The rhizome is NOT a metaphor

Posted on 13th March 2016 by NomadWarMachine

Red stamp saying "Can do better. Not a metaphor

Deleuze & Guattari’s concept of the rhizome in A Thousand Plateaus is not a metaphor. Let me repeat that. IT IS  NOT A METAPHOR. NOT. A. METAPHOR.

Despite acknowledging this in their recent paper The rhizome: A problematic metaphor for teaching and learning in a MOOC, the authors nevertheless use the word a staggering 72 times in 14 pages – including in the title. If you’d like to see comments by me and others on that article, you can do so as follows:

  • First download the pdf from this link
  • Add the Hypothes.is extension to Chrome
  • Go to extension settings and accept annotate on local files.
  • Drag downloaded pdf to your Chrome address bar
  • Then make a first annotation on pdf
  • Refresh the page and you should see all our previous annotations
  • What is very cool is to be able to annotate with video/images/
  • More info on annotating pdfs here

(Instructions adapted from Simon’s post to Facebook.) This might sound footly to do, but Hypothes.is is a really cool tool for annotating web pages and once set up it is really easy to use.

Anyway, I digress. So what is the rhizome – well, it’s a CONCEPT. To call it a metaphor, as this site puts it: “is to reduce to a mental operation with no real consequences in the world”. Quite. And, again from the same site:

Guattari is Not Making Metaphors. He and his friend Deleuze state and restate this. It is a machine, a connecter a way of organizing and disorganizing and reorder the assemblages. [sic]

Pink t shirt with motto "The rhizome is NOT a metaphor" on itSo: a rhizome is not a metaphor. It’s a real thing. Nothing figurative about it. Of course, you can use it metaphorically, and talk about knowledge branching out, but D&G are not doing that. D&G’s concept of the rhizome is not a metaphor. Look – it says so on the T-shirt.

It’s also really misleading to think of the rhizome as a botanical concept. Sure, irises and ginger are rhizomes, but understanding D&G’s concept (not metaphor!) like this misses out the heterogenerity that is one of the six principles of the rhizome (see p82 here for a visual of all six).

Wasp in purple orchidThe image that captures the rhizome best for me is the orchid and the wasp. The wasp territorialises with the orchid and forms a rhizome with it, then deterritorialises and flies away. Two (real) things connect together then disconnect. Nothing metaphorical about that.

Edit: it’s been pointed out to me that this example might be misleading as it is a symbiotic relationship. I’ll need to find an even more heterogenous one.

Those of you who enjoy reading D&G might also be interested in considering the rhizome as metamorphosis. This from D&G (1986) Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature 

Discussion of metamorphosis by D&G“Could do Better” Image by @Sensor

Tshirt image by me shared with a CC-BY-SA-NC licence

Orchid and Wasp flickr photo by BinaryApe  shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Posted in #rhizo14, #rhizo15, #Rhizo16, D&G, Rhizomes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What’s so good about Digi-CLMooc-Rhizo-ing?

Posted on 7th March 2016 by NomadWarMachine

I’ve been asked to give a short presentation to some Psychology of Education undergrads and talk to them about how great my interactions with you folk have been over the last couple of years. I’m finding it hard to put into words what I just think of as messing around on the internet, so I thought I’d ask all of you.

If you were asked to say a few words about what makes these cMOOCish things so fun, addictive, challenging etc., what would you say?

Posted in #CLMOOC, #DigiWriMo, #rhizo14, #rhizo15, #Rhizo16, Online learning, Peer interaction, Rhizomes | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Reading recommendations

Posted on 4th March 2016 by NomadWarMachine

Person reading a book with a book in each hand and a pile next to themToday Vicki and I are trying out a slow Twitter chat with questions themed around online and blended learning. A couple of questions later on today are about reading recommendations, and I thought I’d collect a few here.

