Tonight I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Mr. Dean Shareski. In many ways he has been and continues to be a role model for me in learning enhanced by technology. I knew when I picked the topic of Learning Out Loud that Dean was a person who could move my thinking forward and help me continue to connect the dots. Dean’s insights and thinking did not disappoint. Thanks Dean!!
My Questions:
1. How would you define learning today? Is this any different from in the past?
2. How do you think technology can or has changed learning?
3. In one of your posts you referred to “making your learning transparent”. Can you elaborate on that?
4. What role does sharing have in learning?
5. Are there times where you would not want to share your learning with others?
Learning Out Loud 
First of all, I want access to Hangouts! 🙂 Also, I was very pleased to see that Dean struggles with articulating a clear definition of learning — I do too! I think this is a very authentic issue, and a reason is because the definition is in a very real state of flux. We know something fundamental and important is going on, but it is difficult to nail it down. The definition of learning is invertebrate…you poke it and it slithers away.
I also appreciate how this conversation vacillates between the philosophical (the nature of learning and affordances of technology) to the immediate and pragmatic (I love it when I see a spelling mistake in blogs).
What a wonderful interview. I would never expect anything less from Dean (or you!), and I can see that this will actually develop a life of its own.
And Dean… I do think you’re an expert, even more because you refuse to be labelled with it.
Good interview, Jenn. A few ideas stuck out to me. The first one is the idea of how without technology it is almost impossible for teachers to get a real view as to where each student is currently at. As teachers we really need to find ways to use tech to allow us into each student’s head. Is blogging the best way to achieve that? How often should one do class blogging? I love the idea, but I am not sure how to best implement it.
The second thing that stood out me was just Dean’s opinion on blog posts. I put me at ease a bit. I love the idea of blogging, but struggle with the level of formality with it. As well, if you look at my posts they are often full of more questions than answers. Dean’s view on blogging validates my style of blogging. The whole idea that a blog is a beginning of an idea and also a way to say, “This is where I am at and I want some help!”
Ryan Banow