Planning--learning with and from "weak ties"

Weak ties and collaborative learning--who are your most useful collaborators for any given learning task?

I was reading an article this past weekend “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy” by Clive Thompson in the New York Times, September 5, 2008. Thompson made a very interesting and useful point to think about when engaging in collaborative networked leaning. If one only selects, “friends” or e-vites others who are part of your intimate circle of friends and colleagues to participate, one may not get the richness of insight and ideas that we are likely to get by e-viting or soliciting information from our “weak ties.” Here is how Thompson (2008,p.4) explained the idea:

“This rapid growth of weak ties can be a very good thing. Sociologists have long found that “weak ties” greatly expand your ability to solve problems. For example, if you’re looking for a job and ask your friends, they won’t be much help; they’re too similar to you, and thus probably won’t have any leads that you don’t already have yourself. Remote acquaintances will be much more useful, because they’re farther a field, yet still socially intimate enough to want to help you out. Many avid Twitter users — the ones who fire off witty posts hourly and wind up with thousands of intrigued followers — explicitly milk this dynamic for all it’s worth, using their large online followings as a way to quickly answer almost any question.”

Of course, all of your “connections” are available from our contact or friends list by any mobile device anywhere, anytime.

Open Communication and self-organizing, inductive learning

Open communication systems and the life of self organizing, inductive learner
The life of the learner is a self organizing, inductive process. Skill decay occurs in a relative closed system where the learner does not engage in on going learning. The integrated, col­laborative system I wish to address are ones which are open learning environments. One key aspect of these environments is the use of technology to support open communication among learners. Open communication systems provide access to information from any vari­ety of sources on an on-going basis on demand. But the learning environment does stop with access it also includes support for learning. I wish to address both of these issues (1) open communication systems that provide for collaborative networked learning and (2) highlight features of software that will facilitate the learner in the learning process. Thinking about open systems gives on an entirely different way of how to define learning. Rather than being due to the presence or storage of some substance in the mind, one thinks of learning in terms of pattern or connections. In essence, learning through intake of stimulus results in mental ordering and re-ordering within the living organism.
Open communication systems, which allow any learner to engage in live, private multiple-media communication with anyone else on the global or the access the stored mes­sage in any media format from any location on the network. Ultimately, the learner would not have to know the physical location of another communicator or the database of stored messages, instead s/he would search or receive customized feeds to any located or mobile device. Currently virtualization is providing the technology and standards which will make open communication systems a practical, pervasive reality. Learning in the open system environ­ment of unlimited, open access to expert ubiquitous messages has potential for amazing changes in the way one learns and the control of the distribution and creation and re-presentation of knowledge.