J.S.+Brown

=**John Seely Brown**=
 * //-//** //written by Matthew LeClair - Pepperdine University, Masters of Learning Technologies (Cadre 14)//

//**"We collaborate therefore we are"**// ~ John Seely Brown

__Current Profession(s):__
 * Visiting Scholar and Advisor - Provost @ University of Southern California (USC)
 * Independent Co-Chairman - Deloitte Center for the Edge

__Membership(s):__
 * American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * National Academy of Education
 * American Association for Artificial Intelligence (Fellow)
 * AAAS (Fellow)
 * MacArthur Foundation (Trustee)
 * Amazon, Corning, and Varian Medical Systems (Public Board Member)

As the pace of change in the 21st century continues to increase, the world is becoming more interconnected and complex, and the knowledge economy is craving more intellectual property. In this environment, it is critical that we shift our focus from education to life-long learning. Fortunately, the increasing availability of learning resources on the internet is coinciding with the growing importance of continuous learning. If we are willing to view learning from a new perspective, we are no longer resource constrained.

//Learning is less about absorbing information than it is about becoming part of a community.// //It is a social process built around informed participation: people need information to do their work, but it is only through working that they get the information they need.// For members to be able to construct and negotiate a shared meaning with one another, it is crucial for them to have access to and be apart of a supportive environment in which they are provided the freedom to "tinker" with knowledge. Allowing learners to "tinker" with knowledge fosters their imagination, which will later allow for them to create, reflect and share knowledge with peers. With this sharing, a new culture is established centered around peer-based learning communities, where people learn from each other in an environment much like the old one-room school house. The teacher or boss becomes more of a mentor or orchestrator who can take individuals at multiple skill/knowledge levels and turn them into a learning community where they learn, share, and critique one another.

Two ideas shape how most companies approach learning and knowledge: (1) learning means individual mastery, and (2) everything that is knowable can be made explicit. The more you explore real work, the more you appreciate the power of a different kind of knowledge: tacit knowledge. With individuals, tacit knowledge means intuition, judgment, common sense -- the capacity to do something without necessarily being able to explain it. With groups, tacit knowledge exists in the distinct practices and relationships that emerge from working together over time -- the social fabric that connects communities of knowledge workers.

The practice and knowledge is embedded in the community that created it. The only way to learn the practice is to become a member. The best way to access the knowledge is to interact with the community. This participatory culture in which we all engage requires the skills of an Entrepreneurial Learner – skills that cannot be taught but are learnt through participating, such as:
 * Curiousity – pulling information on demand
 * Questing – seeking, uncovering, probing
 * Connecting – listening to others, engaging

This culture of sharing, combined with the culture of participation and the affordances of networked web 2.0 technologies is creating a new kind of ecosystems for intertwining knowledge creation, learning & mentoring.

**Cagne** - the learner must be exposed to a credible instructor, role model or persuasive arguments.
 * __Connections to other Theorists:__**
 * Bandura -** Individual must be motivated to learn. Teachers/Mentors must teach learners to utilize self-assessment and self-reflection to provide an effective method of improving learner behavior.
 * Bruner, Dewey, Fraire** - people learn to learn as they learn, it is a social activity: our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including the people before us or next to us at the exhibit.
 * Lave** - learning is thoroughly enmeshed in participation in complex social environments that contain people, situations, and activities.

__YouTube Videos (References):__

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u-MczVpkUA&feature=player_embedded#!
 * "Tinkering as part of knowledge production":**

@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u-MczVpkUA
 * "I am what I create"**:

@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHDZj1b8Xqk
 * Passionate about Work / Lean Thinking / Knowledge Workers:**

@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhoOLrMpEEQ&feature=relmfu
 * 'Chief of Confusion':**