnigh
minnigh@library.tudelft.nl
Library Technical University Delft
PO BOX 98, 2600 MG Delft, The Netherlands
Tel.: 31 15 2782226
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Let your thoughts meander towards a sea of ideas.
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--Leo Minnigh <l.d.minnigh@library.tudelft.nl>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>