We are all constantly learning.
It’s how we adapt, how we grow.
Which is why, learning how to learn better is inherent to what I do. I design experiences and tools for us to live better, which essentially includes learning better in our everyday lives. There are two main ideas in learning that seem particularly fascinating as I do that:
Constructivism is the idea that learners construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world by experiencing things and reflecting on their experiences. That they are active makers of meaning – and learning is an act of making meaning.
Constructionism, as described by Seymour Papert, is “built on the assumption that [learners] will do best by finding (“fishing”) for themselves the specific knowledge they need; organized or informal education can help most by making sure that they are supported morally, psychologically, materially and intellectually in their efforts”.
What does this learning look like?
What would it be to live like it were an act of learning?
How would it be to go through life living like it were an act of learning? What would educating for that life look like? I call it the “tinkering way of life”, which would look something like this:
The more I researched this, the more it felt like an inspiring, but obvious way to live. Yet, the way we think about leading an “educated life” currently, this ability to tinker gracefully through life feels almost superhero-ish. Something like this:
What would it be to live like it were an act of learning?
For my final project for the class T550: Designing for Learning by Creating, I imagined an education system that was designed to help us live our lives this way. Broadly speaking, this would look a little like this:
It may be a long way to be able to change the educational system as we know it… but that does not mean this cannot exist. The space between those two truths is where a lot of my work lies.