martes, 14 de octubre de 2008

Week 5: Groups vs, Networks: Collectives and Connectives

Well, as usual I'm a week behind. But last week I finally got the Daily. And I found a post from someone in Heidelberg, Germany,( far away from my rainy Bogotá) Mathias Melcher, and I felt identified with some of his ideas about "Reflecting ? So I posted a comment in his blog http://x28newblog.blog.uni-heidelberg.de/2008/10/08/cck08-week-5-reflections/#comments.
I guess it is more important to find this opportunity to make a connection, to share some feelings and ideas than to be on schedule, sit down and post a reflection. We exchanged 2 or three mails and he sent me the first Daily information about RSS... Hope my blog finally appears on Stephen's site.

About the topic of week 5 , I could say that there are two points of view based on the readings. Stephen considers networks are very different from groups and establish their characteristics http://flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/252157734/. He foresees the network as the basis for a new type of society and human beings, a more philosophical vision. On the other hand, George sees groups as networks, he didn't believe in clear cut diferences and I would say that he has a broader perspective of "the network" as the underlying structure that provides the foundation for interaction and achievement of goals. I feel that he has a more pragmatic approach. His perspective reminded me in some way of Barry Wellman's article (1996)An electronic group is virtually a social network,
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/netlab/PUBLICATIONS/_frames.html,

Another aspect to take into account is the need to establish a structure of trust and solidarity and a delicate balance to acknowledge the human nature and the individual need for recognition.
The type of network that we designed depends on three aspects: level of autonomy, complexity of tasks and task specialization.

lunes, 6 de octubre de 2008

Week 4: History of networked learning (sep29-Oct5)

Here I'm posting the table George included as a summary of the evolution of networked learning.( "A brief history of networked learning ". George Siemens, September 28th.,2008)

Five Stages of Network Development

One: Infrastructure
Contribution: Development of the physical structure and connection of classrooms to resources, each other, and the internet.
Two : Merging with existing fields
Contribution: Adoption of principles of community from sociology and use of network elements from mathematics and physics to describe shape and structure of networks.
Three: Changing views of cognition
Contribution: Situated and distributed theories of cognition developed based on Vygotsky’s (1986) cultural-historical theories, inadequacies of established theories of cognition (which exclude acknowledgement of artefacts and cognition in distributed manner) and increased emphasis of computer networks.
Four: Popularization
Contribution: Increased awareness of network concepts through publication of mainstream books, Linked (Barabási, 2002), Six Degrees (Watts, 2003), Rise of Network Society (Castells, 1996), social networking sites (SNS), and the development of individual’s network skills through the use of SNS.
Five: Processes of learning, knowledge, and education.
Contribution: Integration of domains one-four in the practice of education, where learning and knowledge are seen as distributed within networks, assisted by the use of technology, analyzed with the network structure principles from related fields, and directed through growth of network awareness and skills on the part of learners. Connectivism and networked learning reside at this level.

"Learning networks:theory and practice"

Browsing though Stephen's web I read his bio and found his presentations. One of them caught my attention , the one he presented in Palermo, Italy in 2005. The audio he posted there has been specially helpful for my learning situation because of the way in which he presented complex topics with examples or analogies and a lot of humor.It's a pity that the organizers had given him only 20-25 minutes :-( ....because I have learned a lot in this short period of time.

I have always considered the LMS (e.g.Blackboard) have established a structure for online courses that everybody has to follow because institutions have invested in this system, money is involved....courses are boring for me as a learner because everything is predictable all courses are the same, there is no creativity and innovation. But they are into the "sales business " I don't think they are so interested in"learning". So far I have refused to use Blackboard and all the experiences I have done, I used open source and free access resources, because I feel free to be creative and organize things in different ways. So when Stephen started his presentation by saying that he has a different picture of e- learning : "it's not just about learning, or about returning investment, competences , testing but to be our own governors...."Oh! I thought... this is going to be exciting and challenging.
So on this quite long post I will post some of his ideas and comments from his audio and slides:
http://www.downes.ca/presentation/32.

Traditional Learning
The lecture
Content based(libraries)
Learning happens when contents is inside learner's head
Controlled, step by step, the room , the board, the teacher.
Static

Networked learning

The Dialogue
Resource based
Learning happens when a conversation is taking place
Personalized, free, public, open
Dynamic

Networks basic elements
entity (person, resource, anything) that sends or receives a message or signal, and connections or links between entities.

Some properties of networks:
density: how many other entities, each entity is connected to.
speed: how quickly a message moves to an entity.
flow: how much information an entity process: includes messages sent, received and transfers.
plasticity: how often connections are created/ abandoned.

Networks design principles
  • DECENTRALIZE: "the more decentralized, the more stable" You don't put everything in only one room
  • DISTRIBUTE.(SEPARATION) Entities resides in different physical locations." The content is relevant until you put it in a context".
  • DISINTERMEDIATE: "mediation is a barrier between source and receiver" people can communicate directly.( No teacher between knowledge and student, editor/reviewers prior publication, and so on) "When the message is in the network it has no meaning. It only acquires meaning when it is received". If you control the messges, you work on incomplete meaning.
  • DISAGGREGATE: (break down). "Bundles: prepackaged courses". Work with discreet elements.learning objects.The network allows and fosters "the capacity of people to organize materials in their own way: we locate, discover and make the organization according to our own needs". By the way, this is what I'm doing in CCK08.
  • DIS-INTEGRATE: (Have a common language, it's not disintegrate or destroy) No need for plugs, or software programs. The code is open, not proprietary as it is now. "Microsoft is an integrated environment, all pieces have to fit exactly).Standards are not created, they evolve. Standards adopted by agreement, not requirement.
  • DEMOCRATIZE: entities are autonomous, diversity is an asset, control is imposible. Autonomy is the core of the network. I love the following quote "Imagine an environment where students can decide which professor they want in the world, what to read, which students the will interact with..."
  • DYNAMIZE: a network is fluid,changes constantly. It is through the process of change that new knowledge is discovered. Creation of connections is a core function.
  • DESEGREGATE: Learning happens anywhere. Learning is a part of living, of work, of play. Learning is not a separate domain. The network is everywhere so the posibilities of learning are not restricted to the idea of "school"= place we go to learn".

The meaning = the learning is not located in one place. it is distributed across the network. One person knowledge is also distributed. "Learning is about how to build a society, it is not a bunch of facts or things in the head: learning is how to communicate, how to interact, to form and manage connections, how we place ourselves in the world".

jueves, 2 de octubre de 2008

Week 3: Networks (1)

I 'm copying here the entry I posted to the Moodle forum because I think it illustrates how this "entity, ME" is trying to learn about networks:

"Hi, George and Margarita:

Well, the amount of new information is really huge and I'm trying to follow the schedule but I'm a week behind it. At this moment, I didn’t have the time to post the ideas for the 3 week. Maybe later I will post them. I’m still reading about networks…As I posted in my blog, http://sonni2007.blogspot.com/ on week 2, I feel the pressure and I’d like to have more time. Although I have experimented with communities, the readings are demanding.
What I have been doing is organizing my ideas in the best way for me to learn. Maybe I don’t make deep reflections, I decided not to participate in the forums, I’m a lurker, I only participate when I feel I can contribute to a positive discussion because I’m in another level: I’m absorbing the information, maybe later I will have time to reflect. I found myself in what I call “input phase”. I would like to take part in the live sessions but at that time I’m working. On week-ends and at night I have listened to some recordings .Something that I do is printing the readings so I can carry them with me and read them ( not online, “stealing” some moments from my work) , because I like to highlight the key ideas or insights that resonate with my own experiences.
Something else I have found myself doing is not following the suggested order and sometimes I have gone back to previous readings because I need change, I got bored if I have to read about the same topic all the time. And let me tell you, that I have started to make connections.
So I usually go to hub, check the information in the course blog, check the activities, print the readings, watch the videos with the presentation for the week. I confess I prefer watching the videos than reading. I love this feature of the course. I found videos adapt better to my learning style.
Margarita, I understand your difficulties if you aren’t fluent in English but I think in this course you have to make decisions and prioritize what is more important for you. How about posting in your blog in your native language? Relax, be patient with yourself and try to learn as much as you can. Hope some of my words could help you and motivate you to continue.
I‘m here for the learning experience, the challenge and the generosity of our facilitators to give us this opportunity free of charge".

martes, 23 de septiembre de 2008

Week 2: Rethinking epistemology: Connective knowledge

I' m trying to keep up with the number of readings for this week. So far I have done three and I'd really like to have more time to go deeply into the ideas presented. But that is the current speed of information, I only have time to grasp some ideas, here and there.

The article of Dave Cormier really caught my attention with the term "rhizomatic" which made me go back to those days at elementary school, long, long time ago. Since I didn't remember quite well what a rhizome was , I started by making some searches to really understand the metaphor ( by Deleux and Guattari, 1987) used to illustrate a more flexible approach to knowledge and also how communities develop without having a center, having no hierarchical but multiple horizontal relationships (connections)like the rhizome structure. I also agreed with idea that rhizomes (knowledge) spread, need space to grow and can't be confined to limited spaces (e.g. pots/classrooms )
Traditional conceptions about knowledge, educational systems and universities ( characterized by "arborescence conceptions" with linear and vertical organization) could consider this approach threatening to their monolitic structures.
Well , that's all for now.

jueves, 18 de septiembre de 2008

Week 1: How does learning occur in the network?

There are three networks involved in the learning process: neural or biological, conceptual and social/external. Learning occurs at these three levels:

  1. learning is the formation of new neuro-connections(biological)
  2. connections create meaning.(conceptual)
  3. connections to others and to information (social/external)

Learning in a network sense applies to the three levels previously mentioned and is related to the following:

  • Depth and diversity of connections determines understanding.
  • Frequency of exposure.
  • Integration with existing ideas or concepts.
  • Strong or weak ties.

Different types of networks with different attributes will serve different types of learning needs.

The drawback for educators: most of the discussions and concepts have been imported from other disciplines.

Networks of learning are implicit to humanity but with the help of technology(telephone or Internet)they have given any person the possibility to create and share content, dialogue with others and simulate experiences, not possible outside technology. This phenomenon has led to an abundance, complexity and expansion of the information. More then ever, networks that have existed thoughout the history of the human race are of paramount importance to survive in the changing information world.

The challenge for us teachers is the flexibility to adapt to this new environment and offer the learners the opportunities to become active learners in control of their own learning processes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg (the changing nature of knowledge)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpbkdeyFxZw&feature=related (the network is the learning)

Week1: What is Connectivism?(1)

http://elearnspace.org/media/WhatIsConnectivism/player.html

After listening to George’s audio I’ve been thinking that the best way I can help myself understand Connectivism is by summarizing the main points presented. I know that I learn a lot by intuition so I' m going to get the input and ,in due time,I don't know exactly when, the connection will be made and I will grasp the concept of Connectivism which I think I know by experimenting with virtual communities but I can not express right now with words.

Well, there are five principles that conform the foundations of any learning theory:
· the need to externalize to make sense: ways to express ( words, art, tools)
· The need for structures frameworks for sensemaking
· The need to socialize and negotiate around knowledge: dialogue
· The nature of our mind to note, recognize and draw patterns from situations/environments
· The desire to extend our humanity through technology: overcoming our limitations with the use of tools and innnovation.
In Connectivism:
  • knowledge is essentially networked and distributed
  • the experience of learning is one of forming new neural, conceptual and external networks. “Knowing” is to be in a particular manner of connectedness.
  • Learning occurs is complex, chaotic shifting spaces.
  • The principles of exploring, interacting with others and building knowledge is mediated by technology.

lunes, 15 de septiembre de 2008

Week1: Organizing my network...

Well , we're starting second week and I am behind schedule on the first topic: What is connnectivism? Before starting, since all activities are distributed, I'm going to organize the the general structure for me:
Getting started:http://elearnspace.org/media/GettingStarted/player.html (presentation)
The daily: http://connect.downes.ca/
Moodle : http://ltc.umanitoba.ca:83/moodle/course/view.php?id=20
Pageflakes:http://www.pageflakes.com/ltc
The HUB: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism
Weeky schedule: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/connectivism
Each weeK: Mon-Fri: "the Daily "- Wed: informal discusson and special guests "Elluminate"- Fri:moderate discussion : "USTREAMTV"
Welcome Video : http://elearnspace.org/media/GettingStarted/player/VideoPlayer.html?exUrl=../data/swf/fm_Untitled.swf&exWndWidth=643&exWndHeight=363&exWidth=639&exHeight=359&exDuration=&exPlaybar=false&exAutoPlay=true