Seeding collaboration

Increasingly I find that the focus of my work is shifting towards mainstream education. Having delivered several workshops to undergraduate students over the past few months I consistently find that there is very little dialogue between students across different disciplines or even different years in the same degree course. Everyone seems to be moving along a rather linear path. However, I feel that beyond the domain of essays, assignments and marks surely there should be some sort of impetus placed on collaboration, even if it is through the extracurricular.

The freedom to explore and exchange ideas can be a fantastic source of inspiration and development. It also engenders flexibility in thinking, which can have a long term positive effect. After all, who would you rather be in a professional setting – the insecure individual who is unduly attached to his/her ideas, or someone who has the confidence to draw from various sources to generate and express ideas freely and watch them take shape through discussion and debate.

This principal forms the basis of the Digital Footprints programme I have developed for students in HEIs. One of the primary objectives of this programme is to get them to reflect on their strengths. Then, using the concept of keywords as the currency of the web they create virtual identities on the WWW. Over the next few weeks this identity is continuously shaped and moulded to suit different purposes. For example, sometimes I set them a challenge to define their identity as sitemap for an imaginary website, in no more than 8 words. Without the distraction of an interface and all that goes with it, can they convey a sense of who they are through this sitemap. Is it possible to make a statement or even to intrigue? Experimenting with their identities in this playful manner appears to be quite a liberating experience. The students always actively engage with this process.

Seeding collaboration – Workshop at York St John University

A few weeks ago, I delivered an introductory session to a series of workshops with undergraduate students at York St John University. This is a variation of the Digital Footprints programme with a focus on working collaboratively. Over the next couple of weeks I will be working with them on re-branding a departmental magazine. Students have formed 6 groups and each group has to deliver a pitch for the direction they would like to take the magazine in, they also have bolster this pitch by creating a convincing virtual identity for their group. It was interesting to observe the shift in group dynamics as they began the process of defining their identities. There was serious ‘reflecting’ going on around the room.

I hope to post more information about the workshops over the coming weeks. May I request you leave a comment if you are interested in this work.