Module 3 Blog Post

This blog post is in response to watching the “Howard Rheingold: Way-New Collaboration” video at: www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html
In this video, Rheingold discusses the ways people use participatory media and collective action to collaborate.

I do believe humans have a basic instinct to interact and work together as a group. As the social creatures that we are, and with the creation of capitalism, according to Rheingold, cooperative arrangements and enabling technologies have helped solve two “social dilemmas.” The first social dilemma called the “prisoner’s dilemma” was solved by EBay. It turned the dilemma into an assurance game, showing that if trust can be proven, others will cooperate. The second social dilemma called the “tragedy of common goods” was solved by Wikipedia, by the thousands of volunteers who have created this institution for collective action.

Technology can facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles by enhancing the learners’ ability to think about learning; make connections to prior knowledge through virtual reality, various media, and artificial intelligence; and construct new knowledge through hands-on activities. Open-source is one particular new form of technology, promoting a new sense of cooperation and wealth that is significantly different from previous ones. I am ready to help get Rheingold’s transdisciplinary study of cooperation project started and continue this new-way of collaboration!

Related Resources:
http://www.rheingold.com/
http://www.smartmobs.com/