Connectivism

Describing the current view of education as opposed to 50 years ago George Siemens says, “Today I would say education is complex, and complexity is like a weather system, lots of multiple impacting factors. We suspect it will be like this tomorrow, but if this storm system comes up from over here or this factor changes over there, it will be completely different. That's education today, and that's the dimension that I'm trying to address with connectivism is that nature of abundant information, of primary use of technology, the increasingly complex systemic-based environments that we face today.“ (Laureate Education, 2009, p. 6) Learning then comes at the intersection of one’s personal and professional networks and systems facilitated by today’s technology tools. My networks have had a profound impact on my learning. The people and information that I am exposed to on a regular basis shape my thinking and guide my interactions throughout each and every day. As new people, information sources, and systems add to, replace, or modify my existing network I am effectively changed as a result. I am a product of this environment and the influences that I allow into my network. I utilize various digital resources to help me learn. I rely on the internet heavily for various forms of information; research, personal opinion, news, and entertainment. Work related tools like googledocs, wikispaces and dropbox allow me to collaborate and connect with various professionals. I communicate through email and use computer databases and programs for organization and management of information that I gather/learn. The diagram above demonstrates the various ways that I access information and where I turn to when I have questions or I am searching for help with a problem. It helps to describe the way in which connectivism applies to me personally and the network that I have in place to facilitate learning.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer) (2009). Connectivism [Video webcast transcript].