Connectivism

George Siemens makes an interesting yet vital comment at the end of the video segment on the complexity of education vs education being complicated. As we look at  connectivism and the theories that surround or support this relatively new learning dynamic, the world suddenly become complex. the complexity of our societies, politics, information that is available and how we access this information suddenly boggles the mind. The integration of this electronic, dynamic and color corrected digital world has made us more sensitive to the plights of what devastation, destruction, genocide and any other form of mas hysteria you can imagine. Our information is instantaneous and with us at all time. We had in the past the ability to shut out what we did not what to know about. We could turn off the TV, not read the papers and filter what was known to whom and when. Not so any longer. 

With the injection of smart phones in to common consumption,  the integration of mobile web and technology and the desire by most to know what is going up to the minuet through social networking, RSS news feeds, digital news papers, twitter accounts and so on, it is no wonder our world and education systems have become complex. We demand knowledge and news now, we have become the instant gratification generation. Doubt it? Well think of this, when some one sends you an email, are you impatient if your waiting for it to come in? How many times have  you told the microwave to hurry up when cooking something that normally would take 30 minuets instead of 3. some of you are probably laughing because you just realized the truth of this, others because you realized that you do it, and the rest just because it sounds silly, but they will think about it and start to see what I am speaking of. 

So this week we were to create a mind map to look at and visualize how we get our information, connect with others or pretty much as I look at it, go about our new daily lives. Mine is no better than the rest, I am jacked in plugged in and mobilized just like everyone else. I am a news junkie, I like to know what is going on. I do not watch much TV because they dramatize the news. I prefer to read and discern what is content and what is not.  I am just as plugged in with my HTC EVO, my iPad, my Macbook Pro and my Kindle. I use social sites, RSS news feeds, digital news content and even surf the web the old fashioned way to find information. As well I am involved in our classes at Walden researching learning and using that knowledge for our discussions and posts. So here is my submission to  you on my digital world. 

As one can see by examining it I am just as connected as the next and am finding new ways to stay and be involved with my peers and family through technology. As well being in an ID program, learning how to use this and other technologies for the successful completion of the ID curricula.  

My network has changed how I learn through the ability to be plugged in and location information on the fly. Having to spend hours at the library was never any fun and the resulting search engines like Google and Bing among others, allows me to research data faster and to get many more perspectives on the information to make my own conclusions. As it was once said there are three sides to eery story, yours, theirs and in the middle is the truth.  I prefer to research since I like to see more than one side and see what the plus and minuses are of each to see what may work best. 

The digital tools I have adapted to are well pretty much everything. I search on my phone, my iPad my computer at home, all offer access to information and allow the the flexibility and mobility to keep at tasks at hand as well as provide an abundant resources to  learn from. I noticed how connected I was when my father passed in April of this year and I was in Iowa for the funeral. there is not much in Iowa and all of us, my brother and mother and sister in-law, were all going through withdrawals not being able to get enough signal to stay connected. It was rather comical in a sad time.

I would say that the  current state of technology, education and the interconnectedness of  both can be seen everywhere and that it really cannot be refuted. Examples are remote conferences through tools like Webex. Video conferencing for training seminars in organizations, online learning and training. Even on the simplest of jobs such as fast food, most places have videos to watch on the company and the job process. This is the most basic of electronic information transfer, but it is valid non the less. Even in the 50's they had movies that were training and that could be looked at as the start of connectivism with digital learning. 

In closing I would like to say that I believe that many of what the connectionists prescribe to are valid points. We do learn socially, though not entirely, and our social dynamic is changing. We are a people who have been plugged in and  are just no taping what this new resource of ideal can explain, investigate and be useful for. Also with this new world comes the integration of social connectivity which really begins to expand exponentially due to the connectedness of us as individuals, both socially, geographically and globally. We are a global community and interestingly enough, we are just now realizing this.