[ProfessionalDevelopment 2462] from Janet, Re: How You BenefitTaylor, Jackie jataylor at utk.eduWed Aug 27 09:48:12 EDT 2008
Good day or evening, all, The following is posted on behalf of Janet Isserlis...Please read on ~ Jackie Taylor From: Janet Isserlis [mailto:Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu] <mailto:Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu%5d> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 8:47 AM To: Taylor, Jackie Subject: Re: How You Benefit Jackie and all A few very useful things about NIFL lists, generally, and about this one (and Diversity) in particular. Of the lists to which I'm subscribed, I'm aware of you and Daphne modeling useful facilitation (hard to do in an on-line world) - gently encouraging, supporting input without making people feel badly for not wanting or not choosing to post. (This is in no way to diminish skills of other moderators - I'm speaking of the two lists to which I pay most attention and which I read most closely. I suspect that other moderators are also working hard to support their lists and subscribers). Having said that by way of preface, I use the lists for my own learning for the most part. Occasionally I post to push back against an opinion with which I disagree, and/or to try to learn more about why it is I disagree or what it is the other person or people are saying. So there's something of a group dialogue going on, with the mediation of time away from the screen for us to (try to) think through what we want to say in order to try to say it clearly. There are also moments when we can take advantage of the (relatively) informal medium - while trying to think and write clearly, we can also write with an immediacy that isn't always possible through other media (journals, even blogs..) As someone working with other practitioners, I also refer people to archives of past discussions and/or to particular threads that are being offered at various times. I'll sometimes forward a post or a URL to a string of posts to other non-NIFL lists and/or to colleagues with a particular interest in a particular topic. other important elements: networks that don't involve facebook (although, there are some things to be said for that) - but for our purposes, being able to send out a question and find responses that may be helpful to lesser or greater extents, but that tend to engage those who post (and, one hopes, those who read) in ways that an information-out only medium couldn't support. As well, the speed with which we often respond to one another is really a help - especially at those times when we need to know something or really want to puzzle something out. The archives are great - and the work that people go through to further highlight particular threads through the adult ed wiki are also very useful for future reference. I do try to encourage others to subscribe but am mindful that for many this is a more challenging form of communication - because of lack of time, because of a preference for face-to-face interaction, because of problems gaining access to the internet. Having said that, I would argue that the lists are among the NIFL's long time outstanding achievements - even as some of us have questioned its focus on adult learning. These lists do enable us to seek out our own learning, to support one another and to challenge, encourage, sometimes gently goad, but almost always with a respect that makes these screens relatively safe spaces for us in the range of work we do in adult education. Janet Isserlis -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20080827/328b5e85/attachment.html
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