natalie at work: Comments

Comment on "Women's Issues in Adult Education"

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:21:05 -0500

Greetings Ms. Harp

I discovered your blog not long ago and I am very interested in the information and research you are sharing here. I have a few questions I would like to ask you - would you agree to speak to me on the phone (5mn maximum:) I would like to cite you for an article I am writing for school (being an adult learner myself:)
Many thanks in advance for your feed-back.
Anne Dronnier
in Washington D.C.

- Anne Dronnier

Comment on "John Seely Brown - A New Culture of Learning"

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:10:43 -0500

I agree with Michael Berman re deep and provocative and with Natalie's most personal and thoughtful response to that talk. I had a similar response when reading the book, A New Culture of Learning... it is meant to be read twice methinks. While the book is aimed at transforming learning in schools every concept I read can be equally applied to any part of our lives - lived well with others.

If you'd like to see the next chapters of your life as the kind of adventure story you co-create with others and want a bigger voice in the role you play - literally - read and share this book with those you think will make engrossing, imaginative playmates.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book:

* The new culture of learning gives us the freedom to make the general personal and then share our personal experience in a way that, in turn, adds to the general flow of knowledge.

* In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of shared interests and opportunity.

* Play is the tension between the rules of the game and the freedom to act within those rules. When play happens while learning it creates a context in which information, ideas and passions grow.

* The important thing about the Harry Potter phenomenon is not so much what the kids were learning, but how they were learning. Thought there was no teacher in this setting, readers engaged in deep, sustained learning from one another through their discussions and interactions.

* In a world of near constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change rather than a way of growing out of it.

* The challenge is to find ways to marry structure and freedom to create altogether new things.

* Study groups dramatically increase the success of college students in the classroom.

* The connection between the personal and the collective is a key ingredient in lifelong learning.

* When information is stable, the explicit dimension becomes very important. The speed of light, for example, is probably not going to change....The twenty-first centry, however, belongs to the tacit. In the digital world we learn by doing, watching, and experiencing... not by taking a class or reading a manual.

* Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and opeate within the constraints of a bounded environment. Without the boundary set by the assignment there would be no medium for growth.

* Indwelling is a familiarity with ideas, practices and processes that are so ingrained that they become second nature. When engaging the learner, we must think about her sense of indwelling, because that is her greatest source of inspiration, but it is also the largest reservoir she has of tacit knowledge.

* Dispositions indicate how a student will make connections on a tacit level... how she is likely to learn.

* Learning from others is neither new nor revolutionary; it has just been ignored by most of our educational institutions...

... and, I would add, by most of our organizations.

- kare Anderson

Comment on "Women's Issues in Adult Education"

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 11:05:31 -0500

Sure, feel free to quote from the material. It would be an honor.

What institution are you with?

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "Women's Issues in Adult Education"

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:59:28 -0500

hi i have just read your blog and plan to quote from it. if that is ok?

it is for a thesis on women adult learners. the thesis title is The Experience of Learning: A matrure Students Perspective; and the focus is on a group of women 'returners' to education and their experience.

also when was it written. i cannot find a date.

if you need to know more do not hesitate to contact me.
many thanks in advance

- des mooney

Comment on "John Seely Brown - A New Culture of Learning"

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 04:36:33 -0500

just saw JSB present the same set of concepts to the STEM conference in Brisbane ... not sure that his concept of the transitory and ephemeral nature of knowledge is enhanced by this repetition of his idea.
I noted too his use of 'sketchy' font in the presentation but it made me feel that his ideas were not thought through so it surprised me to find your review from July. I was actually searching for his quote from Huinzinga but could not locate it.

- Anonymous

Comment on "John Seely Brown - A New Culture of Learning"

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:29:49 -0500

Thank you Natalie - I always find that when JSB talks I find it hard to think and listen at the same time - what he is saying it seems to be open and simple but it's deep and provocative - so I really appreciated reading your summary which seemed to capture the feel of his talk quite well.

- Michael Berman

Comment on "John Seely Brown - A New Culture of Learning"

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:16:24 -0500

Thanks for your comment, Lynn. I haven't read "The Social Life of Information", but it sounds intriguing and I will be adding it to my summer reading list. I have a strong interest too in the implications for workplace learning; I think that the tacit learning - the interactions and stories - tell a lot about the learning culture in an organization.

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "John Seely Brown - A New Culture of Learning"

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:01:48 -0500

Natalie, I've been following JSB since his book, "The Social Life of Information." His ideas on learning as participation have always intrigued me. Now some of his examples of the intense learning done by surfer's and WoW players interests me and I am looking for what might be possible with with workplace learning.

Great discussion of his work.

Lynn

- Lynn Friesth

Comment on "NMC Summer Conference"

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:50:13 -0500

Thanks for your comment, Todd. I am interested in not only the "how-to" of mobile education (Wednesday will be a glorious geek-fest for me), but also in what the really smart people (i.e. academic researchers & other pros) are saying about it. I suspect that, like with any technology, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. See you Wednesday.

