In considering the concept of groups, networks and collectives a bit further the thought occurred to me that project work is an instance when a group model would or could be more appropriate than a network one.
In the case of my current project regarding SecondLife for example, we have been tasked with exploring and assessing the educational uses and applications of the virtual world.  That in and of itself is a fairly broad topic, however when factoring in additional requirements and conditions of the project, the nature of our task …

Network Homogeneity versus Heterogeneity
One of the things I’m beginning to love about the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course is the notion that I’m constantly being brought to either argue/support or re-examine my views, positions, and opinions.  Herein is one of the key values of diversity in a network.
To a fair degree Network Homogeneity does not inspire rapid innovation or alterations of perspective.  By nature, if everyone in a network sees things the same way; has the same experience base and perspectives on a given subjectmatter; and indeed agrees on everything …

Consider this a brain dump of a post.  I don’t know exactly where I’m going to go with it; I only know I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to carve out time to write this week and want to get my thoughts down.  In all likelihood I’ll expand on elements of this later.
In the context of the discussions on groups and networks I have had several epiphanies I’d like to explore regarding my personal experiences interacting in these entities/structures.  This can be succinctly summarised by saying, in my experience groups are like …

[NOTE: I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this; I just need to work something through mentally and this is as good a place as any to do it.]
Plan to throw one away. You will anyhow.
There’s a saying in the FOSS world that is something to the effect of “plan to throw one away. you will anyhow”. I believe this concept was originally proposed in Eric Raymond’s “The Cathedral and The Bazaar”, which discussed the devolved nature of open source development and has since became a hallmark piece …