Wow! Nate’s blog has once again made me scratch my head as I ponder what he is truly wanting to know.  (I am prepared to know that I didn’t get close to what he is looking for with his post.)  I would say that the main difference between the learner and teacher toolbox is knowledge.  There are strategies that I know or items to use with my lessons that I have at my disposal that the learners (my students) would not necessarily need to know.  However, having more education, I, the teacher, know more than the learners about my respective areas.  It is my job to teach them the information that I know, but not necessarily all of it.  Of course this isn’t to say that I am simply a teacher, but also a learner.  I am sure that there are many things that Nate knows that I will never know (or understand).   

As far as what a learner needs that a teacher may not would be time to grasp the content.  Then again, a teacher would need the time to make sure that the learner learned it.   

In order to take advantage of either toolbox, both groups (learners and teachers) must have access to the boxes.  If both are willing to share the tools, then both will become learners as well as teachers.  Tools could be as simple as pencil and paper or as complex as some technology.  Computers, blogs, IM, email, social networking sites, wikis, etc., could be in both toolboxes but could have limited use due to the lack of understanding by both groups.  One group (learners) have taught me more about SNSs, text messaging, and IM than I have learned on my own.  However, most of my students don’t know what blogs or wikis are or how to use them. 

I view this toolbox theory as two-fold for everyone.  What I have in my toolbox as a teacher is shared (not all items) with my learners, just as they share their tools with me.