Thoughts on a Learning Space
I went to the grocery store Tuesday. It's a small Safeway, just a neighborhood store with the usual assortment of "stuff." What kinds of learning does and/or could go on here?
biology/agriculture
everyday math
geography/mapping
health/nutrition
Stumbling blocks seem to me to be an obvious place to look for possible learning opportunities... and there are plenty at the store. How to find a particular product? How to compare its price to similar items? How to figure out what to make for dinner? How to figure out what the total bill is? How to reach items on the top shelf? (OK, I'm not sure if the last is a learning opportunity, but it can be a problem!)
And there is so much more that could be worth knowing at the store. We spend time looking for items, making decisions, waiting in line, going back for things we forgot. Can we use that time better? Can we make connections with people, learn new things, know how our community fits in the bigger picture?
It would be interesting to play with different ways to provide learning prompts. A booklet at the checkstand? Posters hanging from the ceiling? Audio messages over the PA system? "Ask me about..." buttons on employees? Info cards attached to shelves? Directory signs at the entrance? (Of course, they might not want to let you know how to find things quickly, since you might buy less.)
Agnes - I've never really thought of the actual supermarket as a place to learn, perhaps the food markings themselves. But what a great way to help people learn nutritional facts that may or may not have been taught back in middle school! I like the different ideas that you give. This makes me think of automotive stores (I went to one twice in two weeks!) where they now have electronic manuals to find the right wiper for you car. What about electronic manuals on finding a nutritious recipe to go with that broccoli? Or perhaps, comparisons of nutritional value in the products on that particular shelf? I'd love it!
Dan Gilbert: Nice opportunity and great suggestions from both of you. It seems like it would be in the interest of the supermarket to have shoppers know more about certain things, as in, higher margin organic items - and less about other things, as in, meat production processes. So who are some of the players that could deliver content? Obviously individual vendors (i.e. Frito-Lay), Safeway, would have to be involved in a physical learning space. What about some kind of quick fact checker that you could get from dialing a number on your cell phone as you went in the store?
Also, it strikes me that just outside a supermarket is also a place for learning. Its often a pace where organizatins or individuals are asking from money for one reason or another. Lots of learning giong on there as well as lots of personal choices about how to respond.
Gazi : I like a lot this idea especially the biology-agriculture and geography-mapping because connect us with some aspects of the land based cultures where people was aware about the cycles of their food. Powerful idea and easy to implement.
Deb Kim: Very nice observation/reflection and space. There are certainly tons of learning opportunities within a supermarket and when I worked with the special education program at Berkeley High School a grocery store and a number of community institutions were exactly what was used as learning spaces - basically taking the Lave an Wenger and Michalchik and Bransford and Schwartz perspectives on learning - it is in and of itself important as learning spaces to learn how to learn in existing spaces like the grocery store. And a lot of after school informal learning environment will use places like the grocery store to teach and do we as parents with our children. Thanks for sharing.
Detavio Samuels Excellent choice for a learning space Karin. I appreciate how you were able to think outside of the box on this one. I do submit to the belief that learning spaces are everywhere and want to do something different (just like this) for my Project I. Thanks for taking the lead and reflecting on a non-traditional learning space. Your ideas are great and I believe that I could have a great time implementing some of your ideas and creating new ones.