First blogs. I read Steve Wheeler’s Learning with ‘e’s regularly (I’m also reading his book of the same name, which I recommend). I also love Terry Elliot‘s writings, particularly this. Simon Ensor confuses, provokes and stimulates my thoughts with his blog posts as does Ron Samul here. Then of course there’s Hybrid Pedagogy and Audrey Watters. And, of course, Mr rhizo himself, Dave Cormier.  Last, but by no means least is Kevin, who inspires my digital creations. I follow him pretty much everywhere. including his blog here.

I have a lot of books I want to read at the moment. I’m slow reading Participatory Culture in a Networked Era: A Conversation on Youth, Learning, Commerce, and Politics by Jenkins, Ito and boyd at the moment – cannot recommend it highly enough. I’ve also dipped in and out of Multimedia Learning by Richard Mayer and Reading the Visual: An Introduction to Teaching Multimodal Literacy by Frank Serafini – both excellent resources when thinking about online learning design.

I’m particularly interested in online communities, networks, collectives – what they are and what we call them – and A New Culture of Learning by Thomas and Seely Brown is a book that has helped shape my thinking, as has Agoraphobia and the modern learner by Dron and Anderson – I also note with glee the free download of their new book Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media.

Then, of course, there’s pedagogy. I’m half way through Mind in Society by Vygotsky and picked up Introducing Marxism: A Graphic Guide to get to grips with parts of Vygotsky. I’ve also got a pile of books about constructivism to plough through at some point.

Well, that’s my suggestions – what would you recommend?

flickr photo by Pimthida  shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

Posted in Learning, Online learning, Reading | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Spring is on the way

Posted on 28th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

It’s been a beautiful weekend. After so many weeks of rain, snow, sleet and drizzle it’s been sunny, though cold. As well as all the crocuses in the front lawn, today I noticed the first flowers peeping through in the back garden. Happy days.IMG_0270

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All photos by me shared under a CC-BY-SA-NC licence

Posted in Flowers, Garden | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

#onetree

Posted on 26th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

This week Kim’s photo challenge is about trees. Despite D&G’s dislike of trees:

We’re tired of trees. We should stop believing in trees, roots, and radicles. They’ve made us suffer too much. All of arborescent culture is founded on them, from biology to linguistics. Nothing is beautiful or loving or political aside from underground stems and aerial root, adventitious growths and rhizomes. ATP p15

I’m very fond of trees – especially the fruit trees that we planted 3 years ago. Here’s one of the apple trees earlier today:

Tiny apple tree

As you can see, it’s not much more than a twig at the moment, although it is starting to show signs of coming back to life after the winter:

Apple blossom buds

I’m looking forward to seeing it blossom over the next few months.

All photos by me shared on a CC-BY-NC-SA licence

Posted in D&G, Garden | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Scaffolding

Posted on 20th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

I know that some folk dislike the term scaffolding. For example, in a recent post Sean Michael Morris explains why he didn’t attempt to scaffold #MoocMooc, and that started a healthy debate about the metaphor. 

ScaffoldingSome love the concept, some hate it, some (like Giulia) think it depends how it’s used. For what it’s worth, that’s my opinion. And when thinking about adult learners in things like #MoocMooc, it’s probably fair enough to expect that we’ll get along without the help of scaffolds. But not all learners are in that position.

I can see why some folk dislike the metaphor. If you think literally about metal structures then it seems rigid and forced. But if, like me, you just think of it as a handy label for something that is often a good support for learners, then you might be able to ignore the visual image and focus on other times that this occurs.

2 children on bikes, one with stabilisers, one without So what if we think about scaffolding as being similar to stabilisers? As dissolvable stitches? As holding a child’s hand as they take their first steps? When I teach using the Jigsaw Classroom I begin with fairly structured lessons, and gradually provide less each week as students grow in ability and confidence. That’s what I mean by scaffolding – not pinning learners down to what I want them to think, but keeping a watchful eye over them as they find their feet – something like I was saying here.

