Connectivism

This my mind map

According to Siemens, “connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired and the ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. Also critical is the ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday” (Siemens, 2005, para. 24, as cited in Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).

Information is all over you can’t get away from it, if you want to know anything the information is at your finger tips at the touch of a button and it is there.  One could say learning is easier now than in years gone by, but is it? My network provides me with a wealth of knowledge on the topics that are important to me, but sometimes I think it’s too much, too much information to go through. The information can become overwhelming sometimes, it is important to learn how to filter and manage the information you receive.  With that said how does my network change the way I learn? For the most part I have access to information 24hrs a day anywhere I am. Gone are the days when I needed to know something, which meant I had to get a book which means if I don’t have the book on the book shelf I would have to go to the library, not anymore, at the click of a button on my cell phone, my laptop or my tablet, there information at my finger tip. I am a visual learner and when I need to understand something that I read and I’m not quite getting it “youtube” and a video is there to make things much clearer. My colleagues and I were discussing the banking system in Jamaica and the fee structure of some of the banks and we had some questions that we needed to be answer, and my colleague said “let’s ask Google, Google knows everything”.

Has I mentioned before I am a visual learner, so the digital tools that best facilitates learning for me are the ones that has less reading and more videos. I use youtube a lot for tutorials. I gain new knowledge by doing research on the internet first and then I discuss my findings with my colleagues, they also give me some insight on the topic and they may be able to point me in a different direction if more information is needed. I also read blogs on the topic and read discussion boards if I have question I will post them to the discussion board.

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 (Siemens, 2005, para. 24 as cited in Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008). I agree with the above statement with all the information that is floating around in cyber space one as to make a decision on what one wants to learn and when. Information changes daily and what was current and correct today might just be out dated and incorrect tomorrow. I believe my personal network supports the principles of connectivism because on a daily basis I learn from a diverse set of persons all over the world through their blog and discussion board postings. Continuous learning means that I have to stay connected to all the learning sources that are in my network as was mentioned before information changes rapidly these days so one has to keep up to date and current. On a daily basis I don’t only learn from the persons I interact with but there are so many sources of learning, example youtube, websites, blogs etc. to name a few.

Has overwhelming has I find the information in my network sometimes,  it is good to have that network it makes research and learning a lot easier than days gone by.

Reference  

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism