Mapping My Learning Ecology

Figure 1. Mind Map

What is learning ecology and why should you care? Well, learning ecology is your reaction/response to the social/relational, physical, and often times cultural space in which you learn. Like it or not you are taking part in some form of learning ecology every day. As shown in Figure 1 learning can take place anywhere whether it is through formal learning environments or informal learning environments. For example video games, could be formal or informal really depends on the nature of the game itself, but for the most part they tend to be informal and are primarily there for entertainment. Video games may teach you critical skills within your creative side. Before we go too far down into the intricacies of my mind map we first have to define some terms.

Ah yes, the world of definitions. It is probably why you’re here right? Alas they may be technical and a little convoluted they are necessary to understanding the whole scope of my learning ecology.

Literacies commonly defined as the ability to read and write, being literate. While is isn’t incorrect there is more to the story. A literacy is the understanding or ability/use of a topic. Being literate does typically mean the ability to read and write but what does being socially literate mean? Some would say common sense or street smarts, it is simply being socially adept. Knowing the time and place for certain conversations, and how to interact with people without making a total fool of yourself.

As time progresses and technology evolves new literacies start to develop. A new literacy is something that must be done through some form of technology, typically involving various forms of social media. Due to the requirement of a media rich environment they are typically much more collaborative in nature and can be related/lead to a participatory culture. That’s right two in one! A participatory culture is just that participating in a culture. If you are dedicating to engaging in something you are engaging in a participatory culture such as a Subreddit or maybe a thread on Twitter. In essence you are acting as an active collaborator rather than a passive consumer, the people make the content. Facebook and TikTok don’t make content or even make their money on content, the consumers make the content and the platform sells the data.

Subreddits aren’t always a pleasant place and not all forums or blogs are very welcoming. The interaction and sometimes discussion turned arguments are examples of discourses. A discourse is a discussion of a certain topic, it can also be defined as being an ‘authoritative’ discussion.

Some Good Ol’ Grace on Bass

Music has played a huge role in my life and it is also a very big part of me. Often times I catch myself wondering what I would be like without music. I learned my love of music from my father I grew up going to shows. My grandpa introduced to me guitar which I eventually hung up for my slick Epiphone Thunderbird.

If we think about our skills and track where we learned them from we can learn a lot about where we derive our knowledge. While I have taken inspiration from my grandpa and my dad, I primarily learned most of my current skills from the internet. The internet is such a powerful tool it is able to facilitate loads of new literacies. So many people are able to engage who otherwise never would have met it is really a beautiful thing. Outside of the internet I learn a lot from my mentors and role models around me they are always giving me new tidbits and try to foster new growth in me.

It is also important to acknowledge how experience can help hone skills and produce knowledge without a gatekeeper. The image on the left is of one weekend (Easter weekend) at church. I have been playing every week since mid 2019. Getting that routine practice helps me to refine my skills and learn what works for me versus other people. My relationship with other musicians has connected me to important teachers that I otherwise would not have had the ability to communicate with. One such example is Ian Allison. Ian is a bass player and he works for Scotts Bass Lessons. I was able to meet with him and work on my various bass patches as well as some techniques I needed to work on. Getting in certain channels can lead you to other gatekeepers and teachers.

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Let’s set my love of music aside and talk more about other aspects of my learning. I mentioned at the beginning the idea between formal and informal learning environments. My elementary school was a private Christian school and it has definitely had lasting effects on my morals and work ethic. For example I was required to do all of my homework in cursive. Cursive became my primary method for writing and still to this day I really struggle to write in anything but. At my high school I learned how to write incredibly detailed research papers and process papers. I carry most of my understanding of writing from my high school STEM School Highlands Ranch. If you back and look at Figure 1 you can see that under Relational there is a Teacher subcategory. I did not include this in the Formal Education section and here is why… these teachers did not teach me academic skills and knowledge, well they did but this is not what I took from them. Mr. Shall taught me confidence in myself and abilities, but also taught me how to handle disappointment.

I was in his TSA (Technology Student Association) class for a couple of years. It isn’t at every high school but at mine it was a big deal. One year my group worked really hard spending almost every day in the studio working on our project for the Music Production event, despite the many hours we didn’t make the cut. I was devastated. I felt like we worked really hard on it and nothing came of our efforts. This became a common theme in TSA which is what lead to me eventually quitting. I learned how to handle putting the work in and not making the cut which really helped me later in life. This is sort of a downer of a learning example but it was an important lesson I needed to learn and he helped me walk down that path.

The internet is a wonderful thing. We have access to a wealth of knowledge on our devices allowing us to grow without the need of a teacher. It allows us to communicate and engage in various participatory cultures. I have learned so much from the internet a lot of my musical knowledge comes from the internet. Sometimes Digital Audio Workstations can be convoluted or I may be having trouble setting up one of my pedals, so I Google it. Almost every time I find my answer and I can move on with my new found knowledge.

I mentioned the word gatekeeper earlier. The word is exactly how it sounds. Someone who stands between you and knowledge. I feel like a lot of historical gatekeepers can be bypassed due to the internet, there are exceptions of course, you can’t Google my WIFI password you have to rely on me to share that information with you. The gatekeepers I am referring to, for the most part, are teachers. So many high school teachers get their lesson plans from the internet, thus you can bypass them and obtain the knowledge. However I have ran into professors who are gatekeepers. I am a Music Business major, it is very new and ever evolving, there aren’t really any text books on the subject and Googling information is very inconsistent. I have to rely on my professors for the information making it incredibly risky to miss a lecture.

Another example of gatekeepers in my life is my worship team. Often times we are playing original songs, and when we play one for the first time I have to rely on the staff to get the accurate chart and form to me. It is not something I can look up because they wrote it thus I must wait for them to give me the desired information.

It is important to look back at where we learn and who/what brokers our learning. Some of the biggest parts of my life were derived from other people and places. My experiences have allowed me to gain new knowledge and refine my skills.