Food for Thought

I have been reading the resources issued with the module for the next tasks. The resources are Situated Learning by J Lave and the Social development Theory by L Vygotsky. I think it would help all to take a look at these because not only is it thought provoking, but also it raises some questions in my mind, questions that have me thinking about the work we are currently undertaking.

Ok lets start by asking, What is online learning? In a nutshell it is simply the sharing of knowledge, exactly what we here at Ultraversity are doing. Someone has an idea, they share this idea, this starts a discussion and the end result is that everyone taking part has learned something they didn’t know beforehand. In our case, the learning is guided in that we have the modules to work to and our discussion is therefore based around that. However, how many of us can say actually, we have learned so much more than this. We have learned about each other. Already we are all picking up things about others careers, how they go about doing things in their job role, ect, ect. I am sure we have all found something that we have thought we would try at work ourselves. I know I have.

This in itself has me thinking, what else have I learned through using the internet? Well I have learned about a nasty condition fish can get called camalanus. Sounds horrible doesn’t it? Well it’s a worm, but its very hard to get rid of once you have it, and it can wipe out your tank. When I first discovered this I naturally went straight to the fish shop and asked. They hadn’t even heard of it. I went to other shops, same result. I bought a book, it was listed in there, but the treatment was cattle wormer only available from vets, and only in the USA. How do I sort this out? Most of my fish I had bred myself, no way did I want to lose them, so I went straight to the internet, spent weeks searching one forum after the after. Finally through the information I had been able to find I discovered that this problem was common in Guppies (which were the fish I had) and Discus (had no idea what they were). I went to a site called Simply Discuss. I found so much information, including a treatment. Problem, it was for these Discus fish not mine. I learned I had to use a drug called Fenbendazole which a sit turned out was quite simply cat wormer. I could buy this over the counter in crystal formula. I learned how to mix the drug with the fish food and so feed it to the fish, how long to administer it for, tank cleanliness, water quality, and loads loads more. Finally I totally eradicated it from tank, and didn’t lose any fish at all.

My thought here is, how did I go about discovering this information. Well I didn’t simply sit and read for weeks on end, the thing that we are all doing right now with our degree, I asked questions, direct questions. These questions never led to a direct answer, but they led me to the correct place to locate the information I needed. I was able to talk to people who had had the same problem and sorted it, I could take advise from them. We are all doing all of the above apart from asking direct questions. How many of us asked “what is an ILP”? Not many if any, though I am sure at least 50% of the cohort thought it. How many of us are asking direct questions of each other to help us understand what we are doing, and were we should be going? Many say I think I have it right, but I am not sure, can I have some feedback please. We ask questions that we feel safe asking, but not necessarily the ones that would help us to learn, direct us in the right area, or keep us going. Is this a reason for why so many of us find ourselves panicking? I know I have not asked enough questions to allow me to research properly.


You may totally disagree with every thing I have said here, but before you do, think about it. Have you asked anyone to explain anything to you today?