Orchestral Strings Teacher
EAA Mindmap
This Mindmap portrays the activities of the Experimental Aircraft Association (www.eaa.org) as derived from their website. These activities have been translated to the 6 main nodes of Connected Learning, being Peer Supported, Interest Powered, Academically Oriented, Production Centred, Shared Purpose and Openly Networked, these nodes fan out to more detailed activities.
Cross links have not been shown as in this network, as it would involve virtually all nodes linking to each other. In this respect, the diagram would become too cluttered to view. Primary nodes (Peer Supported, Interest Powered, Openly Networked, Academically Oriented, Shared Purpose and Production Centred) are already linked via the central node (www.eaa.org).
General Overview of Network
The Experimental Aircraft Association organisation is very much based on the principle “Ask not what your country can do for You, but what You can do for your Country” (JFK inaugural address, 20/01/1961). For EAA members, this means support the EAA community using your own innate abilities, which could be anything from doing odd jobs at events, or an aircraft building workshop mentor, or as a lawyer with aviation experience dealing with government officials who may not understand what is most efficient or expedient resolution to an aviation situation. In 1953 the EAA was founded by a small collective of like -minded individuals who wanted to build their own aircraft. The USA has about 450 airports with a scheduled airline service, which are part of about 5100 public use airports (most of which have no regular scheduled airline services i.e. like Archerfield), and another 14,000 private use aerodromes which includes things like helipads on skyscrapers, hospitals and oil rigs, to private airstrips like George Lucas’s (Star Wars) Skywalker Ranch.
In this environment, the EAA attracts people with all types of flying interests and from all walks of life, from the people who would like a regular airline service at their local aerodrome (as only 450/19000 actually have one), to the person that does their own business flying (like Dick Smith), or the learner pilot at the local flight school, to the corporate pilot in control of some of the planets most sophisticated aeronautical machinery. The EAA taps into all of this, and with over 1300 chapters worldwide (Toowoomba chapter is #1308), it seems to be successful in encouraging people of all ages to remain part of, and be comfortable in, the EAA community. As the membership section on the website states “Your membership makes you a part of the passionate EAA Family…”
Peer supported (Relationships)
“In their everyday exchanges with peers and friends, young people are contributing, sharing and giving feedback in inclusive social experiences that are fluid and highly engaging” (Ito, 2013, p.12).
Note that much CL has been based on formal education. This EAA network does not have a direct academic orientation, but has a much more general approach in its application of network learning. Ito in her Connected Learning report (Ito, 2013, p.35) notes that while the report does not focus primarily on formal education, it is seen as complementary to this system. Another way of interpreting connected learning is to see it as a way that social technologies might allow learning over a wide range of contexts. The EAA network is an example of this broader application. As such, whereas Ito defines ‘CL’ network learning as ‘an academic exercise’, this network follows the example of a small ‘cl’ network as defined by Kay Oddone’s mini lecture “Approaches to Connected Learning” in that it extends network learning to a much broader range of contexts.
The concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is expressed as the difference between what a learner can do independently and what the same learner can do when tutored (Couros & Hildebrandt, 2016, ch.9, quoting Vygotsky 1978). This network is a practical application of this idea. The tutoring occurs in the network on several levels, as mentor-to-class (i.e. in the Learn to Fly section which also incorporates mentor-to-individual), and individual-to-individual in the Aircraft Building, Learn to Fly and Aviation Interests areas of the map.
The EAA website has a ‘Chat Now’ feature across the entire website. At any time, you can click the ‘Chat Now’ button in the lower right corner of the website, and have someone respond to your query in real-time as the EAA network is global in scale (200,000 members in the USA alone). However, it is up to members to make the effort to connect with others. Whether online or face-to-face, members support the technology of the network. The scope of the network supports both synchronous and asynchronous responses (Dron, 2014, p.97)
The EAA organises its members into chapters who then interact with the network according to their particular interests. Chapters hold regular meetings and workshops for those in their geographical area, and are supported in these endeavours by expertise within the greater organisation accessed via the network.
One of the social activities of EAA is when a Chapter or Chapters organise a ‘Fly-in’ event. Often referred to as the ‘$100 Hamburger’ that is when $100 worth of fuel is expended to get a (often free) hamburger at the event.
Aircraft Building, Learn to Fly, and the Chapters, are all examples of contributing, sharing and giving feedback (Ito 2013, p.12).
Interest Powered
“When a subject is personally interesting and relevant, learners achieve much higher-order learning outcomes” (Ito, 2013, p.12).
The EAA has a predominantly adult membership, and adult learning can be characterised by adults needing to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction (Couros & Hildebrandt, Ch.9 p.5, quoting Knowles 1970), by being most interested in the subjects related to their job and personal life, and to some extent learning by experience, including their mistakes. However, in aviation, mistakes often have high consequences - this was the case with aviation in the first 10 years, but is unacceptable now. Involvement in the network reduces the likelihood of individuals making the wrong life-changing (life-ending) mistakes.
