Smelly Knowledge

Members of a community usually have something in common. Thanks to Francine of Knowledging across life’s curriculum for pointing me (and others) in the direction of objected-centered sociality, based on the work of anthropologist/sociologist Karin D. Knorr Cetina. Jyri Engeström writes,

The fallacy is to think that social networks are just made up of people. They’re not; social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object.

Providing learners with the proper tools is extremely important; learners just need something sustainable to talk about. It’s like the idea of an attractor in a dynamic system.

Umberto Eco, in his book Kant and the Platypus, has a wonderful way of thinking about the objects upon which communities can be centered. Referring to them as “Dynamical Objects,” he writes,

To use an expression that is efficacious albeit not very philosophical, the Dynamical Object is Something-that-sets-to-kicking-us and says “Talk!” to us — or “Talk about me!” or again, “Take me into consideration!”

Echoing the sentiments of many of those who have written on this same topic — as Eco’s idea of the Dynamical Object infers — the “objects” that trigger this dialogue or serve to organize communities are not necessarily physical; objects can be practices as well. Flickr, a social photo-sharing site, is an extremely successful and popular online community. Is Flickr centered around the photographs themselves, around the practice of photography, or around people sharing their world as captured in photographs? Well, probably all three, depending on the particular community in the flickrverse.

What does this mean for educators, teachers, and instructional designers? Find out what gets your students going, what sets-to-kicking-them, and develop activities around those Dynamical Objects. Although it’s really difficult — but not impossible — given the current educational terrain, allow them the space and the time to organize around these objects and form communities where deep and meaningful dialogue can take place. Encourage the further synthesis of Dynamical Objects by these student communities of practice, and be on hand to help out, offer advice, point out further connections, and raise plenty of questions to keep them going.

You just might be suprised at what emerges….