Abstract
An information ecology, in the words of MIT Press, is “a system of people,
technologies and values in a local environment” (2000:[online]). This inquiry uses the
elements of the information ecology – the interdependent system, its wealth of
diversity, the co-evolutionary nature of the relationships within the environment, the
leadership of keystone species, and the relationships and technology within its
locality – to provide a framework within which to reflect on my learning as a
postgraduate student at the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of
Johannesburg).
Situated in a postmodern philosophical perspective and informed by constructivism,
deconstructionism and critical theory, the phenomenological inquiry uses John
Dewey’s model of reflective thought (1933) to examine the reasons for the disparity in
the transfer of their new expertise by students who have participated in postgraduate
programmes at the University, and to determine the principle factor that led to my
incorporating such new skills into my own teaching practice. Evidence of this transfer
of skills is presented in the description of an action research intervention that I
designed and implemented in teaching basic computer skills to a group of ACE
students in 2004.
Mr. G.V. Lautenbach