While predominantly adult, youth membership is encouraged and supported in the activities listed in the Youth section of the map. This is particularly important as it has been noted that “the period from around 12-18 years old is a critical time when individuals form interests and social identities that are key to the connected learning model” (Ito, 2013, p.8). Once established, these learning processes can carry into academic education and adult life.
Academically Oriented (Opportunities)
“Learners flourish and realize their potential when they can connect their interests and social engagement to academic studies, civic engagement, and career opportunity” (Ito, 2013, p.12).
The process of integrating new information and creating knowledge is augmented during discussions and debate with others. But the confirmation, interpretation and validation of this knowledge happens only through interacting with others (Dron, 2014, p.39). This mechanism is in place within the EAA network. Operating as it does within the public sphere of flying, it is engaged in integrating new information and creating knowledge. This is done in the context of discussions and reactions and confirmation and interpretation (legal and scientific), for the benefits of General Aviation. Validation of the process only happens through interacting with others inside and outside the network (Jon Dron, Terry Anderson, Teaching Crowds – learning and social media, 2014, p.39). The following quote from Ito 2019, p.17 “strongly shared culture and practices, varied ways of contributing, high standards and effective ways of providing feedback and help” describes the connected learning aspect of the EAA (Oddone, Approaches to Connected Learning, p.2).
As an example of interconnected knowledge, Dron (Dron, 2006, p3) asks the question: “Who knows how to make a 747 fly from London to Toronto?” His answer is that nobody knows because the processes of design, manufacturing and assembling the parts, flying, navigation, and doing this safely with passengers, is impossible without the connections between a network of people. In the EAA network, no one person can integrate the knowledge contained in the network as a whole. The network relies on its ability to have people interact with it according to the situations it faces.
Production Centred
“Digital tools provide opportunities for producing a wide variety of media knowledge and cultural content in experimental and active ways” (Ito 2013, p.12, table1)
The EAA network illustrates two aspects of being production centred. Digital media has largely superseded the hard-copy media of previous years, meaning that individuals have a much wider access to an exchange of complex concepts and essential ideas in a timely manner (Garcia, 2014).
Available to members and non-members, are pre-digital sources such as videos (including stored digital media like webinars), photos, and print media. These pre-digital sources are augmented by new media which comprises podcasts, radio, and links to social media sites. Face-to-face (f2f) meetings are also facilitated by Chapters, in the forms of live webinars, workshops, fly-ins and camps (https://www.eaa.org/~/media/files/eaa/homebuilders/EAA_ExpAmatuerBuildSourcebook). With its low barriers to expression, strong support for creating and sharing and informal mentorship by the experienced, members contributions are respected which makes them care about what other people think of their products. These are the marks of a participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006), that allows individual learners to capitalise on their strengths, while supporting their weaknesses.
In this network, media production aids not only knowledge collection but mechanical production in the form of Aircraft Building and DIY aircraft maintenance.
Shared Purpose
“Social media and web-based communities provide unprecedented opportunities etc … thrive around common goals and interests” (Ito, 2013, p.12).
The EAA network is an active community which can be seen in its mission statement ‘To grow participation in aviation by promoting the “Spirit of Aviation”’ (https://www.eaa.org/eaa/about-eaa/who-we-are). There is no single definition of an EAA member, as they often have multiple interests. “We fly them. We fix them. We even build them”. It goes beyond the adoration of aeroplanes and flying, to be about passion, camaraderie, and a grassroots way of sharing aviation with others. “It’s the airplanes that bring us together. It’s the people who keep us coming back” (https://www.eaa.org/eaa/about-eaa/who-we-are).
Gilles Delueze and Felix Guattari used the metaphor of a rhizome (a creeping root stalk) as a way of thinking about learning as a shared experience. It describes the way that ideas are multiple and interconnected and so the learning process is like a rhizome which has no beginning or end (Dave’s educational blog, 11/2011, quoting Delueze and Guattari). The idea of this metaphor is to acknowledge that learners come from different contexts and need different things, so it is a commitment to multiple paths. The EAA network provides these different contexts and multiple paths.
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2011/11/05/rhizomatic-learning-why-learn/
The network could also be considered as a community of practice, that can give newcomers access to competence and invite their personal engagement which can encourage participation. Such a community also functions to allow new insights to be explored without the risk to individuals (or sub-groups) to appear foolish or being caught in a dead end (Wenger, 1998, p.214). For Wenger, this engagement in a joint enterprise is an ideal context for leading edge learning.
Openly Networked
“Online platforms and digital tools can make learning resources abundant accessible and visible across all learner settings” (Ito, 2013, p.12).
