In George Siemens article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age he states “Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual.” If I were to restate this proclamation in an analogy; I could say today’s learner is like an ant. In that an ants travels from here to there in hopes of gathering scraps of food. Today's learners hop from resource to resource hoping to gain pieces of information. Ants take the food back to the nest to feed the community, today’s learner processes information in hopes of turning it into knowledge. The work of one ant helps feed the community, the network of many learners feeds the individual learner.People are social beings, we like to communicate. Siemens in his video The Impact of Social Media on Learning states “our language gives birth to thoughts, and content is the conduit toward conversation” (The link below will allow you to watch the video if you'd like). The way in which we learn today is hugely different for the way our parents and grandparents learned. Knowledge in the 21st century is all about networking.
I joined the social network school20.ning. partially because it was a homework assignment but mostly because it looks like a great way to interact, gain information, and have conversation with fellow teachers. School 2.0 goes beyond the practical discussion of applying the read/write and collaborative Web technologies in the classroom. It is, instead, a larger discussions of how education, learning, and our physical school spaces can (or should) change because of the changing nature of our social and economic lives brought on by these technologies.
If your not sure what social networking is all about check out this video created by Chris Pirillo it does a great job explaining how we can use the experiences and wisdom of others to help us gain knowledge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4UfBK5Zw8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grI_h88vs3g&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=3
Nice job Sleepwell. I like the analogy. We truly are social beings. sandy
ReplyDeleteThe ants go marching one by one, horrah horrah...:-) I used to teach preschool, it's the first thing I think of when I think about ants! The analogy is great! My students are similar to the analogy when you described them moving from one site to another! They are so active in both technology & life. Great job!
ReplyDeleteDear Sleep well!
ReplyDeletei agree with you that human beings like to communicate and in this present age, technology has made this job easier and fast.
Good analogy
Connie,
ReplyDeleteAs you said in your analogy, "The work of one ant helps feed the community, the network of many learners feeds the individual learner." This back and forth of knowledge enriches us all as we give and receive feedback on our ideas and our products.
Dr. Burgos
Connie,
ReplyDeleteI was not able to access the Ning site that you referred to. Could you please post the URL or, better yet, connect a link to the name of the site.
Thanks,
Dr. Burgos
Connie,
ReplyDeleteOur analogies are similar, but I think you think more and deeper than me. I thought of the communication among bees, but I failed to think about the relation between individual bees and the community. Great job!
Yang