Learning Conversations

In the Future of Education conference, George Siemens asked:

Earlier this week, we explored “what education will look like in 10 years. Perhaps, to gain an increased respect for how much thing have already changed, a moment of nostalgia will help set the stage for our conference:

What has changed for you as an educator in the last 10 years? Before Google. Blogs. Creative Commons. Wikis. Popularization of open source. Dotcom bust. Hype - Web 2.0, long tail, flat world. What are you doing different from 10 years ago? Go ahead, take the walk through the dark alley of technologies and social pressures of days gone by…

My initial response:

For me the biggest change has not been in my role as an "educator". I've always been trying new ways of supporting teaching, and helping my learners to interact with each other, rather than relying on me, the "teacher".

What has changed totally is my perception and my practice as a learner.

I have changed from expecting learning to be something that is provided. If I need to learn something, I now expect to actively seek out ways to learn it. In some ways I am a more self-sufficient learner. But also, I am more reliant on other people than ever before. It's just those people are officially my teachers/mentors/coaches. They are simply part of the informal, organic, networked communities of practice that I inhabit.