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Mutual learning: a systemic increase in learning efficiency to prepare for the challenges of the twenty-first century

  • 25th Anniversary Volume A Faustian Exchange: What is to be human in the era of Ubiquitous Technology?
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Abstract

One of the few certainties we have about our collective future is that it will require a massive amount of learning, by just about everybody, everywhere. The time for generating as many creative and collaborative knowledge builders has come. Therefore, improving the efficiency of learning could very well become a key leverage point for successfully meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. This paper explores the possibilities of using mutual learning as a systemic means to improve learning efficiencies. This is measured through three different metrics: (1) the time required to learn, (2) the quantity of learning that is retained over time, and (3) the leveraging of the cost of scholarships through the use of a complementary currency designed to track and encourage mutual learning. In all three metrics, mutual learning is shown as an important approach to increase the effectiveness of learning and, at the very least, can be an adjunct to the conventional educational methods. Mutual learning could apply not only to learning among peers, but also to social, intergenerational, or intercultural mutual learning.

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Notes

  1. A “complementary currency is” “an agreement within a community to accept something else than legal tender as a means of payment” (Lietaer 2004, 3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches Education Formation, Université Paris 10, Paris, France

    Bernard Blandin

  2. Centre d’Etudes Supérieures Industrielles, Paris, 28, rue de l’Ecole de droit, 34000, Montpellier, France

    Bernard Blandin

  3. Center for Sustainable Resources of the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Bernard Lietaer

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  1. Bernard Blandin
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  2. Bernard Lietaer
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Correspondence to Bernard Blandin.

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Blandin, B., Lietaer, B. Mutual learning: a systemic increase in learning efficiency to prepare for the challenges of the twenty-first century. AI & Soc 28, 329–338 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-012-0427-x

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