Our forum is definately a community of practice as we are all completeing set work in order to learn and reach the ultimate goal of completeing this particular unit and then recievin g a grade to go towards our degree. Within the forum I believe that everyone is equal and able to learn from each other (community of practice). We can all ask each other questions and therefore, as well as learning from our lecturers we are also learning from our peers. This makes the environment alot more relaxed and allows people to maybe ask their friends questions instead of lecturers as sometimes they may feel like the questions they have sound silly so they are more comfortable asking their peers.
Obviously there is a hierarchal system that works as many students may know more than others, this gives them a certain amount of power where they can maybe answer more questions that fellow students have. Lecturers are also there to provide help and support when needed. They are there to help as they obviously want us to get the best grade possible. They are there to help us reach our ultimate goal which is a mjor part of a community of practice.
Also friendships are easily built up here where otherwie this may not happen. For example, if you have a question and open it up in the forum anyone can reply. This leads to communication between different groups of people which, in turn, could allow new friendships to develop and flourish in the future.
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5 comments:
I think learning from eachother is a vital part of comms of practice.
I agree that sometimes it is easier to raise questions among your peers as if it's a bit of a simple question it saves the embarassment of asking your lecturer in front of the entire class! And also, sometimes when I'm struggling with a concept, hearing it summarised in less formal jargon (as lecturers phrase it) from my peers makes it easier to relate to and form an opinion on.
Yeh, on the forums we're discussing things with maybe people we wouldn't necessarily bring topics up with in seminars, where when we get in groups we stick with our main friends. Do you find this?
Yes exactly and therefoe by being able to communicate with different people we are allowing ourselves to be prone to other peoples ideas which may be able to help us think about things differently. Otherwise when we usually stick in the same groups as our friends, as theyre our friends theyre obviously going to have the same sort of ideas and learning experiences as us!Therefore by gaining more ideas from new people we are able to educate ourselves further.
I agree, it opens up our minds to other ideas and gives us the ability to question our own opinions as well as others. This gives us greater understanding of a unit
Sarah,
This is what I like to see, a nice discussion taking place as a result of your original blog posting - excellent stuff!
I think the point you make about learning from your peers is really important. Some of the most important educational things that stay with me, were explained to me by fellow students, rather than a teacher. I'm glad you find the environment relaxed and on an equal footing, many students have also said this.
In your discussion that follows, I like to the fact that people feel, this type of way of learning has increased their friendship with a more diverse group of people than in normal seminars!
Excellent
All the best
Emma
Yes i have to expand on that that now i discuss blogging with people i would normally not talk to. This then, in turn, causes conversation to begin which then moves onto discussing different things. Therefore realtionships start to develop. Thereofore this is definately a great thing!
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