(Click on the Mindmap for a link to the Website for a better view.)What an amazing exercise! Everything, everyone is connected. As the connectivists suggest, finding patterns among all the the various relationships is a rather daunting task, but the endeavor reveals depths of associations never before realized. One does not merely communicate with another, one communicates with networks and networks communicate with one. This holds powerful implications about the way we now learn. It indicates that how we learn is affecting what we learn and who or what we learn it from. Learning no longer follows a linear path; it is decreasingly a top down, directed activity (Siemens, 2004). Instead learning is multi-directional, with unexpected turns, discoveries, and associations around every twist in the road.
Among the myriad of digital tools at our disposal, the Internet, e-mail, and the phone remain unsurpassed in connectivity importance. Not too long ago the teacher, the dictionary, the encyclopedia, the pencil and paper, and the text would have topped my list of valuable education tools. These would have been the center of inquiry. But now, it is a little disconcerting to ponder, but the 'middle man' in education seems to be me. I am at the center of my own learning. Inquiry resides in me; discovery resides in the Internet; and support resides in my network connections.
The following site is a blog dedicated to connectivism. It is extensive and well-commented upon.
http://www.connectivism.ca/
You may want to see Stephen Downes blog on Connectivism. Very conversational and not too wordy. In addition to his own comments, he provides links to George Siemens.
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?journal=Connectivism%20Blog
Reference:
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Anne!
ReplyDeleteI like how you laid out your mindmap with the three main aspects followed by all your other connections. How true that many of our connections will overlap with other aspects of our life.
The more I read about Siemen's theory of connectivism I have to agree with many aspects of this theory. I think this theory is for a higher order of thought and a higher level of learning. Anne I think you hit one of the main aspects of this theory and just learning in general - we are the center of our own learning and inquiry resides in everyone, however, not everyone knows what is calling :)
Sarah
One think that struck a major chord as I designed my network connections is that it is not a one-way dialogue; information doesn't just flow away from me, it also flows back through many of the channels. When I started making the arrows pointing away from me, I realized that they also should flow toward me resulting in a chaotic-appearing chart. As I look back at the mindmap I continue to see how many I missed. Discovering patterns in the chaos is, indeed, a connectivity challenge.
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