Learnstreaming

"The way we describe something can affect the way we perceive it and way we perceive it can affect the way we use it." —Whorf, Korzybski, Thaler, Ross

The Internet is rapidly evolving from pages (web pages, static, one way) to streams (conversation, real-time, two way), bringing with it changes in the ways we learn and share our learning. "Learnstreaming" can help you (and others) make sense of your online learning experience by publishing your learning activities online for the benefit of you and others. Keep in mind learnstreaming requires that you have a learnstream. This article offers an overview of learnstreaming and ways new tools and technologies can support it.

Learnstreams Have a Time and Knowledge Axis

Time is represented across the horizontal axis ranging from the present moment to the past. Depth of knowledge or information is represented along the vertical axis and has two layers:

• Flows are near the top of the stream and are always moving and changing. Information in this section is timely and has context. It contains items that are closer to the present than the past (e.g., conversation, micro blogging, sharing).
• Stocks are near the bottom of the stream and are more stable. This is where you store information that is organized and can be retrieved as needed (e.g., articles, wikis, books).

Now that we've seen the structure, let's look at how learnstreams are fed and how they connect to other learnstreams.

Learnstreams Connect to the Learnscape

Jay Cross's concept of the learnscape fits perfectly with learnstreaming. A learnscape is a learning ecosystem, which is a community of connected people learning and working together. We connect in the learnscape using our learnstreams. Harold Jarche says that "learnstreams are the water that allows learnscapes to grow."

Learnstreams Have Three Major Actions

Listening. This is the input into the learnstream where we listen to the learnscape. We listen through multiple sources and have control over some of the content entering our stream. Content is either filtered or unfiltered:

• Filtered - content entering your stream where you have defined some criteria for entry: RSS type (e.g., Google Reader); alerts (e.g., Google Alerts); social streams (e.g., Twitter, Facebook); or offline (e.g., Person to Person, books, TV).
• Unfiltered - content entering your stream where you have less control and choice of entry (e.g., e-mail, voice mail)

Thinking. This is how we purify the information entering the learnstream. We process, refine and create content by applying thinking processes (e.g., critical and creative thinking) to existing content or we create new content.

Speaking. This is how we output into the learnscape and is based on many factors including:

• Responses to conversations, blog posts, social streams
• Releasing new content (e.g., blog posts, white papers, video, audio)

Tools for Learnstreaming

Learnstreaming is not about the tools, but we need tools in order to participate within the learnscape. Most of the tools require a username. If you're just getting started, you may want to check your preferred user name for multiple tools or services at once using either namechk or knowem.

Here is a list of basic tools to help get your learnstream flowing:

If you already have the basic tools and are looking for more, see the tools below. For a comprehensive list of tools, see Jane Hart's Directory of Learning Tools.

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