Connectivism Mindmap

TWeaver Mod-4: Connectivism

My network is illustrated above in the mind map and shows four different categories of networking that I use.  The least used network for now is in the professional domain.  AESOP is my job search engine and correspondence Web-site that supports my current position as an interim teacher.  The other three include my education, social/friends, and personal/private networks that continuously evolve as I continuously use them.  Now for a bit of history. 

I learned K-12 studies in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s.  In the early 1990s, I finished my undergraduate studies.  95% of my learning during this time was done independently for efficient channels of communication and collaboration, other than f2f, really did not exist.  Cellular telephones and the Internet were not developed enough for consumer usage back then.  My how things have changed in such a short period of time (only two decades, c’mon).  ;) 

In 2009, I had decided to further my education in an online format.  I opened my first social Facebook page and began exploring online universities.  After picking one out, it was soon clear that participative technologies for communication and collaboration were already common and becoming more popular by the day (Siemens, 2008).  Furthermore, it was clear that continuous participation was the key to success in this format of learning.  I had to be actively engaged with content- search, communications, and collaboration with the use of the Internet and the Web tools that were available then.  Most of the communication and collaboration happened in the university portal.  Today, the Walden University Library and Google are currently my primary networks for the search of content.  Most of the communication and collaborative efforts currently are accomplished using online social-multimedia in and outside the university portal.  Elluminate, chat-rooms, Wikis, blogs, and Skype are the primary web tools for these efforts. 

With the use of all of these tools, I can get the necessary correspondence from a community of learners with similar issues.  Additionally, it is necessary to point out that course facilitators do not offer up much information.  Instead of teaching, they are more inclined to help explain, provide context, make meaning where necessary, and evaluate the information researched (Prensky, 2008).  All of the digital tools mentioned help alleviate pressures of the unknown best in different ways for they are quite contextual by nature very similar to the nature of the learning.  Basically, whoever has access to the same technology, we will probably use it in some way and for some reason. 

I learn new knowledge today by researching data networks, developing sound questions, and bringing something to the table of a learning community via one of the five Web tools mentioned earlier.  Don’t forget Email either.  I still use it plenty in my cyber university, Google/Verizon account, and even more discretely for Facebook.  How ironic.  I don’t really think it would be possible for me to go back to learning strategies of 1992.  What a scary thought.  Could you imagine the frustration?  Yikes!!


I posted to AJs' blog @ http://anethaj.blogspot.com/2012/04/johnson-module-4-blog.html?showComment=1335706584759#c2831076524547222651


I also posted to Raymond Coxs' blog @ http://raycoxphd.blogspot.com/2012/04/module-4-posting.html?showComment=1335708001477#c1976065806273262590
                                       

References

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Siemens, G. (2008). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf