I’ve been involved in a few LW learning cooperation efforts, and it’s been my experience that they rarely lead to anything. These have mostly taken the form “hey, we’re all learning [subject]! Let’s make a discussion group and discuss it”, and very little discussion actually takes place.
I’d be keen to hear if anyone has the opposite experience, and what form their cooperation took.
My experience of the Study Hall was extremely positive, but I wasn’t really counting it as a cooperative learning effort since the participants are generally working on diverse areas rather than discussing a common subject.
This seems to be the nature of internet groups in general… most people just don’t have the ability to commit to something for long term with no external incentives and weak social ties. I’ve tried numerous colearning, masterminds, etc. and it’s always a struggle.
Even my coaching clients who I give twenty bucks to every time they make a meeting often take 2-3 MONTHS before they can start to do this with anything resembling consistetency.
That being said, here’s what I’ve found helps:
Text reminders 15 minutes before every meeting to every person who should show up.
Create carrots and sticks using beeminder, habitrpg, or lift as a group.
Ping participants through facebook or text one or two times throughout the week with something interesting related to the topic of the group to keep the group top of mind.
Create real life bonds otuside of the “let’s talk about what we learned” dynamic.
Perhaps a solution could be to create stronger social ties; video chat? Could be good for asking each other for help and maybe progress reports for accountability and positive reinforcement.
I’ve been involved in a few LW learning cooperation efforts, and it’s been my experience that they rarely lead to anything. These have mostly taken the form “hey, we’re all learning [subject]! Let’s make a discussion group and discuss it”, and very little discussion actually takes place.
I’d be keen to hear if anyone has the opposite experience, and what form their cooperation took.
One big example of a successful study project is the LessWrong Study Hall, which is still active 1.5 years after it was started.
My experience of the Study Hall was extremely positive, but I wasn’t really counting it as a cooperative learning effort since the participants are generally working on diverse areas rather than discussing a common subject.
This seems to be the nature of internet groups in general… most people just don’t have the ability to commit to something for long term with no external incentives and weak social ties. I’ve tried numerous colearning, masterminds, etc. and it’s always a struggle.
Even my coaching clients who I give twenty bucks to every time they make a meeting often take 2-3 MONTHS before they can start to do this with anything resembling consistetency.
That being said, here’s what I’ve found helps:
Text reminders 15 minutes before every meeting to every person who should show up.
Create carrots and sticks using beeminder, habitrpg, or lift as a group.
Ping participants through facebook or text one or two times throughout the week with something interesting related to the topic of the group to keep the group top of mind.
Create real life bonds otuside of the “let’s talk about what we learned” dynamic.
Perhaps a solution could be to create stronger social ties; video chat? Could be good for asking each other for help and maybe progress reports for accountability and positive reinforcement.