Years ago I heard about something called a "fishbowl," an educational opportunity that worked like this: A small group of people who knew a lot about a topic--the swimming fish, I guess--sat in a small circle in a large room. The rest--now maybe they would call us "lurking" fish--sat in a larger circle around them and listened while they talked. A couple of times lurkers were given an opportunity to ask the swimmers questions.
An electronic list is an online fishbowl, with some differences from the real-time, in-person version. In the online fishbowl anyone can be a swimmer or a lurker. Some days I'm a swimmer, some days a lurker. And, just as in the original fishbowl, the swimming fish usually learn as much as the lurkers. ("Lurking" is a positive term for me, a good way to learn, a kind of online "situated learning" or cognitive apprenticeship.) An electronic list, however, is a 24-hour-a-day, year-round fishbowl: The topic changes; fish swim to the center, then swim back to lurk, then swim back in, as they like; many just lurk; fish come and go for various reasons; from time to time a fishbowl moderator might step in to swirl the water, or add a little food for thought.
Conversation in the electronic fishbowl--sometimes impassioned--changes all the time; an attentive, engaged lurker gets to see many different points of view. For example, on the National Literacy Advocacy (NLA) list, over time one can see flits and flashes of points of view, and sometimes, they go deep. One gets to see how other schools of fish think, as well as his or her own: teachers, local-, state-, and national-level administrators, adult learners, program graduates, researchers, policy makers, undergraduate and graduate students, librarians, union organizers, staff development people, and others; people who work in community-based and other not-for-profit organizations, public school systems, libraries, corrections institutions, two-year and four-year colleges, local, state and federal agencies, companies, unions, and homeless shelters; people whose first languages, cultures and nationalities are diverse--all these and others will be found in NLA discussions.
The electronic fishbowl offers an opportunity to all who want to know what our field is thinking. It gives us a chance to explore changing or affirming our point of view. It allows many--and differing--voices to be heard.
Here are some thoughts about how to use electronic fishbowls:
• Join as many electronic lists as you can (one or two for most people). A short, regularly updated list of adult literacy education (including ESOL) electronic lists is available online at: [http://www2.wgbh.org/mbcweis/ltc/alri/LiteracyList.html].
• If you are a college student, join an adult literacy electronic list and write about the conversation there over a semester for college credit. (I wonder if this is already happening.)
• If you are a teacher or student, print out whole threads of discussion (messages on the same topic) and take them into the classroom for discussion. Some discussions might be of interest to learners in adult literacy education as well as higher education.
• If there is a discussion of special interest to you, print it out, make copies and carry them around to give to colleagues. Be sure to include what electronic list it was from and instructions on how to subscribe.
• Search the archives of these lists (many adult literacy lists are archived under "listservs/forums" at http://novel.nifl.gov), synthesize a conversation of interest, and write an article about it for a newsletter or journal. Be sure to include citations, quotes, and references; and it's polite to inform people who are being quoted.
The online fishbowl is a new medium, and its potential is only beginning to be explored. I think it offers an opportunity for all in our field--including part-time teachers and others who may not be able to participate in other kinds of staff development--a wonderful opportunity to sit at the table, especially as it is now possible to participate at no cost other than one's time.
Because electronic lists are text-based, all one needs is a computer and monitor--almost any computer, even the 286's that are sitting at curbsides and in trashbins across the United States, will work fine; a telephone line; and a modem (including the throwaway 1200 baud or 2400 baud modems sitting next to those curbside 286's.) A printer is a nice addition, if you have one. For those who don't have an Internet Service Provider or access to a LAN, it is possible to get free email (with advertising) from a company called Juno (www.juno.com). So, for most people, perhaps with help from a tech friend, Internet access can now be put together free or for very little cost.
David Rosen is Director of the A.L.R.I.