Week 3-Connectivism: Learning Theory or Pastime for the Self-Amued?

What is knowledge in Age of Connectivism, CMC, Blogging, and the Web 2.0?
What is Connectivism?

What I write here is proof that I’m just trying to catch up with you guys.
Every time I look back to the article, I find something new and grasp connections between concepts more. The feedback about this article will have two parts since I found that though it is abstract, philosophical and a little hard to understand at the beginning, its core theme is really interesting for me. Also, it relates to many background theories that make me have a thoroughly general view of educational technology. I think it will help me a lot if I can understand those theories such as behaviorisms, cognitivism, constructivism, blended theories, emerging theories (connectivism) etc. What I feel now is like putting jigsaw puzzles together.

PART 1:
Connectivism: learning Theory or Past Time for the Self-Amused?

In this article, the core issue is ” learning is a network phenomenon, influenced by socialization and technology.” He depicts that web 2.0 was just at the beginning of the hype cycle. The terms “podcasting”, “Youtube”, “Google”, “Google Earth” and “Moodle” were not yet prominent two years before. Nonetheless, People in other countries might have no chance to know some terms like: “podcasting” and “Moodle”. Some of them have heard of “Google Earth” from the television.

We need to understand today’s world via diverse perspectives, current knowledge, opportunities for dialogue, and use of technology. Just like George said, “The theory of connectivesm is no less immune to change than the underlying trends it proposes to address.” He wanted to highlight key distinctions of why we need a different theory of learning. I agree with that, the context is the key since "Context shapes the nature of knowledge and learning". Later, he stated some related factors influenced by learning like how we teach, how we design curriculum, the spaces and structures of learning, etc. Reviewing our process of learning, we use Internet to browse information that we need, and share videos links to each other…we done many things via technology. But do we find out the underlying reasons we do so?

I think pursuing this question is valuable based on my personal experience in Japan. In summer, 2005, I was touched by the integration of educational technology and learning environments in the Mitsubishi pavilion (EXPO 2005 Aichi in Japan). We saw how the Earth was born and saw a relationship between the Earth and the Moon. It showed us how pretty the Earth is now and how terrible it will be if there is no Moon. We all learned the knowledge from our geophysics textbooks before. However, we experienced a different way of learning by new media and technology in Japan. There were eight girls including me, and seven of us burst out into tears because we were deeply touched by that presentation. We learn things differently! We learn things emotionally if we can choose!

In Taiwan, when people asked me what does Educational Technology or Instructional System Technology mean, I always told them, “LEARN HOW TO LEARN.” George wants to put more emphasis on the “process” aspect of learning and focus instead only on how the “product” evolves. According to Downes, “To 'know’ something is to be organized in a certain way, to exhibit patterns of connectivity. To ‘learn’ is to acquire certain patterns.” From the era of religious focus to the industrial era, we focus from moral or intellectual development to career preparation. The SPACE of shifting ideals presents challenges for society as a whole:

a. "The erosion of existing structures of knowing and need for knowing, and
b. The yet to emerge characteristics of the new space are unknown."

There are so many question marks in my head now. After our discussion in class, I realized that this theme is really nothing new. I don’t know why I feel dizzy when I think about “why should we know why we learn”? To me, it is really complicated and occult. But still, to examine the meaning and reasons underlying trends is an intriguing thing since we can’t ensure it is based on Psychological theory or Sociological theory. If both theories should be considered, there will be some other researches talking about this.

Sometimes, I love philosophy because it makes people think a lot and more happy (In Chinese, we have a saying that translate as, "Thinking makes the spirit of people bright.") But at this time, I think I will like it only after I can find out more logistics from this article. Yes, I feel how tiny I am in this broad and huge sphere.


Reference

Siemens, George (2006, November 12). Connectivism: Learning theory of pastime for the self-amused? Retrieved Sept 5, 2007, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism_self-amused.htm