Abstract
In this paper, I offer a reflection on my personal experience of networked learning using the approach of personal inquiry. I address the issue of identity and my experience of presenting myself online; my experience of participating in the formation of the learning group; and what I describe as the ‘weight of the words’, my experience of using this new medium of communication. I follow this with a theoretical exploration which attempts to understand these aspects of my experience. I argue that in the networked learning environment, the taken-for-granted processes of identity work and group formation are disturbed. The unease provoked by this requires greater effort toward the establishment of identity and group, whilst at the same time opening up the possibility for more fluidity and openness to the other. In my experience as a learner, the newness and uncertainty of the experience compelled me toward seeking certainty and closure. I was not able to make best use of the opportunity for the greater fluidity and openness offered by the networked learning environment. I close the paper by suggesting how teachers may be able to support the conditions that would enable learners to make best use of this opportunity. I argue that the learning community has to be seen as fundamentally an ethical one based on responsibility to the other and that this requires the opening up of conversations between learners and teachers for the sharing and negotiation of experiences and ways of working.
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Mann, S.J. (2004). A personal inquiry into an experience of adult learning online. In: Dillenbourg, P., et al. Advances in Research on Networked Learning. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Series, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-7909-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-7909-5_9
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