Cristina Costa

Throughout the years I have been lucky enough to have met the most extraordinary thinkers in education.

Here are some of the lessons learnt with a little help of  my (virtual) Mentors:

Antonio Dias de Figueiredo: Effective learning is much more dependent on the context we are able to establish and involve learners in rather than on the content we are able to provide. From the context the content can be constructed.

Barbara Dieu: The web is not to be treated as a book. The live web has a role to play into teaching and (lifelong) learning. More and more is up to the individual to look for opportunities to go on his/her professional development.  The web suits this purpose. It is an efficient means of communication and interaction.

Etienne Wenger: We join a community with a purpose; we remain in that community for other reasons. We evolve with the community as our ideas mature. The (learning) relationships which keep us bonded to the CoP change over time. Throughout the communal experience we learn and contribute to others’ learning process.

Fernando Costa – It is the learning that matters; the technologies might give a helping hand in the process when efficiently used!

Graham Attwell: There is a urgent need of de-schooling. Most of the learning happens informally. It is part of the human nature to learn while socializing. The industrial classroom is still getting in the the way. PLEs might be an answer to the 21st Century learning needs. Apprenticeship  can have a role to play in the 21st century. It is back to practical learning. LT might help make in the process.

Mom: Be true to yourself; the rest will come by itself.

Randy Pausch (Although I didn’t manage to meet him personally, following his work, made me feel as if I knew him) -  The brick walls are there for a reason; dreams do come true [provided you believe in them and work hard to achieve them]; questions are more important than the answers.

Many, many others …