Comments on: The value of critique http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/05/16/the-value-of-critique/ learning, networks, knowledge, technology, community Sat, 4 Feb 2012 22:56:23 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Kim Brown http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/05/16/the-value-of-critique/comment-page-1/#comment-55243 Kim Brown Tue, 18 May 2010 16:28:52 +0000 http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/?p=4792#comment-55243 I think Frances is correct in her comments. Human nature causes us to take offense when criticism is given. This is especially true when that criticism is regarding something we have work hard to complete. However, it is important to understand the there is always room for improvement. It simply is not possible for an individual to think of all possible issues, situations or perceptions. That is why we should take criticism as a positive form of feedback. By analyzing the feedback and making changes/improvements where necessary, your creation can be even better than the original version. Kim Brown I think Frances is correct in her comments. Human nature causes us to take offense when criticism is given. This is especially true when that criticism is regarding something we have work hard to complete. However, it is important to understand the there is always room for improvement. It simply is not possible for an individual to think of all possible issues, situations or perceptions. That is why we should take criticism as a positive form of feedback. By analyzing the feedback and making changes/improvements where necessary, your creation can be even better than the original version.

Kim Brown

]]> By: Sui Fai John Mak http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/05/16/the-value-of-critique/comment-page-1/#comment-55021 Sui Fai John Mak Mon, 17 May 2010 03:58:34 +0000 http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/?p=4792#comment-55021 I have left a comment here http://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/the-future-education-course/ and in the Education Futures forum. I greatly appreciate the efforts you and Dave put into the course. I haven't been able to follow all the critiques and discussion. May be people are looking for significance and value that could emerge out of a course, which is important in the relationship established amongst participants through conversation and critique. This value might be the expectation of participants on top of the content (outcomes) of the course. Thanks for your insights. John I have left a comment here http://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/the-future-education-course/ and in the Education Futures forum.
I greatly appreciate the efforts you and Dave put into the course. I haven’t been able to follow all the critiques and discussion. May be people are looking for significance and value that could emerge out of a course, which is important in the relationship established amongst participants through conversation and critique. This value might be the expectation of participants on top of the content (outcomes) of the course.
Thanks for your insights.
John

]]> By: Sandy McAuley http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/05/16/the-value-of-critique/comment-page-1/#comment-54969 Sandy McAuley Sun, 16 May 2010 18:56:05 +0000 http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/?p=4792#comment-54969 Hi, George: As I'm the one who contributed the critique of the working environment, I wanted to comment and take whatever of the sting out that I can. One thing that I want to make perfectly clear from the outset is that I'm thoroughly enjoying the course. I'm on sabbatical until July and this course has provided a framework to help coalesce some of the reading, thinking, and experimenting that I hadn't quite got around to until now. Although I can see why some people may find its open-endedness dissatisfying, I am finding it fascinating in its intent to break open the "course box" that has put such artificial restrictions around how learning has come to be organized. You and Dave deserve a great deal of credit for pushing the envelope this way. With respect to the environment, I'm not sure whether it's the problem, or I am. I'm used to working with a system called Knowledge Forum which is designed to facilitate collaborative knowledge building. However, it's a closed system and though in my biased opinion it's arguably the best system out there for what it sets out to do, it's only one system among a myriad of alternatives. More importantly, it's not the technology that people on the web are using. So I'm curious about how the more open social networking applications can be harnessed (or co-opted, or subverted) for the specific goals of collaborative knowledge construction. Right now I feel we're using "weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose", but that could just be that I'm not comfortable with what feels to me to be a fairly ad-hoc amalgam of various technologies (Drupal, individual blogs, Elluminate, etc.). I was going to go into some specific examples of things I think a more facilitative environment, but I notice that someone has posted a specific request for that on the edfutures site, so I'll complete that task there. Just in case it got lost in the verbiage above, I want to reiterate that this course is pushing boundaries in many dimensions. I wouldn't be spending the time on it (including the critical reflection) if I didn't think it was intrinsically worthwhile. Hi, George:

As I’m the one who contributed the critique of the working environment, I wanted to comment and take whatever of the sting out that I can. One thing that I want to make perfectly clear from the outset is that I’m thoroughly enjoying the course. I’m on sabbatical until July and this course has provided a framework to help coalesce some of the reading, thinking, and experimenting that I hadn’t quite got around to until now. Although I can see why some people may find its open-endedness dissatisfying, I am finding it fascinating in its intent to break open the “course box” that has put such artificial restrictions around how learning has come to be organized. You and Dave deserve a great deal of credit for pushing the envelope this way.

With respect to the environment, I’m not sure whether it’s the problem, or I am. I’m used to working with a system called Knowledge Forum which is designed to facilitate collaborative knowledge building. However, it’s a closed system and though in my biased opinion it’s arguably the best system out there for what it sets out to do, it’s only one system among a myriad of alternatives. More importantly, it’s not the technology that people on the web are using. So I’m curious about how the more open social networking applications can be harnessed (or co-opted, or subverted) for the specific goals of collaborative knowledge construction. Right now I feel we’re using “weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose”, but that could just be that I’m not comfortable with what feels to me to be a fairly ad-hoc amalgam of various technologies (Drupal, individual blogs, Elluminate, etc.).

I was going to go into some specific examples of things I think a more facilitative environment, but I notice that someone has posted a specific request for that on the edfutures site, so I’ll complete that task there.

Just in case it got lost in the verbiage above, I want to reiterate that this course is pushing boundaries in many dimensions. I wouldn’t be spending the time on it (including the critical reflection) if I didn’t think it was intrinsically worthwhile.

]]> By: Frances Bell http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/05/16/the-value-of-critique/comment-page-1/#comment-54952 Frances Bell Sun, 16 May 2010 16:57:47 +0000 http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/?p=4792#comment-54952 I am really sorry that I haven't had time to engage with edfutures - from the outside it's intriguing. Obviously I can't comment on the actual critiques you mention but I did want to put in a good word for critique as a knowledge activity. I don't think you have really done this but there is a hint of it - assuming critique is negative could lead to silos. If we think of critique as an opportunity for dialogue, it can be bridging and a knowledge-creation activity. Of course, this relies on the agency and flexibility of the participants. IS that heppening on edfutures? I am really sorry that I haven’t had time to engage with edfutures – from the outside it’s intriguing. Obviously I can’t comment on the actual critiques you mention but I did want to put in a good word for critique as a knowledge activity. I don’t think you have really done this but there is a hint of it – assuming critique is negative could lead to silos. If we think of critique as an opportunity for dialogue, it can be bridging and a knowledge-creation activity. Of course, this relies on the agency and flexibility of the participants.
IS that heppening on edfutures?

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