Re: Progress and Learning

Scott Johnson, March 7, 2011

I find myself wondering about what something "completely" learned means. Everything I study seems to have no real horizon or edge. Knowing something well enough to be functionally literate in it is enough and then not enough. It's been mentioned here before that learning is a process or a journey around or through a subject and there are no perfect understandings, only deeper questions. In that case any learning path seems useful and connectivist.

I found this short article useful, not for being contrarian but for lighting up another road to discovery:

"In Defense of the Solitary Learner" http://spsu.edu/tc/publications/hopper-solitary.pdf

Sometimes I have to work things out without help or the distraction of having to account for the understandings of others. There are lots of things I "know" that don't necessarily improve by attempting to teach them to others. Not all knowing is a public performance or in need of approval. Example? I don't mind being wrong about things and often don't care for a well-meant correction. The network inside your own head is a useful resource and works fine when the net is offline. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]