Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:72] Incubation
From: Joe Beckmann (joeb@oekos.org)
Date: Mon 14 Aug 2000 - 15:20:29 MEST
From: "Joe Beckmann" <joeb@oekos.org> Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:72] Incubation Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 09:20:29 -0400
What you're talking about is what Sherry Turkle called "bricolage," from
Levi-Strauss, or "playing around" to solve a problem with technology rather
than to apply technology for its own sake. Her observation, at MIT in the
course of evaluating Project Athena's impact in creating curriculum in
physics, was that teachers - even very sophisticated college instructors -
needed time to play around - to tinker - with a problem before a solution
could appear. That such time was likely unavailable and that what you
describe as incubation, the process of fitting the mindset of the software
to the behavior of the user, is critical to any real and lasting application
of technology to the real world.
With Levi-Strauss, this observation involve the transformation of the use of
information into the knowledge base of the individual or the culture. Such
transformation are at the heart of structuralism, wherein people transform
data into information using forms of analysis culturally derived and
culturally protected. Manuals may be such forms for some kinds of culture,
but, unless the geeks really inherit the earth - and they weren't at the
Sermon on the Mount - it's highly unlikely.
Joe Beckmann
Oekos Foundation
1) incubation and more
by KCStarguy@aol.com
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From: KCStarguy@aol.com
Message-ID: <c0.7b71bdd.26c5df2d@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 18:58:53 EDT
Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:63] incubation and more
To: ifets-discussion@catfish.valdosta.edu
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I am interested in the value of art,spatial abilities and metacognitive
activities to help enhance learning not only in myself but to students
preschool to college.
Two notes relate.
This early this week while taking a GIS - geograohic information workshop, I
struggled with listening, learning the command struction, taking notes and
how everything fit together to make maps and studies. Monday was a real
struggle.
Then Tuesday, I started drawing a web map structure of the command
procedures
instead of just writing things down in outline form. Everything began to pop
into place and I did not struggled but actually flowed in getting the maps
constructed and to make graphs etc. It is the flow and the intuitive nature
that I was most interested in and how everything just went and I was able to
flow the next instead of "plod" the first day.
Another thing came to mind. I reviewed planetarium software called Starry
Night last year but there are a lot of commands , windows and more. It is a
nice program but it took time for me to plod through and create skies,
scenes, simulated eclipse and more.
Today, I got the program up and simulated how the sky would look like next
June 21 during the next african eclipse and made it into a quicktime movie.
Once again. I was flowing , was not stuck, intuitively figured out the
problems and everything flowed. (If anyone wants to see the movie I can
send)
.
Both these instances highlight the ability to flow and learn in a more
intutive nature. It would be great if we could harness this "flow" instead
of
relying on methodical structured training which is prevalent.
The point is schools want us to memorize, do things quickly and don't want
us
to incubate the process of learning. Reflection and metacognitibe thinkings
are hardly touched. There is a russian researcher named Czimaikaly Mihalyi
(spelling?) who talks about the role if incubation, creativity and
intuition.
points , comments etc
Dr. Eric Flescher, (KCStarguy@aol.com)- Educational Technology
Consultant-Multimedia- Adjunct Faculty, Lesley College-Technology Magic and
Worlds to Explore-20 plus ways for using the internet for teaching, learning
and education model http://ada.lesley.edu/faculty/flescher/team1.htm
Project S.I.M. (Simulations, Interdisciplinary internet and Metacognitive
activities)
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