We have been taught that most learning takes place in classrooms where, as a result of listening to lectures and doing exercises, we learn from those who apparently know so much more than we do. In the traditional school system we're then tested on how well we can reproduce what we've been told. In elementary school we were given extra marks if we could reproduce that information neatly.
If our teachers, our parents and society did their jobs well we became excited about learning, and we were innoculated with the curiousity virus. We continue to learn daily and can't imagine stopping that process. We learn alone, although facilitators can often help us to learn more effectively.
I enjoy solitary learning: reading, finding new knowledge on the web, observing people and nature. I do some of that in my office and my yard, but I do a lot of it in my Cappuccino U locations in this city and elsewhere. I travel with my iPhone and my laptop, but when I'm in a local coffee shop I'll take only my iPhone.
Weekends, evenings, and early mornings are great times for solitary learning, but so is the time we spend travelling by public transit, and the time we spend waiting for others to arrive at meetings or appointments.
No one learns for us and no one can keep us from learning new ideas and information. Technology and society have made knowledge and creativity accessible to us all: but each of us chooses what we do with these opportunities.
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