Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Failure, Camaraderie, and Shared Embodied Learning

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Interesting observation. "Failure in sports is manifest and public, while failure in academics is obscure and private." Interestingly, when athletes fail in sporting events - as most of them do, eventually - this leads to bonding and camraderie. In academics it is different. But one thing changes this: presentations. "Like sports, presentations are embodied performances. Presentations can fail or succeed along dimensions besides their intellectual content." Maybe that's why, for me, presentations form the bulk of my work, far more than courses or publications. "When failure is obscure and private, it feels shameful, it's to be feared and suffered alone. When failure is manifest and public, it can be embraced as a challenge and birth camaraderie." My failures are there for everyone to see. That's why I'm not afraid to fail.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Aug 31, 2024 8:20 p.m.

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