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=//**CONNECTIVISM: CREATING NETWORKS OF LEARNING, KNOWLEDGE & COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS**//= toc

Our Insights on Connectivism
Making connections among people and the theory of connectivism has been an on-going practice in our society since man began to communicate with his fellow man way back when!!!!!!!!! It started as hand language which progressed to verbal communication between people. Then written communication was established which transcended into audible connections, via radio and the telephone. Our connectivism continued to evolve into the realm of video/TV/movies, and now the technological revolution and the world of computers, internet and all the tools they have to offer, such as, wikis, blogs, vod-casts and many others! It is a learning process on how people will make connections with others to gain information for our own satisfaction of just wanting to gain an understanding about various things found in our lives!

Through connectivism we learn, which is an on-going practice, which enables us to gain knowledge of our surroundings and interlinks us with others seeking to learn, acquire knowledge and gain understanding through connectivism. This connectivism may use non-human devices created to aid us in our search for knowledge and allowing us to connect with people to increase our understanding about our world, as well as learning about other people and establishing connections to those people. These connections may advance our ability to learn, discover, and increase our knowledge. Just think of what technological advances 50 years down the road will offer the youth of today!!!!!!  It is not the how and why of learning that's important, but it's the ongoing process which has taken us on a new level of gaining information by using technology over the last 40 years. It's our ability to utilize this technology and expand this network of communication between people and increase our knowledge due to this technology. The more connections we make the more interaction between people occurs and the increase in the exchange of information between people will benefit everyone involved with this exchange of information. The old saying, "Two heads are better than one, " can now be multiplied ten fold with internet capabilities which is at our hands. We now connect on a grandiose scale that is just mind-blowing and connectivism is becoming a stronger animal due to technology and the internet!

Computers are tools to be used to aid us in our acquisition of knowledge and connecting to others. Learning is a process that will use human and non-human means for making these connections. These improvements in our acquisition of data, due to technology, enhances our ability to learn and connect with others which also increases our ability to gain knowledge. Through time everything should improve with mankind's ability to improve upon the old. Connectivism is no longer confined to man communicating with man using hand gestures or verbally, but over the internet using new technological devices found in this digital age of communication and connections to others via the internet. These tools will amplify our ability to learn, acquire knowledge and connect with others, in order to set up a network of people sharing information, learning from each other and increasing our ability to do better.

Connectivism and Its Connection to Teaching
Since Connectivism ﻿is gathering information from different sources, making connections with different people through different sources and then distributing the information, it is closely connected to teaching. Teachers must make connections with their students every day and in order to get the information to distribute to students, teachers must gain their knowledge from other sources. In the past, teachers were limited in the sources they were able to gain knowlede from, but because of the digital age and the Web 2.0 society that we currently live in, information can be obtained from multiple sources. Also, when teachers are more familiar with how and where to make connections, they can lead their students to places that will allow them to make their own connections and form their own knowledge. When students are able to connect with different sources they will begin to link ideas. These ideas will build their knowledge and make for the opportunity for them to share what they know and in turn help build someone else's knowledge. In the images below, you can see what a "Typical Teacher Network" includes. There are limited resources and each resource is only linked with the teacher and not with each other in any way. In "The Networked Teacher" you can see that the teacher has numerous resources and it is a cyclical process in which all of the resources can connect in some way. Connectivism takes a "Typical Teacher Network"



To "The Networked Teacher" The two images above are courtesy of Alec Couros licensed under a Creative Commons license. Photos from courosa Flickr photostream.

Connectivism as a Learning Theory
Not only are teachers continually expanding their networks, students are creating and utilizing their own networks as well. The teacher will invariably become part of the students learning network. However, upon further investigation, you will find that the students often become part of the teacher's learning network as well. We learn from our students every day. This is especially true when it comes to technology. ﻿ ﻿ ﻿ Have a look at this video about the Connected Student. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">media type="youtube" key="XwM4ieFOotA" height="257" width="355" wdrexler. "The Networked Student." Video. 26 Nov. 2008. YouTube. 16 Feb. 2011

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">There is much debate as to whether connectivism can be considered a learning theory. According to Wikipedia, A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. Connectivism has every part of this definition. The idea of creating networks, both physical and online, provides us with ample vocabulary and concepts to build a learning framework. Also, at the heart of connectivism is problem solving. However, when we are connected to networks, we have many people who can aid in building our knowledge to solve problems. Connectivism also is an outcome based learning theory. One main part of connectivism is demonstrating or showing what was learned in the network. If you can demonstrate or show what you have learned, isn't that proof that it has been learned?

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Cited Source: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">"Learning theory (education)." __Wikipedia.__ 2011. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc.. 15 February 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theory_%28education%29>.

To gain more information on Connectivism check out the powerpoint below: media type="custom" key="8396660"

Further Reading on Connectivism
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