Learning communities

I was at The Fresh Expressions Discipleship roundtable yesterday. There were some interesting ideas and thoughts, and a lot was centred on web based learning. There have been a couple of sites launched recently that have developed online discipleship programmes such as Foundations21.

I started think about two things, firstly how I learn online. My online learning doesn't involve going to one website, but involves about 20 or 30 blogs that come directly to my computer through an RSS feed. Therefore i construct my only learning community, there are some sites that i give more credibility to than others and some that I know i'll disagree with - but the point is that there is not one site, one point of view but a diversity of opinions and through this my online learning happens.

My other thought was that perhaps our discipleship has got to focused on the rights of the individual rather than creating a just society...i think that the individualistic turn in contemporary culture has meant that discipleship has become more and more individualistic. It's about getting my relationship right with God, my learning, my faith, etc. and then from that we hope to have a impact on society and make it more and more just. I think that discipleship should, perhaps, be focused on creating a just society first, and then from that the personal individual disciple grows.

Technorati Tags: Discipleship, Fresh Expressions, Just Society

Comments

[Paul Walker]

Thanks for that Ben. It suddenly clicked into place for me that there is unlikely to ever be a 'one-size fits all' website anymore - and that we're going to be creating our own tailored 'learning communities' from blogs, web sites, forums etc.

I suppose, like many people, I've been doing that for ages - without even realising. Thanks for that particular piece of the jigsaw!

[Olive Fleming Drane]

Interesting! I'm wondering how what I've heard on the news today connects? Prisoners declaring their human rights contravened because they are deprived of hard drugs! Actually sueing? Settlement apparently taken place out of court. Judge asking waht about alcoholics deprived of alcohol etc.? How do we discern the balance between individual rights and corporate responsibility and where does accountability rest?
Olive