Whoops! Totally neglected to connect my comment(s) to your notion of ‘getting by’. I believe that the sense you get as a teacher (and I know I feel as a student) that students are ‘getting by’ is a combination of not feeling free (safe) to explore the deep learning opportunities that may exist and not having the time/space to do so.
If asked correctly (and I have on an informal basis) most students I have talked to neither know how to create a safe space for learning themselves, nor know how to ask for it from their teachers/professors. They seem reduced to ‘getting by’ – following the rules, adhereing to procedures, finding ways to fit in (complete assignments, pass a test, write a paper) to survive from class to class and to achieve their prize at the end: a degree.
It sounds cynical as I write it, but I actually think there is great opportunity in developing collaborative learning environments that are focused on student success.
Like I said, more later …

I only have a few minutes right now, but I’m going to ponder this for a while and respond more thoroughly. I just commented on Bethany W.’s comment on Zach’s Gould’s post from last week about Networked Learning (Bumper to Bumper Learning) where I pose some of my own existential questions about teaching and learning. So, I get where you’re coming from.
I think that the value of ‘safety’ that one feels in a community of learning cannot be underestimated or left out of the equation of creating open forums and collaborative learning environments. I think also that there is tremendous competitiveness inherent our culture in the US (maybe worldwide), and while we may consider the education world as being free of much, I would argue (later) that the inherent-ness of its general existence makes it virtually impossible to have none in an educational setting unless it is **intentionally** addressed.
Harkening to my experience teaching in elementary school, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and was introduced to two philosophies (via books) that helped me understand the breadth and depth of the competition children face, and how to set the tone for a safe learning space where exploration, mistakes and collaboration are valued. I was far from perfect at implementing such a philosophy, but the parts I tried and got right were phenomenally successful.
The books are:
Denton, P., & Kriete, R. (2000). The First Six Weeks of School. Strategies for Teachers Series. Northeast Foundation for Children, 71 Montague City Road, Greenfield, MA, 01301. <– there may be a .pdf version available

Wong, H. K., Wong, R. T., & Seroyer, C. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.

** ** = emphasis added.

I thoroughly agree, Bethany. There used to be ‘informal’ (some describe them as unethical) networks here at VT that used to share class notes, quizzes and tests to study/learn from. They were far from perfect and often had a negative perception, so they were often considered an ‘underground’ resource. They were called Koofer files. When I used them, I found them to be a rich and rewarding way to supplement the materials that were provided in class. I never had the ‘luck’ of taking a test/quiz that was a duplicate of one I studied from but just having additional exposure to the material in a slightly different way was instructive.
When I became a teacher, I recalled how valuable the files and connections were and tried to find ways for students to share their notes and ideas with each other so that they could learn from and with one another. Lots of students loved the opportunity, others had no interest in collaborating. It may have had something to do with my amateur approach, but most kids needed to be routinely assured that it wasn’t a ‘bad’ thing to share, talk and teach one another. They also had to overcome their possessiveness and, with my fourth graders in particular, a Lord of the Flies (competitive) mentality: only the strongest survive, and allowing others to become stronger may make them competitors.
Thinking about collaborative learning keeps me up at night. How can we develop a deep sense of community early in a child’s/young person’s life – especially when their parents (and teachers) have lived in cultures of embedded competition, and that devalue those relationships and the benefits that result? (1) How do we create spaces (and time) where students can learn from one another – particularly in terms of perspective and interpretation to create deeper, more rewarding learning experiences. (2) What is needed to allow the adults (in charge) the opportunity to see/experience deep and meaningful – and sometimes unsuccessful – collaboration in order to understand the benefits of such experiences (including the unsuccessful ones)? How can those experiences be structured to result in personal implementation?
It seems to me that something like Massive Multi-Player Thumb Wrestling may be a way to start.

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(1) I believe that if we start early we can change culture from within: if children grow up understanding something inherently, they are much more inclined to use it (and re-shape it) throughout their lives. The use of seatbelts in cars [by people] is an example of the type of early learning that results in a cultural change. Legend has it that early efforts to get adults to use them were fruitless, so the focus turned to educating children in why and how to use them, and within 10 years seatbelt use had risen dramatically. (I have no citation for this at the moment …)
(2) Two relatively new pedagogies appear extremely promising to me: gamification (as we began to discuss in class on Wednesday) and Flipping a Classroom, which I did a brief post on and may return to after reading for next week: https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/kgculbertson/a-quick-note-on-flipping-a-classroom/)

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