Theories for the digital age: Paragogy

In previous posts in this series I have explored some of the characteristics of learning in the digital age. One more notable feature of 21^st Century learning is peer learning. Highlighting the fast paced nature of the web, Thomas and Seely-Brown (2011) suggest that peer learning can be both timely and transient. They show that never before has access to information and people been so easy and so widespread, and that we make connections with people who can help us manage, organize, disseminate and make sense of the resources. Such interconnectedness and willingness to share creates a new kind of peer mentoring that operates at multiple levels and many degrees of expertise, supporting learning in all its complexity. The notion of ‘paragogy’ (Corneli and Danoff, 2011) relates to the peer production of learning but as Corneli (2012) warns, such an agenda may be at odds with established educational systems in some respects, and may even be opposed by some. This is due to the challenge that ‘students teaching themselves’ might pose to the privileged knowledge and power structures many formal educational institutions continue to hold in such high regard.

In essence, Corneli and Danoff’s paragogy thesis is premised on the argument that online environments are now sufficiently developed to support peer production of content which can be shared freely and widely, and can promote learning for all within any given community. Again, this echoes the connectionist and heutagogic ideals earlier discussed in previous posts, whilst at the same time presenting a challenge in terms of the quality, reliability and provenance of content. The user generated content currently available on the web has been criticised for its inconsistent quality (Carr, 2010) and its potential to encourage plagiarism, piracy and a host of other nefarious practices (Keen, 2007). User generated content has also attracted criticism over issues of mediocrity, lack of accuracy and superficial scholarship (Brabazon, 2002; 2007). Notwithstanding, many are now turning to web based user generated content to educate themselves and to share their learning. In many ways, the ability to use personal technologies to create, organise, share and repurpose content, in many formats across the global web environment has become a democratising, liberating factor in education. There are now a variety of new ways we can create peer networks, learn from each other and share our ideas. In so doing, we are building what Illich (1971) once termed ‘the learning webs’ that will enable each of us to defines ourselves by both learning, and contributing to the learning of others.     

References

Brabazon, T. (2002) Digital Hemlock: Internet Education and the Poisoning of Teaching. University of South Wales, Australia.

Brabazon, T. (2007) University of Google: Education in the (Post) Information Age. Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing. 

Carr, N. (2010) The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Corneli, J. and Danoff, C. J. (2011) Paragogy. In: Proceedings of the 6th Open Knowledge Conference, Berlin, Germany.

Corneli, J. (2012) Paragogical Praxis, E-Learning and Digital Media, 9(3), 267-272

Illich, I. (1971) Deschooling Society. London: Calder and Boyers.

Keen, A. (2007) The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.    

Thomas, D. and Brown, J. S. (2011) A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown. 

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