his week’s #Rhizo15 topic is Is community learning an invasive species? My first thoughts are: No, if we turn to one another to increase and support and extend our learning, then that is the value we bring and share.
However, like nearly everything else I have experienced in this mooc, things are not as simple as they at first seem.
For those of us who often find themselves on the fringes or on the outside looking in [at the cool kids sitting together having lunch], perhaps the echo chamber notion is alive and well. I like to Tweet, though nearly all of my Tweets in the past couple of weeks has been focused inwardly on #rhizo15.
This does not imply that I am only interested in the comings and goings of this open learning experience, but rather that, in my limited time (I work FT and teach on top of that in two universities) it is very important for me to decide where to spend it. I choose to spend my time with the #rhizo15 learning group as that is where I find the most value — new ideas, challenging ideas, support, encouragement, and the like.
I am not sure how others find this, or even if my experience is common or unique, but I would surely not call #rhizo15 an echo chamber. I have had too many challenges and disagreements for it to be claimed we are all of one mind. If anything, the only commonality some of us may share is the #rhizo15 tag itself.
@JeffreyKeefer good. Glad you feel like that. I do as well. #rhizo15 is not just a group hug.
Some thoughts on Week 5: Is #rhizo15 an Echo Chamber? http://t.co/FI6ah50wiJ
Is #rhizo15 an Echo Chamber? http://t.co/1s3p7ay886 asks @JeffreyKeefer I’d agree with you, but it would be contrary to this post.
Well, Laura, let’s see who else may agree! 😉
RT @laurapasquini: Is #rhizo15 an Echo Chamber? http://t.co/1s3p7ay886 asks @JeffreyKeefer I’d agree with you, but it would be contrary to …
Even if for the cartoon alone, u need to check out @JeffreyKeefer blogpost for #rhizo15 this week
http://t.co/DWIYelAEZD
Love this Jeffrey and so happy to have you in #rhizo15 and hear you are enjoying it.
I am beginning to worry that i want to echo all the thoughts in all the posts claiming it’s not an echo chamber lol paradoxical. I see Laura Pasquini has noticed that
Thanks, Jeffrey. I have heard others complain that online communities often devolve into an echo chamber, but I’ve never seen that happen. I find few places where people are more encouraged and willing to take their own paths and make their own statements. I’ve written and engaged enough with Rhizo14/15 to be satisfied that we are not all turning into the same bulb on the same rhizome. Thanks for saying.
@Keith, perhaps I am thinking, here later in the “course,” that the notions of open and collaborative learning seem somewhat an accepted element of rhizomatic learning. Perhaps that does hint at an echo?