![](\"https:\/\/2fdltvvn8wp2rn64ywgk8o17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/homebrew-beer.jpg\")
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Abundant digital content is changing the way we learn. \u00a0In the past, a homeowner couldn\u2019t simply decide they were going to wire their own garage without spending considerable time identifying learning resources. \u00a0That meant acquiring or accessing books, and if possible, chatting with local tradesmen to get secrets on how to complete the task.\u00a0 Now, with the resources available online for free, including video tutorials, relevant parts of the local code, and how-to guides, anyone who\u2019s willing can feasibly do some basic wiring. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This week, we (Adam and Stuart) decided to look into brewing our own IPA at home. \u00a0This is a task neither of us was too familiar with, but we both have an interest in doing it in the near future. \u00a0The search began on Google, and it became apparent almost immediately that there was an abundance of knowledge available. \u00a0From excellent free resources from companies selling kits, blogs from hobbyists, to paid subscription magazines, brewing your own beer has grown as a hobby in North America steadily over the past decade. <\/span><\/p>\n Through quick searching, we were able to find a free online resource for the entire process of brewing beer (<\/span>http:\/\/www.howtobrew.com\/<\/span><\/a>), videos instructing home brewers on the process (<\/span>https:\/\/brooklynbrewshop.com\/pages\/instructions<\/span><\/a>), a list of IPA recipes (<\/span>https:\/\/byo.com\/india-pale-ale<\/span><\/a>), and countless other resources to guide along the process. \u00a0After reading through these resources, both of us feel comfortable venturing out to attempt our own home brew.<\/span><\/p>\n The ability to access this information and use it isn\u2019t ubiquitous between all participants. \u00a0There are certain aspects that made this research illuminating to us. \u00a0The learner\u2019s degree of digital literacy, ability to distinguish reliable resources, as well as the extent to which they actively discuss, seek clarification and later share within the greater brewing network all play a part in the learning effectiveness. \u00a0The importance of sharing the outcomes of the experience cannot be understated. \u00a0The wealth of information we discovered in our search relies on user contribution to the overall community of inquiry, as learners can then contribute to the teaching of others. <\/span><\/p>\n As an instructor who would consider teaching this, there are multiple ways to leverage the content available in a classroom environment. \u00a0One constructivist strategy would be to set a structure of the steps to brew beer, and have the students research their assigned step and present their findings to the broader audience. \u00a0This would allow the learners to explore the resources available and teach others about what they determined to be the best method. \u00a0Adding in a lab component where students can practice the skills they were asked to learn, as well as to put what others taught them into practice would reinforce this learning. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many view abundance of digital information as a disruptive technology that could drastically change the way institutions exist. \u00a0However, society does not recognize the expertise or qualifications of a person who claims to have researched and developed certain skills through digital self-learning. \u00a0A contractor would not hire plumbers who didn\u2019t have their journeyman ticket, and a business wouldn\u2019t hire accountants without appropriate designations. \u00a0The barrier to abundant learning resources truly changing the face of education is essentially in the trust the public places in institutions to validate a specific competency level. \u00a0DIY experts simply don\u2019t have this option of validation in the current model, but as stated above for things like making a tasty IPA, the best avenues for learning are no longer found in books or traditional classrooms. \u00a0Instead, they are found in supportive online communities.\u00a0 If you were to search for the head brewmasters at many rising and successful breweries, you may find that many of them developed the skills needed to do their jobs within the online \u2018classroom\u2019, not after paying an \u2018expert\u2019 to teach them with books in a room. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam Romano and Stuart Reed<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image taken from:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/2fdltvvn8wp2rn64ywgk8o17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/homebrew-beer.jpg<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Abundant digital content is changing the way we learn. \u00a0In the past, a homeowner couldn\u2019t simply decide they were going to wire their own garage without spending considerable time identifying learning resources. \u00a0That meant acquiring or accessing books, and if… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[42,38,40,21,41],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523","tag-abundance","tag-constructivism","tag-ipa","tag-rrumalat","tag-tastybrew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}