Watching the videos in this section of the course, I am struck by the fact that Dr Cope and Dr Kalantzis convincingly make the case for collaborative learning environments and the kind of results that these can lead to. They argue that, among other things, the kind of people the economies of today require are precisely those that are skilled at working togething. They also argue that collective intelligence is usually going to trump individual intelligence and thus  ultimatelysociety benefits when people work together.

What I also think this discussion links to is the premise that all learning is in fact social, as argued by social constructivists. The core concept of constructivismis found in the belief that “understanding is in our interactions with the environment,” and that “what we learn is a function of the content, the context, the activity of the learner, and, perhaps most importantly, the goals of the learner” (Savery & Duffy 1996, p 136).  This view is very different to the behaviouralist view that knowledge is something that happens to students when it is transferred from someone who already has that knowledge (tradition didactive pedagogy as referred to by Cope and Kalantzis in the first module of this course).

If all knowledge is essentially socially generated as constructivists hold, then it is not a big step to conclude that we should be finding ways to generate collaborative relationships in the classroom of the kind suggested here. The affordance of tody's digital technologies not only makes this possible in ways that were not previously practical, but then we as teachers need also find ways to assess this social learning. The challenge is therefore not necessarily a theortical one once we have accepted that knowledge is not something that is transmitted from a teacher to a student, but rather to manage the kind of interactions that create collaborative intelligence in our classrooms.

Equally, we need to employ assessment practices that 'measure' or 'track' these interactions. Formative assessment is not only better than summative assessment in that it provides a guide to the future but it would also mean assessing that which is important in society: colloboration that encourages collective intelligence.

While new technoligies provide us with new ways of doing these things, I wonder whether we are at risk of creating a greater gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" within society if some can afford to work with these new technoliges in their classrooms while others may not be able to? What about at the global scale; are we reinforcing the trend that sees some societies are being trained to advance (and be rewarded for advancing) knowledge and perform higher level tasks, while others are condemed to engage simply in the practices of the past (factry workers for example)? If so, what kinds of public policies at all scales are necessary to avoid greater disparities?

Problem Based Learning: An Instructional Model and Its Constructivist Framework, John R. Savery, Thomas M. Duffy in Constructivist Learning Environments: Case Studies in Instructional Design by Brent Gayle Wilson, Educational Technology, 1996