aUbiquitous Learning UPDATE: (Week 1)

Habits of the Mind

Ubiquitous Learning – Extending beyond the walls of the classroom and the cells of the timetable.

Learning that breaks out of these spatial and temporal confinements should be as good as, or even better than, the best traditional classroom learning. It should also produce habits of mind appropriate to our times, producing lifelong learners able to learn and to share knowledge throughout their lives, in all contexts, and grounded in those contexts. (Taken from the August 2016 e-Learning Ecology Coursera/Scholar 1st week class guidance.)

I love this concept…” Habits of the Mind” relative to “Ubiquitous Learning”! 

It reminds me of the book Habits of the Heart by Robert Bella, Richard Madsen, and others (see: https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Heart-Individualism-Commitment-American/dp/0520254198).  In this book the authors look at our American values.  They consider contrasts in America of the value of equality and the focus on individualism in the light of Tocqueville’s work Democracy in America, with Habits of the Heart portraying American democracy threatened by the “me society” permeating every context of our lives.  Instead of considering holistic concerns of a community; Americans habitually consider the concerns of the individual within a community.  Yet, Bella, Madsen, and others, suggest there may be hope for America, if Americans change…if American culture is transformed, if our “daily practices change”, (p. 275, Habits of the Heart).

Per some of our scaffolded material provided for this course, does not technology afford a means for ubiquitous learning – learning anywhere and at any time, and also an opportunity for collaborative (learning) intelligence.  Thus, New Learning application of technology may afford an anecdote to the “me society” individualism phenomena by creating “Habits of the Mind” practices of working with peers to create something focused on the community as opposed to individuals in the community. 

Seemingly to me, in a democratic society, our minds should be able to dream of what is possible and then create practices and actions to achieve such.  In this context, If the possibilities of technology afford us opportunities to practice active learning and create knowledge, this is a concept related to democratic freedoms and opportunities for change.  If members of society chose to pursue the opportunity, the affordance of a ubiquitous learning educational experience demonstrates an element of equality.  Equality for all individuals within a community and equality for the community through additional benefits of technology as peer to peer interaction with active knowledge-making affording learning to happen for the benefit of all (see:  class assignment references the seven affordances of technology, Learning and New Media, Kalantzis, M. and Cope, B, April 4, 2015).  In this context “habits of the mind” is a democracy strengthening phenomena.   Cannot the practice, the habit, of learning anywhere and at any time actually enhance the opportunities to learn and create knowledge, thus creating opportunities for change and ultimately strengthening democracy?

Additionally, Parker Palmer has written in the Huffington Post of Habits of the Heart in America, see: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parker-j-palmer/humility-chutzpah-and-democracy_b_1135248.html )

Palmer quotes Terry Tempest Williams in “The Open Space of Democracy” (2010) as referring to the human heart as the first home of democracy.  Parker builds on Williams’ concepts of courage, relentless focus, and commitment, and on Tocqueville’s contention that religion and education are critical factors contributing to democracy through five Habits of the Heart.  These habits, per Parker, are: 1. “an understanding that we are all in this together,” 2. “an appreciation of the value of otherness,” 3.” the ability to hold tension in life giving ways,” 4. “a sense of personal voice and agency,” and 5. “a capacity to create community.”

I will be comparing these five habits to the seven affordances as we move through this course,and possibly articulating at the course conclusion a holistic concept of habits of the body (politic/community), mind, and heart!