Communication/Learning Analogy Visuals

I just wanted to toss up a visual representation or two. I tried putting them in the post, but the resolution was atrocious. Instead I put a simple scenario here and a more complex one with a couple of bits being transferred at the same time here. This is nothing brilliant but I'd made the pictures while explaining some of Meta to a friend and thought I might as well put them here. Enjoy!

MetaOlin's MetaLecture

Today's lecture was absolutely fantastic. I cannot remember when the last time I was so thoroughly happy/content/excited was -- incredible.

Ray's lecture was the first time that I thought Meta really lived up to it's promise. The idea of using different mental models is great, but our goal lies largely in the overlap between them. Systems was broad enough that we could fit other modules into it; however, the way that communications was presented allowed us to use it as a paradigm on the same level as our other modules that had incredible overlaps with them instead of as a framework that the other modules fit within. The part of the lecture I found most appealing was that it even ended up having significant overlap with itself. The lecture itself represented a great deal of what Ray was talking about -- it was truly a MetaLecture.

I'm really excited about keeping track of how I learn. All this semester I've been keeping track of the time I spend on each class, and I think adding how I'm spending time on learning (as well as how effective that time is at turning information into working knowledge) will be a great source of insight. So cool.

btw- this post gets to be MetaMetaMetaLecture (post,olin,lecture). Teehee!

The spiral on steroids

WOW. Raymond's lecture on communications networks and their application to the diverse Olin system completely blew my mind. The communications analogy to understanding the college is very well thought out and capable of being expanded, which will be highly motivating in the next two weeks as we talk more about it and look to create a useful deliverable. But the cool part of the lecture was the way it tied together EVERYTHING we had worked on in Meta this semester. I don't know how Raymond managed to do it, especially since he knew little about what we worked on in previous modules. Our original model of Olin as a complex system was very relevant in connecting student and professor nodes and modeling their information flow. The concept of diminishing returns with increased energy mirrored the focus of our deliverable on burnout. The idea of fading also connected to the diminishing returns of information (I) when there is little sleep (P). Our second module of diversity took a number of different views at why people do different things and learn differently based on physical characteristics and family background, as well as how people interact differently to shun or be overly inviting to these people. This can be easily applied to how people project different meanings of the same thing onto their own type of understanding. This diversity of people can also complicate teaching a group, and the 80-20 law may mean that only 20% of a lesson is useful for one person, but a different 20% may be useful for someone else. This is why a good prof will try to use lots of different ways to teach the same thing, hoping that everyone will understand it in at least one way. Then comes the information literacy minimodule, where we learn how people find information. This can also be applied to many parts of the information transfer and what "antennas" people use to learn.
This was lecture was one of the most amazing hours of my life. I was shaking with excitement when I walked out. Wow.