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "NMC Summer Conference"

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:52:35 -0500

Wow, I feel honored to be in a pre-session with 1 of 3 VIP conference bloggers (mobile programming for educators.) I'm really interested in you take on mobile education and specifically examples that you've encountered with regards to mobile content. See you Wednesday, happy and safe travels.

- Todd Jenwen

Comment on "My week with the iPad"

Tue, 11 May 2010 11:41:49 -0500

Thanks Brad. Yes I think a key thing in evaluating this device is to stop thinking of it as a laptop or mobile device - it is neither. I made that mistake in trying to use it at Wegman's. :)

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "My week with the iPad"

Tue, 11 May 2010 11:35:33 -0500

Thanks for sharing. I am having trouble articulating my iPad experience. It seems that everyday I have a totally new take on it. It is taking me a while to stop trying to use it like I use my other devices (laptop, phone) and realize this a new beast. You seem to hit the nail on the head here by focusing on the stuff it does well that neither a phone or laptop would be any good for.

- Brad Kozlek

Comment on "iPad fever"

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:44:31 -0500

The last sentiment I meant to express there got lost in an attempt to edit this post. I guess that's what I get for trying to self-censor!!

Anyway, I feel that the ipad just won't have the power of ubiquity that iPhone and other smartphones possess. I don't see people whipping out their ipads to get information about their location, make calls or performed augmented reality operations & finding out rich information about their surroundings. I just don't see these as realistic use cases for an ipad, nor do I really get the sense they were meant to be. I feel that a lotof the apps the tech blogs are getting excited about are not going to be what stirs the everyday user, though I could be wrong. A lot of smart people are making a lot of different predictions on this thing.

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "Google Wave possibilities"

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:05:40 -0500

I think the Tivo analogy is an intriguing one....

- Jeff Swain

Comment on "Vacation dispatch"

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:00:30 -0500

Nice post Natalie. I recently finished Pink's book and found it to be enlightening and inspirational as well. I've even done some of the exercises and read some of the other books he recommends at the end of each chapter. We'll have to compare experiences some time.

- Jeff Swain

Comment on "The project management puzzle"

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:49:40 -0500

Here's another piece of the workflow puzzle: time tracking. I currently use a third-party utility (BK Task Timer) to track my time spent on projects and courses. It's a very simple application; literally it's a timer that runs on my desktop. Would be really neat if this pulled data from courses/programs or special projects and pushed to Myrtle. Maybe an Adobe Air app that would literally run in the background and be separate from the browser? Wow, there's a lot we could be achieving here.

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "The project management puzzle"

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:04:19 -0500

Thanks much for your detailed feedback, Penny. Personalization built in to a solution was something I hadn't considered much till now, but it makes perfect sense. I look forward to our meeting.

- NATALIE FRANCES HARP

Comment on "The project management puzzle"

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:10:30 -0500

Hmmm... What would it look like?

First, nothing I needed would be more than a click away. I could easily switch between detailed and summary views. It would have lots of search options, by course, by semester, by faculty, by designer, by team, etc.

Data entry would happen on as few screens / systems as possible - for example, I could upload my short status notes, time spent, and design tasks completed for several courses all on the same screen.

The system would pull data from other sources so that I don't need to spend time tracking things down.

When I login as me, I wouldn't have to look at or sort through other people's stuff - unless I wanted to. The system would know who I am and customize my views, the courses, and programs I see accordingly.

And my supervisors wouldn't need to ask me for anything. The system would be so easy to use - I would actually use it. And it would be easy for those folks who seek data and status reports to use.

And maybe something in a nice calming blue...

- PENNY RALSTON-BERG

Comment on "The project management puzzle"

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:05:49 -0500

Hmmm... What would it look like?

Data entry would happen on as few screens / systems as possible - for example, I could upload my short status notes, time spent, and design tasks completed for several courses all on the same screen.

The system would pull data from other sources so that I don't need to spend time tracking things down.

And my supervisors wouldn't need to ask me for anything. The system would be so easy to use - I would actually use it. And it would be easy for those folks who seek data and status reports to use.

And maybe something in a nice calming blue...

- PENNY RALSTON-BERG

Comment on "The project management puzzle"

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:04:10 -0500

Hmmm... What would it look like?

Data entry would happen on as few screens / systems as possible - for example, I could upload my short status notes, time spent, and design tasks completed for several courses all on the same screen.

The system would pull data from other sources so that I don't need to spend time tracking things down.

And my supervisors wouldn't need to ask me for anything. The system would be so easy to use - I would actually use it. And it would be easy for those folks who seek data and status reports to use.

And maybe something in a nice calming blue...

- PENNY RALSTON-BERG