This week’s exploration into the topics of Situated Learning and Distributed Cognition were quite challenging for me. This difficulty stemmed from what I perceived to be a complete separation between the two ideas. It was like trying to compare apples…. to kiwis.
For comparisons sake, I can say that with both of these philosophy’s the summation, or the outcome of what we perceive in an individual’s learning is significantly more than what we, the observer (be that parent/educator/researcher) can visualize happening. And that’s when all similarities seem to stop.
As to identifying which one has a greater implication for teaching and learning – that is not a question that I am able to answer. Although I am quite familiar with the philosophy behind situated learning I did need to really dissect both the papers that were provided on distributed cognition and even further some research of my own so that I was sure that I got the fundamentals right. And after learning what Distributed cognition actually is and how impactful it is to understanding the role of educator and learner I cannot honestly say which theory would be more influential.
When you consider distributed cognition in the light of transactive memory, there are certain parallels. In fact, the idea of transactive memory did pop into my head during the course of the reading but it is in the subtleties where the differences lay. While transactive memory refers to the storehouse of knowledge bases that a person has memorized (be those other people, websites, reference books) it does not necessarily incorporate the learning that may have occurred from utilizing those resources. Here in lies the important difference: Distributed cognition does incorporate an individual’s multitude of experiences (including scaffold), conversations, and involvement with readings/artifacts/technologies in their ability to perform a cognitive task.
Alternatively, situated learning describes how a cognitive task is best achieved and reinforced when it is completed in an environmental manner befitting the particular task. I read in another class that it’s bringing someone to the lake and helping them swim versus giving a person a book in a classroom on swimming. That learning activities need to be appropriately “situated” to be maximally effective. A task that can seem monumental from a public education classroom.
PC
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