When I read this chapter, I thought of three things: I think of Pink’s Drive and how the intrinsic motivation of people can be so powerful and create great ideas of value, how the various listserves proffered by the database company allow users from around the nation to discuss best practices, and how most groups of people will automatically form some sort of organization for themselves even in the most informal of circumstances, with each person most likely gravitating to their own strengths and interests.
I learn best when I’m interested in what it is I’m learning about. I will choose, of my own free will, to invest my time and effort in what I’m learning because I see the value in it either for myself or for others, or both. I’ve never edited Wikipedia (or maybe I did, once.) but I have offered my expertise on the database listserve myriad times in hopes that, when the time comes, the people of the listserve will help me in my time of need. When I do contribute, I almost always contribute to the group at large so more than the initial requestor of information can learn from my information, and so others can verify or chime in and modify my response.
I don’t see, at least easily, how my organization can benefit from this kind of peer organization. I think there are policies and data-sharing that could definitely benefit if more people could chime in, even among the organization itself – communication is always a challenge. But to open certain things up beyond the organization, to the masses, is a difficult concept for me. How would it work in higher education? The idea of an open-source textbook is intriguing.
I also struggle with how one could use this sort of mass-collaboration in a teaching/learning/training environment.
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