Page 102 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

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Building Knowledge
Often, much of the knowledge learned in school can be interesting but a lot of it also appears to be irrelevant to the learner and more than likely that knowledge will rarely, if ever, be needed again. Even if it were necessary again, it would be unlikely that we would be able to recall it and it would probably be out of date. Last century it was important to remember a lot of knowledge as knowledge was rare and expensive, and back then it did not date very quickly.
Last century it was not possible to carry around a lot of books with us, so we had to remember knowledge. In the last two decades, the amount of easily-available knowledge has become overwhelming, cheap and easy to access, when we need it, ‘Just-In-Time’, courtesy of the phone in our pocket. The world’s most compact and easy-to-access library ever created is almost free, BUT it takes a raft of competencies and a deep understanding of the Learning Process to make sense of, successfully apply, and leverage that knowledge to be innovative and ingenious.
If we are looking for knowledge because we are curious and want to understand our world, then the excitement we feel, driven by that curiosity, increases our engagement, our level of persistence and our willingness to learn from each other. These dispositional characteristics associated with learning are critical, as they motivate us while we are developing sufficient knowledge to be able to create an idea about what is being researched. The ability to understand self, think and question, manage self, collaborate, connect and reflect and develop a language of learning, are all foundational to successfully carrying out the necessary research and being able to distil and synthesise the outcomes of this, into new ideas and concepts.
When we learn, and have agency over our Learning Process, we can identify the knowledge that is required for us to develop our initial idea(s). As learners, we will return to this phase of the Learning Process often, as and when we need, so we can develop additional knowledge to build whatever new understanding we require, to the depth that we require it.
Questioning
Emotion
Prompt
Start Here
Curiosity
Identity
Further questioning
Knowledge (the minimum)
Thinking & Questioning
The Language of Learning
Collaboration
Managing Self
Stage 1
Resource 45: The Prompt-Knowledge Cycle
The prompt and our resulting curiosity encourage us to ask questions, that allow us to discover the knowledge that initiates our learning journey. The relationship between curiosity and building knowledge can be seen in the graphic to the left.
Connecting & Reflecting