A story about a fish shop & virtual learning

There are many shops to buy fish from in a wet market but there is one that always has a long queue of people waiting. I have always thought to myself, why do people wait in a queue at this shop when there are many other shops selling an equally good product?

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This picture is of the fish shop I mention in the blog[/caption]

My curiosity eventually led me to stand in the queue one day and observe.

The first thing I noticed is that people are not frustrated whilst waiting in the queue. They are having a conversation with each other and giving each other advice on how to cook or clean a certain fish.

The knowledge shared was not the kind of knowledge you expect to get. It was knowledge that you can't google because you won't know what to put in the search.

The reason people stand in a queue is not to just to buy fish but to connect with other people who have the same interest as them. It is a passionate community of fish eaters who gain knowledge from each other via shoptalk.

Now think, what is that non obvious you can create in a virtual learning setting that makes people want to be in that environment, which like a queue, is not a preferred setting for learning for now.

We make a choice to go to a place because it brings value to us in ways more than obvious.