Constructive Practice

The format of "Information Ethics" offers opportunities to engage in constructive, collaborative learning through the ACTIVE development of focus within communities of practice via the responsive blog postings and group blog exchanges. The social construction of knowledge empowers students as they consider the readings and opinions of other students in light of their own thoughts concerning ethical issues.

The format of this course reinforces practice in the use of social technologies within learning communities that not only allow the back & forth discourse, but also those tech media that more intentionally develop common understandings.
Class members have been encouraged to compare the wiki format with the listserv model of exchange and interaction with others. Unlike the listserve, each successive iteration of the community wiki is the result of some collaborative effort. However, the listserv is only as good as the current messages coming into the "inbox". I would be interested in whether or not a class wiki would encourage more focused and genuinely interactive collaboration among class members.

The structure and limitations of the listserv format as a learning technology and the operational groundrules themselves of many listserv forums or group blog rings are - in my opinion - insufficient to consistently and/or systematically arrive at socially constructed truths concerning a topic or issue. Still, within the online learning environment, the group blog rings serve as a social forum for facilitating discussion and exchange in a learning community.

In order to create an "optimal learning community" the listserv mechanism must be actively dedicated to the systematic, progressive development of shared understanding and knowledge based on the establishment of an interconnected learning system that uses selected information like the course readings and identified goals as the basis for creating a committed community of practice.

Even with the ability to respond within the context of what the other person said previously (e.g. by copying & pasting, replying by commenting within or below the previous email/listserv message text itself) the words - themselves - are the metaphors we each abide by within this learning community. And the words fly back and forth without any electronic representation that lasts as a monument to the reflected understanding of our community. For example, there could be more opportunities for collaboration on a product, like the development of the Wikipedia entry.

In order for group blog rings more effective, it may be helpful to define the parameters and purpose of our conversation. However, there are limitations in the context of distance learning, due to different levels of participation. When class members are actively committed to participation, it is possible to engage in some interesting, fruitful, and thought-provoking dialogue as a result of the replies and interactions.

What can be more wonderful for a student than to be able to process a number of different arguments and opinions and produce an opinion of his/her own? As we definitively construct our understanding of "information ethics" and conceptualize issues based on ethical considerations, we engage in the social construction of learning within the parameters of the course.

The structure of "Information Ethics" encourages independent thinking as well as group processing, in which the instructor serves as a moderator and a facilitator of learning. By working in groups, reflecting on the readings, and creating E-pathfinders, students have an opportunitiy to process information constructively and to develop a foundation for their own thinking about issues related to the ethical provision and use of information in a variety of formats.

Through the formative experience of courses like "Information Ethics", students participate in the process of systematically developing and articulating an informed and well-considered professional values.