[p2p-research] More on: Suggestions wanted for education to p2p practices and attitude

[Stan Rhodes]

Marco,

I am wondering how "developing" you mean, because that can change a lot.  I
know you are short on time, so let me summarize:

First, I'm providing some links (warning: some are to pdfs) on the findings
of cognitive science and its implications for learning.  The work is by
Daniel Willingham, and should be core knowledge for educators.  Being
familiar with this material helps any teacher better judge what they should
and shouldn't do, and why.  His work very solid science, and accessible.

Second, I cover how to make concepts "sticky."

Third, I discuss "p2p-like attitude," saying it's essentially knowing "it's
good to share and pool knowledge."  This is complementary to projects, and
is learned by doing, because when it works, the benefits are obvious.  Peer
production cannot be used as a method of learning in itself--its voluntary,
multi-focus nature does not lend itself well to classroom learning.
Foundational domain knowledge must be built first.

Last, I give a couple simplistic "invention stories" that make foundational
knowledge "sticky," is key to any proposal, both for the children, and for
the teachers.


Now for the details (forgive my length).

Daniel Willingham is a cognitive scientist focusing on learning and
education.  While his book isn't free online, a number of his papers and
articles are.
How to lay foundations for domain knowledge and expertise?
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/winter2002/CogSci.html
How do we get students thinking?
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring2009/WILLINGHAM(2).pdf
What else does Willingham have to say about school?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/daniel-willingham/

Here's the insta-summary of his book Why Don't Students Like School (it
applies to all education, not just American kids that hate school), ripped
shamelessly from an Amazon review:
1. People are naturally curious, but they are not naturally good thinkers.
2. Factual knowledge precedes skill.
3. Memory is the residue of thought.
4. We understand new things in the context of things we already know.
5. Proficiency requires practice.
6. Cognition is fundamentally different early and late in training.
7. Children are more alike than different in terms of learning.
8. Intelligence can be changed through sustained hard work.
9. Teaching, like any complex cognitive skill, must be practiced to be
improved.

Now, we add the findings of making concepts "sticky" via the book Made to
Stick (may sounds hokey, but it's well supported with cognitive research):
1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories

You already know some of this intuitively--you asked for stories from us.
You don't have to use all these traits, but they all help.  Good stories are
absolutely key.  These don't just apply to children, but also adults.  I
hope you find these useful summary points both in presenting a proposal, and
as content in a proposal.

All that is in answer to 2 questions (both good) I took away from your
email:
1) What curriculum would be best for kids?
2) How to present that curriculum to the audience?

Obviously, I haven't directly answered your questions.  I don't actually
know what knowledge about health and the environment would be most useful,
because I don't know their problems.  Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd have
insight into those problems: "wash your hands more often" seems inadequate
if there's no running water.


You also mention a "p2p-like attitude," but one must ask, "What IS a
p2p-like attitude?"

As I said previously on the list--don't worry if you haven't read my email
on the list about it--I have no idea what the "p2p ideology" or "p2p
dynamic" (as Michel calls it) actually is.  However, I have defined peer
production as "voluntary production of a good that is shared through a peer
common."  Ok, so how does is this useful to kids and digestable to
educators?

Sharing knowledge.  Pooling knowledge.  That's basically it.  It's good to
share knowledge, it's good to pool knowledge for reference and build upon
it. Sorry I cannot think of a good story showing this, but you know, "two
heads are better than one."

Anyway, seemingly, pretty simple, but there's at least one big catch:

Although everyone tells children to share, often the adult world stresses
(in deed, if not also in word) that sharing is bad, weak, or stupid.
One-way teaching, from teacher to pupil, obviously has no role for peer
production.  Both tendencies vary by culture, of course.

The focus, then, would be to create projects and challenges that are
complemented by sharing information.  Peer production is complementary to
many projects because it builds a knowledgebase, but a knowledgebase cannot
substitue concrete, hands-on projects.

Domain knowledge cannot be pooled by kids that don't have it.  Peer
production tends to take a lot of domain knowledge we take for granted
because we're all so educated and tech savvy.  We have information coming
out our ears.

However, high tech isn't necessarily needed, or it can be put in the hands
of a few specialized caretakers.  A chalkboard and pieces of paper can act
as a rudimentary content-pooling system.  Depending on the poverty level,
connecting schools to peer-produced knowledgebases that can help them learn
and solve real problems they have shows how useful peer production and
knowledge sharing is.


Over at akvo.org, on their akvopedia, there's an entry for the "Tippy Tap"
http://www.akvo.org/wiki/index.php/Tippy_Tap

I wish I knew its specific origin (who invented it, and when), but it makes
a simple story.  People needed to wash their hands to rinse off germs, and
they needed to conserve water, and they needed to prevent mosquitos from
breeding in the waste water.  How did they solve this problem?  The tippy
tap.

But people did not just build it, they built versions of it (with a food
pedal), and shared them.  People made instructional videos and manuals for
the internet so that everyone in the world would know how.

Another example is the pot-in-pot refridgeration system.  How does one keep
food cool so it doesn't spoil, but without using electricity, and using
cheap, easily-available materials?  You put a pot in a pot, add wet sand,
and cover.

These are simple but smart solutions, no computer needed.  There are many
others.  They are also solid, gateway concepts into other topics; hygiene,
conservation, even the science behind evaporation (pot in pot) and simple
machines (foot pedal for Tippy Tap).  They can be built by a class.  They
show the power of sharing knowledge.

I hope this helps in some way.

-- Stan

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:40 PM, M. Fioretti <mfioretti at nexaima.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 07:48:25 AM +0100, Marco Fioretti wrote:
> > Greetings,
>
> thanks to everybody who already answered on the list or privately. I
> am getting a ton of useful material, as I was sure would happen, that
> I will all use in one way or another, so I'm really happy to have
> posted.
>
> Just a bit more explanation. In the next days, I should give a speech
> about the impact of digital technologies to people who want to prepare
> a detailed program proposal which is:
>
> - specifically for "basic education in developing countries"
> - also includes basic education to "nutrition, healthcare,
>  eco-friendly practices"
>
> So this is the context of my original question:
>
> > here's a question: if you were preparing a proposal for education in
> > the 6-12 years age range, what would you write in it in order to
> > educate the children to a p2p-like attitude and practice with
> > respect to nutrition, (self) healthcare, protection of the
> > environment?
>
> Again, I will surely use other material, sooner or later, for
> http://stop.zona-m.net and/or other future talks, so thanks for
> sending and discussing it, now and in the future, any time. In the
> next 48 hours, however, I am specifically interested in practical
> proposals of how to do the second point above, or specific examples of
> people who already did it or are doing it, in a way that you think
> should be imitated.
>
> Sorry for not sending enough details in the original request and thanks!
>
>        Marco
>        http://stop.zona-m.net
>
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