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.