e-learning 2.0

I am not sure that this is really about e-learning just that e-learning seems to highlight the issue.

Alex Reid has a post at his Digital Digs blog where he says:

I know my students and colleagues view me as an “expert” in new media, but how could I be an expert in something I did for the first time only a few months ago, something that may not have even existed a year ago?

I’m just keeping ahead of the curve, my “expertise” coming from my ability to tap into a network of information. In other words, my expertise doesn’t come from inside, from my authority, but from outside, from my intersection with the network.

It seems that anybody who knows a little more than others is considered to be an expert and that too many people rely on these “experts”. Of course it is easier to ask somebody else to do something for you than to find out for yourself.

Recently I had a request to set up access to a discussion area where tutors could watch how an “expert moderator” went about their work. I was a little uneasy about doing this because of the model of learning that this implies and have tried to get people to go along with a more participative system where they take part in a discussion and reflect on how the moderation helped or hidered the learning.

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