The tools that best facilitate learning are those which provide audio presentation, visual presentation, and social networking. I especially enjoy video presentations. These learning tools, fit my needs kinesthetically. The presentation assists in integrating the material, and connecting to other entities. I feel as connectivisim allows me to chunk information into digestible bites, and reflect and critically think and make sense of the information presented. “Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.”
As an online learner, I support the central tenets of connectivism. I have always favored an online learning environment which is centralized around the connectivism principles “.These principles of connectivism include:- Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
- Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
- Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
- Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
- Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
- Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
- Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
- Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision. “
Connectivism definitely integrates a critical thinking piece, and in my graduate studies that is imperative to my studies. I am in a specialized node and make connections in that field. With the networks I create learning, connectivism is one in which I support.
References
Web Site: elearnspace: http://www.elearnspace.org/
This resource contains a blog, wiki, and discussion forum. (If you want to receive George Siemens’s weekly e-letter, you can sign up for it here.) Review the elearnspace Articles, elearnspace Blog, and EduTech Bloggers areas.
This resource contains a blog, wiki, and discussion forum. (If you want to receive George Siemens’s weekly e-letter, you can sign up for it here.) Review the elearnspace Articles, elearnspace Blog, and EduTech Bloggers areas.
