Collective social learning
Foundation for Web 2 and beyond?
Valerie A. Brown
Local Sustainability Project
Fenner School of Environment and Society,
Australian National University
1

The argument:
1. Web 1 …..Web 2……..?
2. Culture change
3. Five voices
4. Multiple knowledges
5. Collective social learning
2

Web 1 creates links:
• across space
• across time
• across cultures
• across languages
• across organisations
• among people
• among communities 3

Web 2, 3, 4, - - - - - - -
• User-centred design
• Wide social networking
• Open interoperability
• Flat organisation
• Mass collaboration
= a new cultural force 4

Cultural change involves:
Individuals
+
Communities
+
Specialists
+
Organisations
+
Shared focus 5

6

Local Sustainability Project 1996-2006
Local community
Specialists
7
Council

Multiple knowledges in practice
KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE TEST FOR TRUTH
1. INDIVIDUAL Personal experience
2. COMMUNITY Shared beliefs, events
Health, Sociology,
3. SPECIALIST Ecology, Economics…
4. ORGANISATION Agendas, strategies
5. HOLISTIC Focus, goal
8

Multiple knowledges in theory
KNOWLEDGES AUTHORS
INDIVIDUAL Polanyi, Satre, Buber
LOCAL COMMUNITY Geertz, W. Berry, Putnam
SPECIALIST Kuhn, Ravetz, Gould
ORGANISATION Foucault, Senge, R. Saul
HOLISTIC FOCUS De Chardin, Berlin, T. Berry
9

Western knowledge as a hierarchy
KNOWLEDGES SOURCE OF EVIDENCE
4. INDIVIDUAL Personal experience
3. LOCAL Shared beliefs, memories
1. SPECIALIST Health, Education,
Sociology, Engineering…
2. ORGANISATIONAL Agendas, strategies
5. HOLISTIC FOCUS Collective ideal
10

Mutual rejection:
INDIVIDUAL Biased
LOCAL Powerless
RESEARCH Fragmented
ORGANISATION Self-serving
HOLISTIC FOCUS Too hard
• As a citizen of the community 11
• As an expert in your field
• As a strategist in your political environment

Multiple knowledges in Malaysia
KNOWLEDGES EVENTS
INDIVIDUAL Encephalitis epidemic
LOCAL No action: People resigned to
risks
SPECIALIST Universities clinicians
identify new strain from pigs
Health Dept calls it En.J 9 (from
ORGANISATION mosquitos)/ blocks emails
Fear for future
HOLISTIC FOCUS
livelihood/cost/loss of face 12

Information access in Malaysia
INDIVIDUAL Digital divide
LOCAL Strong community
SPECIALISTS University, clinicians
publish new strain
ORGANISATION Government sticks
to story
Community under-
HOLISTIC ground email
• 13
As a citizen of the community
• As an expert in your field
• As a strategist in your political environment

Different
-
language
-
vision
-
know-
ledge
culture

What sort
of order?
One right
answer?
Lowest
common
denomin-
ator?
Consensus
?
Majority
vote?
15

Collective knowledge as a nested set
Individual knowledge
Local knowledge
Specialist knowledge
Organisational knowledge
Holistic knowledge
A collaborative system
16

For collective learning
How do you
address the
multiple
knowledges in
your own
designs?
Who wins?
Who loses?
Whose truth
prevails? 17

18

Jig-saw puzzle:
Pre-determined
picture
Reproduces what is
Requires:
Careful
observation
Good memory
Accuracy
Perseverance
19

20

21

22

A collage
requires:
- reflection
- review
- creativity
Brings
something
new into the
world
Accepts
ambiguity and
uncertainty
23

Experiential learning cycle (Kolb et al, 1984)
Ideals Facts
Focus
question
Actions Ideas
Kolb et al
1984, 1995
24

Collective Learning spiral
2. Describe
Ideals Facts
What should be? What is ?
1.Develop 3. Design
Actions Ideas
What can be? What could be?
Kolb et al
1984, 1995 4. Do 25

Collective Social Learning:
2. Describe
What should be? What is?
Multiple
Informed citizens
1.Develop knowledges
3. Design
What can be? What could be?
Collective action Collective
knowledge
4. Do 26

1. Web 1 …..Web 2……..?
2. Culture change
3. Five voices
4. Multiple knowledges
5. Collective social learning
27

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