1. Crowd-Reflecting: A Counterproductive Experience of Arab Adult Learning via Technology
- Author
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Al Lily, Abdulrahman Essa, Alhazmi, Ahmed Ali, Alsubaie, Merfat Ayesh, Alzahrani, Saleh, Bukhamseen, Amani Mohamm, Aldoughan, Eman Abdulaziz, Almudhafar, Fuad Ahm, Maher, Eman Ahm, Al-Abdullatif, Ahlam Mohamm, Kotb, Ahmed Abdel ham, Amira, Mostafa Samy, Al Khateeb, Ebrahem Abdullah, Alshehri, Layla Abdulrahman, Aldoomi, Raed Ali Bani, Al Dafar, Awatef Abdulaziz, Alarfaj, Maher Mohamm, Alholiby, Mossab Saud, Mahgoub, Yassir Mohamm, Boreqqah, Abeer Abdulmohsen, Ali, Asma Margeni, Al-Sababha, Khairi Mahmoud, Al Youssef, Ibrahim Youssef, Abouzaid, Enam Mohamm, Ali, Hasnaa Hamdy, Batal, Ahmed Elsayed Moham, Alhassan, Omer Musa, Ibrahim Atta, Ibrahim, Alqatam, Mohammed Ahm, Al-Aqtash, Ala'a Yahya, Alshoura, Mohammad Ahmad, Selim, Hossam Saad, Abdelrahman, Mohmed Abdelmoneim, Bahrawi, Atef Abdalla, Alarfaj, Abdulhamid Abdullah, Aladsani, Abdullah Mohamm, Almaiah, Mohammed Amin, Ata, Sobhi Noureldin, Hamad, Nahid Hassan, Hamad, Awatif Mahmoud, Elsherif, Khaled Hassan, Ahmed, Mohammed Keshar, El-Zeki, Ahmed Abdelfattah, Elrefee, Enas Mahmoud, Ali, Abeer Farouk, Melhem, Tareq Yousef, Alsaeed, Maha Saad, Hegazy, Ahmed Zakaria, Alhuwaiji, Khalel Ibrahim, Ahmed, Hatem Tawfik, Alboray, Hanem Mostafa, Hassan, Marwa Moham, Alnoer, Lubna Noaman, Elmorsy, Ghada Nasr Huisen, and El Koshiry, Amr Moham
- Abstract
This piece theorises the limitations of transitioning reflection from individualistic to participatory practice. It addresses the question: what are the challenges of introducing crowd-reflecting into Arab academia? To answer this question, 140 Arabs from an academic organisation were invited to crowd-reflect, online, on their institution, using a five-phase model. The data analysis showed that limited cultures of collaboration, healthy conflict, cross-gender communication, integrity and critical thinking in Arab academia challenged crowd-reflecting. Despite implementing strategies to overcome these challenges, crowd-reflecting resulted in chaos at the institution, forcing management to intervene to stop the project. This chaos ensued because crowd-reflecting, unlike individualistic reflection, entailed numerous individuals and intersubjectivity -- which complicated reflectiveness, turned thoughtful Arab individuals into a mob and jeopardised the well-documented gains of individualistic reflection. Although crowd-reflecting was initiated to improve organisations, it destabilised the institution and turned it into a counter-learning organisation. This implies that, in Arab academia, beyond micro-level small groups, the more participants there are in reflection, the less effective the learning outcomes may be. In Arab academia, meso-level reflection (and, by implication, macro-level reflection such as the mega-reflecting of the Twittersphere) can risk ruining the art of reflectiveness.
- Published
- 2021
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