In his book “Theories of Learning with emerging technologies”, Terry Anderson outlines “affordances” as ‘the qualities of an object that allow it to be put into use or action’. The abundance of information includes ‘Produsage’ (production and usage of content), where members are ‘autonomous agents’ free to gather and produce their own aviation related content. The web affords powerful low-cost communications which is an important factor in providing equitable access (Ito, 2013, p.6).
The EAA is conscious of making accessibility as easy as possible, and so the $40/year membership fee represents a very small barrier, given the interests involved in building or learning to fly an aircraft. Connectivity as a learning resource may suffer from noise and diffusion, because it does not have the social cohesion of a community, so effective networking does require the ability to distinguish between significance and noise (Wenger et al, 2011). Membership does allow people to contribute to online material (including forums/discussions), whereas non-members can view all online material but not contribute. This has the effect of filtering casual input which may pose harm, even if unintentional. After all, amateurs go where angels fear to tread.
The EAA has acted in this regard with the following notice: “Due to increased spam activity, there will be slight delay as all new users must be approved manually” (http://eaaforums.org/forum.php). In doing so, the EAA is reminding members that digital citizenship implies appropriate and responsible online behaviour (http://katiahibderbrandt.ca/ “What Kind of Digital Citizen?” June 15, 2017). The EAA network links to social media via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and LinkedIn. This range of social media gives wide exposure of EAA activities.
Conclusion
At its beginning in 1953, the Experimental Aircraft Association would have communicated using hard-copy media (newsletters, magazines, newspaper advertisements). Since then it has adopted new forms of communication as technology has progressed, and now uses the full range of internet accessibility. The intention of the EAA always been to support aviation enthusiasts in becoming more knowledgeable, skilled and productive in this field of engineering. The availability of digital media has not changed this objective, but is a more effective tool in achieving the objectives of this networked organisation.
For the EAA, “Like air and drinking water, being digital will be noticed only by its absence, not its presence” (Ritson, 2016, quoting Negroponte, 1998).
References
Anderson, T. 2016. Theories for Learning with Emerging Technologies. Ch.3, p.40-41. Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications. Ed. George Veletsianos. AU Press, Athabasca University. ISBN 978-1-77199-150-6 (PDF). doi:10.15215/aupress/9781771991490.01
Connected Learning. https://twitter.com/CLLab and also https://twitter.com/TheCLAlliance
Couros, A., Hildebrandt, K. 2016. Designing for open and social learning. Ch.9, p.4, quoting Vygotsky 1978. Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications. ed. George Veletsianos. AU Press, Athabasca University. ISBN 978-1-77199-150-6 (PDF). doi:10.15215/aupress/9781771991490.01
Dron, J., Anderson, T. Teaching Crowds. 2014. Copyright © 2014 Jon Dron and Terry Anderson Published by AU Press, Athabasca University Canada. ISBN 978-1-927356-81-4 (PDF).
Graven, M. Lerman, S. Book review: Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practise; Learning, Meaning and Identity. p.214. Cambridge University Press.
Hunt, B. 2014. Openly Networked. Ch.5, p.71. Quoting Ito et al, 2013. Ed. Antero Garcia, Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom. Irvine, CA: Digital Media + Learning Research Hub. ISBN-13: 978-0-9887255-2-2.
Ito, M., Martin, C., Cody Pfister, R., Rafalow, M. H., Salen, K., & Wortman, A. 2019. Affinity online: How connection and shared interest fuel learning. p.17. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Ito, Mizuko, Kris Gutiérrez, Sonia Livingstone, Bill Penuel, Jean Rhodes, Katie Salen, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, S. Craig Watkins. 2013. Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design. p.12. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.
Ito, Mizuko, Kris Gutiérrez, Sonia Livingstone, Bill Penuel, Jean Rhodes, Katie Salen, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, S. Craig Watkins. 2013. Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design. p.6. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.
Jenkins, H. 19 October 2006. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture in Education for the 21st Century. http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2006/10/confronting_the_challenges_of.html
Oddone, K. Approaches to Connected Learning. p.2. http://www.linkinglearning.com.au/
Richardson, W., Mancabelli, R. 2011. Personal learning networks; using the power of connections to transform education. Ch.2. p.33-57. Becoming a networked learner. Hawker Brownlow.
Ritson, Mark. Article, 26/04/2016, MarketingMag. https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/mark-ritson-on-brand-column-the-social-issue-2016/ Quoting Negroponte, Beyond the Digital, © WIRED Ventures Ltd. Issue 6.12, December 1998). https://web.media.mit.edu/~nicholas/Wired/WIRED6-12.html
Wenger, E., Trayner, B., & de Laat, M. 2011. Promoting and assessment value creation in communities and networks: A conceptual framework. p.18. The Netherlands: Ruud de Moor Centrum Open University. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/11-04-Wenger_Trayner_DeLaat_Value_creation.pdf
What kind of Digital Citizen? June 15, 2017. http://katiahibderbrandt.ca/