The ‘swampy lowlands’ – 2.0 learning in action

After the summit, I went to the NSW Learnscope showcase day. Following up a connection made through Rose (of FLNW fame)- I met up with Robby Weatherley and her colleagues from ICVET. On arriving at the venue, it struck that me that I was directly witnessing what Donald Schön called the difference between the high ground of theory and the ‘swampy lowlands’ of practice:

“In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground overlooking a swamp. On the high ground, manageable problems lend themselves to solution through the use of research-based theory and technique. In the swampy lowlands, problems are messy and confusing and incapable of technical solution. The irony of this situation is that the problems of the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to individuals or to society at large, however great their technical interest may be, while in the swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern.” (see eg. http://www.aishe.org/readings/2007-1/foreword.html). The Learnscope experience provided a window into how to apply 2.0 learning to immediate and pressing practical issues in vocational issues.

After feeling a bit lost I spotted Sparker and was immediately on a podcast – being interviewed about thoughts on using blogs and wikis in the training of fridge technicians…….

…. and after that I had a bit of a hiatus – for 6 months! – during which time I changed jobs and returned to a university. Now that I’ve got my head round the new job I decided to return to the swampy world of blog – so here goes. Hopefully more sustainable this time …