I have been Tweeting and posting on the various pages for the Connected Futures workshop much more than I have been blogging in the past few days. I suppose I have had more to say than I have had time to say it.
As one of our workshop expectations is to create a blog post reflecting on our first week, I think that what is strongest on my mind is how much I realize I want to learn more about the topics though, while somewhat disoriented from the amount of discussion and buzz and new tools and co-participants, I am not feeling overwhelmed. John and Bronwyn are both experts at facilitating and leading communities of practice, and they are doing a wonderful job juggling all the demands of this active adult professional audience, so much that they are setting a feeling of calm over the workshop. It feels safe to be disoriented, as that is where so much rich learning can occur, without making or allowing for feeling stupid or inferior. How they manage to remain composed while still answering lots of emails and posts (with one or two of them my own . . .) demonstrates, or rather role-models, what I think those of us who facilitate communities of practice should strive for. I mentioned this during our Monday afternoon teleconference check-in, and was happy that Etienne Wenger, one of our workshop colleagues, mentioned that he was happy this was the sense that has been actively conveyed. I hope my colleagues feel this as well.
Strange, as learning is often so content-focused (cf. learning objectives), that here I am learning how to just BE–and in the process to be open to learn more than any book or slide deck can teach. What possibilities when we can just allow our students to sit and process all the busyness involved in learning.