Replying to LO27987 --
Dear Ana,
I read with interest your comments about universities as LOs. I would
not, however, mix student learning with organizational learning in this
context. I base this distinction on the work of Terry O'Banion, author of
A Learning College for the 21st Century. In his book, O'Banion
distinguishes between learning community, learning organization and
learning college. A learning community, according to him, is a curricular
intervention which deliberately restructures curriculum to create a more
collaborative, interactive, usually crossdisciplinary learning experience
for students. A learning organization, says O'Banion, is designed for the
staff; it is a learning-centered institution which is designed for the
students. He proposes using the term learning college, which he believes
is a more accurate description of the comprehensive nature of community
colleges: "The learning college places learning first and provides
educational experiences for learners any way, any place, any time."
I found these useful distinctions, especially the notion that the concept
of an LO is more applicable to the learning that (hopefully) takes place
among faculty and staff than it is to the learning experiences designed
for students. This is not to say that the same principles and conditions
of learning (e.g., trust) can't or don't apply in both cases, but the
objectives seem to me to be different.
Does this distinction make sense?
Harriett J. Robles
hjrobles@aol.com
--Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.