Connectivism

How my connections work...

While I am an instructor at 2 colleges it's interesting to note that I have connectivity with 3 different universities and environments just for educational information and email.  I spend a great deal of time on www.ted.com finding material that suits my lecture material for that week, so I often go there for inspiration and assistance.  The discussion boards I have active through Walden University and where I teach provide many different venues for communication with students in other classes.  The online library resources I have available through 3 different colleges are amazing and while overlap each other are great resources for my students as well as my research.  I'm not a big person on smart cell phones, as I used to enjoy that technology but found I was limiting my face to face conversations, so I have a un-smart phone that I use and while it's limiting in many uses I find my personal and professional relationships are easier to understand and manage.

• How has your network changed the way you learn? 

The process of learning is the creation of networks (Siemens, 2006) and those nodes that are our personal networks in which we learn.  My network from 10 years ago looks greatly different than the one I have now. While I consider myself a professional student, I do spend a great time on my dynamic networks through the 3 universities in which I am either a student or an instructor.  My local and dynamic networks change as new technology emerges, but stays consistent as I find the venues that seem to work for me and provide me with the learning material that I can rely on and find answers too rather quickly. 

• Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you? 

Online libraries are by far the best learning and available resource I have available, yet I do enjoy the discussion boards and what I learn from other students.  When it comes to facilitating learning, I enjoy new online tools that assist in my requirements and provide easier access and completion of my task. Such as the mindmap tool utilized for the above jpg.

• How do you learn new knowledge when you have questions?

It really depends on the type of new knowledge I am looking for. If this is information I need and are required to quote directly on, I will utilize the online libraries and databases and do a compilation of research and literature review to find the correct answer. However, on the flip side, I will do an internet search through www.bing.com and find reliable sources on information that I require.  There is great information to be gained through discussion boards and blogs such as this one for learning what works for other students. 

Reference:

Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing Knowledge. Copyright 2006 by George Siemens.

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The Rheingold Discussion

• Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia? 

Answer: We do, but as Rheinghold pointed out, sometimes to our own detriment, as we have seen in overgrazing, overpopulation problems and other issues such as sharing a water source with mass society.  HOWEVER, collective  improvements can have great forward thinking and intentions, as we have seen in blogging environments, community efforts to clean our shorelines and neighborhoods and more.  

• How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?   

Answer: In my opinion even Facebook/Twitter and other venues can collaborate great thinking and sharing between many different people that may not necessarily come together in a regular community.  While the online classroom is a great venue to collaborate thinking and share ideas, technology can also bring together many different classrooms to assist in massive communication and collaboration of ideas and problem solving.  We see this in many classrooms around the world, the world classroom is still something that needs to be utilized more to ensure our younger learners are learning more about cultures and other parts of their world.

• Find a current research study that has been conducted in the last 5 years that supports collaboration as an effective tool for learning. Include the link and reference for this study in your blog.

Link: While this is an initiative to incorporate collaboration on the family, school and community level, this is an excellent initiative that should be paid attention too. http://www.wholechildeducation.org/ This organization is supported by companies that support the arts, sciences and technological collaboration of our children's learning around the world. 

Answer: A study and paper was conducted by East, Fitzgerald and Manke about the implications and tensions of collaborative self study groups.  Interestingly the study was met with frustration and issues regarding interviewees not feeling like their study groups 'studied' anything.  Other interviewees regarded the self study as something that could not be collaborative but shared with others.  Perhaps the study should have been called another term to alleviate the self vs the collaborative group. 

Reference:

East, K., Fitzgerald, L., & Manke, M. P. (2010). Identifying Implications of Tensions in a Series of Collaborative Self-      Study Groups. Studying Teacher Education, 6(3), 281-290.

Cognitivism

GIGO... Garbage in ... garbage out...Are we like computers? Do we process information and retrieve it as needed?  

Kerr states "Cognitivism doesn’t explain 100% how humans process information and neither does Constructivism or Behaviorism" so how do we know how the brain operates and how we retrieve and utilize information?  We don't. Nor should we expect to educate others with the ability to understand the cognitive learning process. Yet, we can learn and utilize the research that has gone behind it to understand that some people do have everyday cognition and we have seen this often.  The person that performs poorly in test situations, yet understands thoroughly how to do the equations or problems when asked and demonstrates the skill. (Driscoll, 2005) 

Are the ism's define us as humans? Kapp states "constructivism, behaviourism, cognitivism and now a new one, connectivism"  define learning theory do separate us from computers.  So can we process information like computers or relatively turn out the same output of results?  Can we learn from previous tasks and collect information on new tasks relative to the old tasks? Yes, but cognition is 'socially defined, interpreted and supported' (Driscoll, 2005) but not totally understood to develop those skills entirely.  

References:

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.).Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log post]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved fromhttp://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

Introduction

1. What are your beliefs about how people learn best? What is the purpose of learning theory in educational technology?

Throughout my educational career, I have felt an open classroom environment where students can speak on their comments, thoughts, ideas, inspirations without reservation is ideal.  This type of environment works very well in a collegiate environment with adults.  Since the world is actively changing, my classroom is in effect in a constant state of change.  We speak about current events on how they relate to the topic we are covering, as well as how times have changed throughout the past 50 years.  Since this term I am teaching two Communications classes we speak about how communications and styles have changed throughout the past 50 years.  I have students (especially my teenagers) watch a few episodes of Mad Men to note the dramatic changes that have taken place. Not just in technology, which is commonly the theme, but in styles of how women and men interacted with each other and the roles they had. It really opens up some amazing conversations and I sit in the middle of the classroom and engage each and every student in these discussions. Always, I bring the conversation to terms they are learning in the chapter and constantly compare terms to scenarios they will remember from their favorite TV shows or movies.  When it comes to the test, they remember and effectively learn their material based on these conversations.

By utilizing respondent behavior by eliciting an involuntary reaction to the stimulus (Driscoll, 2005) of the students recalling the material that coincides with a specific memory enhances their learning. I've measured the success of the students learning by lecture and memorizing terms versus this type of learning and have found great success in my learning by association methods.    

The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is finding the best way people learn while keeping them interested in new technologies and up to date on those educational methods that will assist in their learning. 

Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. (3 ed.). Allyn & Bacon