17282827122_bc9e17ee40_oFor me the best analogy, though, is with parenting (and aunting – I never had kids myself, but I have a lot of nieces and nephews). Anybody who has had children “helping” them bake a cake will appreciate how much scaffolding occurs in order to let the children believe they did it all themselves – and how, gradually, children turn into competent and confident cooks.

flickr photo by kevin dooley  shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

flickr photo by mcmrbt  shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

flickr photo by donnierayjones  shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Posted in #MoocMooc, Jigsaw Technique, Learning, Online learning, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Where’s the pedagogy?

Posted on 16th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

I love decorating my Christmas tree. Every year I buy more sparkly, shiny things and manage to cram them all onto my fairly small tree – much to N’s amazement and the cats’ delight. Some of the decorations are beautiful, like the bauble from Charlene:

Glass bauble with gold snowman

Some are not even ornaments, like my Dalek Mr Potato Head:

Dalek Mr Potato Head on Xmas tree

There’s no attempt to co-ordinate or be tasteful, there’s no need to limit myself to what is appropriate – as long as it’s shiny, a frog or a Doctor Who item it’s allowed. And that’s fine in my book – Christmas trees should be tacky and over the top. I appreciate some folk can make theirs look beautiful and themed, but that’s not for me.

Line drawing of confused person at computer keyboardBut when it comes to online course design it’s a different story. There, although the temptation is still to cram all of the shiny, exiting things into one place, it’s important to take a step back and ask what you are trying to achieve. Sure, it might seem innovative to ask your learners to use Snapchat, or Tumblr, or whatever the cool kidz are using this week – but before you do, you have to ask yourself what benefit will this be to your learners. Or, to put it more formally – what is the pedagogical justification for using X in your learning design? If you don’t ask this, you risk confusing your learners, or having them drop out altogether.

As educators we have a responsibility towards our learners*, and means that we need to take the time to think through our course design and ensure that activities align well with whichever pedagogy underpins our teaching practice. So while it might seem cutting edge to design a virtual lecture theatre in Minecraft** and have all learners to attend virtual lectures, if one has a constructivist or connectivist model, then once you think about it, you might realise that there are better, less exciting, ways of delivering meaningful learning.

* I’m not talking here about cMOOCy things like rhizos and the like, but of formal, paid-for courses.

** Idk if this can be done, mind you!

First two images by me shared under a CC-BY-SA-NC licence

flickr photo by Guudmorning!  shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Posted in Online learning, Teaching, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Appreciative students

Posted on 15th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

White geranium I had a lovely chat with some of my students last week. It was a usual level 1 philosophy seminar and I’d put them into groups of 2-3 to go through some Rousseau quotes together and decide what to make of them. After about 25 minutes I said they could have a couple of minutes to wrap up and then we’d reconvene as a class.

One of them asked me about my PhD, and when I said it was on the importance of peer interaction to learning she told me that she thought it was a really interesting subject, and that she was realising that she learnt a lot more from her peers than from just reading or listening to a lecture. I agreed, and said that was why I’d got them working together.

She nodded and said she knew – and she appreciated it. It’s nice when a student appreciates you. 🙂

Flickr photo by me shared under a CC-BY-SA-NC

Posted in Learning, Philosophy, Teaching, University | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Feb 14th Rhizopoem

Posted on 14th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

Blue and yellow irisGinger’s a rhizome

An iris is too

Some irises are pink

But this one is blue

 

 

 

flickr photo by tanakawho shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license

Posted in Poetry, Rhizomes | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

When the student is ready …

Posted on 12th February 2016 by NomadWarMachine

There’s a saying that is (apparently) falsely attributed to Buddha, which says that:

Buddha Head with text When the student is ready the teacher appears

I was reminded of that during the latest #MoocMooc chat when Mark said that:

And Yishay replied to my tweet asking for clarification by saying that:

Quick as a flash, I replied with my version of this saying:

So what’s better? A teacher who waits in the wings till students need them, or one who “softly and silently vanishes away” when they are no longer needed? Or, rather, which is better when?

Flickr images by me under a CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0

Posted in #MoocMooc, Learning, Online learning, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments