CogTools - J.S. Brown: Chief of Confusion

J.S. Brown – Probably one really cool dude to know

While doing research for our class “Learning Theory Taxonomy” assignment over the last ten days I have found that my initial disappointment into my pick (John Seely Brown,) has also turned into appreciation for reading into his perspectives on learning.  My initial disappointment was only present because I had a hard time trying to find what his "Learning Theory" was and internet searches and university library articles did not spell out anything explicitly.

From what I could find on J.S. Brown (or JSB,) he doesn’t really have a theory per se, as much as he has a vast amount of perspective on how he believes learning occurs as well as reflections of how technology mediums can be used to further learning.  It may be hard for one to ascertain a specific theory representation on his perspectives.  After reading some of his book (co-authored with Paul Duguid,) “The Social Life of Information” it is clear that he believes that learning is social in nature and CoP’s can be a great environment for learning.

In the book there is an interesting distinction made between knowledge and information.  

“People treat information as a self-contained substance.  It is something that people pick up, possess, pass around, put in a database, lose, find, write down, accumulate, count, compare, and so forth.” (p.120)

Later, knowledge is noted as;

“… something we digest rather than merely hold.  It entails the knower’s understanding and some degree of commitment.  Thus while one person often has conflicting information, he or she will not usually have conflicting knowledge.” (p.120)

These are interesting distinctions, as I instruct personnel I do not want to deliver information to the learner, I would like to teach information (ideally; impart knowledge,) that they can apply to gain personal knowledge and meaning from.

In addition to reading about learning, the concept of knowledge management and the implications of CoP’s in learning I also have the benefit of consulting his website for information.  JSB is a HUGE proponent of the benefits of using technology to collaborate and further nearly any learning endeavor.  The internet requires a different learning style to be used by anyone who uses it to learn.  Information can be quickly assembled, learned, applied, and shared and JSB is a true believer that this is revolutionizing learning.  Brown is alive and well and has a very enjoyable website to use to learn about him.  You can view it here.

“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.” – Thomas Watson, founder IBM