tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32719940236152437292024-03-12T19:06:09.532-07:00eLearning UnpackedMichelle Pedlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654216614534010290noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3271994023615243729.post-61118696409918870312012-01-22T19:12:00.000-08:002012-01-22T19:29:48.609-08:00When I think of Connectivism, I think of an information vortex!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmRbEIKFdVs/TxzPAYUTBTI/AAAAAAAAABM/E0kDtzpoJqc/s1600/WorldWideWebAroundWikipedia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmRbEIKFdVs/TxzPAYUTBTI/AAAAAAAAABM/E0kDtzpoJqc/s320/WorldWideWebAroundWikipedia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image: Graphic representation of a minute fraction of the WWW</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <br />Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web </span></i></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">My
mind currently associates Connectivism as a vortex of information of which I am
still trying to make clear sense of. George Siemens website </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.connectivism.ca/">www.connectivism.ca</a> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">is
great as it offers more of an insight to the theory and how to apply it. I read
a post on his site titled ‘Teaching in Social and Technological Networks’ and
this has helped me to understand what the role of the teacher is in the Connectivist
view. If I look at Connectivism from a very raw standpoint, the role of the
teacher becomes to ‘facilitate’ the vast array of information that students
obtain from their connections and networks (social media) and from the World
Wide Web. The teachers role turns into one of facilitating, directing,
steering, filtering and sense-making while still providing a “narrative of
coherence” as Siemens calls it, for students in the pertinent discipline. </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Do I think it is a valid theory? I think the key word here
is valid. Whether we like it or not, technology is all around us and rather
than try to hide from it, I think we should embrace it. As Siemens says in this
article “Course content is similarly fragmented. The textbook is now augmented
with YouTube videos, online articles, simulations, Second Life builds, virtual
museums, Diigo content trails, StumpleUpon reflections, and so on”. The question is, how do we embrace the technology from a Connectivist point of view when it feels, quite simply, bigger than all of us?</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">When
it comes to teaching and learning, do teachers apply one single theory
to their teaching? Different theories can be used and applied wherever
applicable in the learning context. I found a table by Siemens, 2009, which provides a breakdown and
comparison of the learning theories <a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=anw8wkk6fjc_14gpbqc2dt">https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=anw8wkk6fjc_14gpbqc2dt</a>
. There are many facets to Connectivism, especially how the learning occurs: “distributed
within a network, social, technologically enhanced, recognizing and
interpreting patterns” (Siemens, 2009). How do teachers evaluate that learning
has occurred? When I think of this alone, I am still a long way from fully
understanding Connectivism. As I mentioned at the
beginning of this post when I think of Connectivism, I think of an
information vortex! :s</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></h2>Michelle Pedlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654216614534010290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3271994023615243729.post-74818129205616220752012-01-15T03:08:00.000-08:002012-01-15T03:18:56.023-08:00What should you consider before designing an online learning experience?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Tell me and
I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” <br />
Chinese Proverb.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />When I deconstruct this Chinese Proverb from a
learner’s perspective, looking through the lenses of behaviourist, cognitivist
and constuctivist learning theories, I see the following... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Tell me and I forget” – behaviourist theory - passive learner,
assumed no prior knowledge, requires direction or some form of external
stimulus.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Show me and I may remember”– congnitivst theory - exploring the
psychological aspects of how people learn and incorporating participation
to encourage the learner to think and problem solve. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Involve me and I'll understand” – constructivist theory - active,
contextualised learning through the use of authentic tasks/assessments
designed to promote knowledge acquisition by drawing upon ones personal
experiences and their immediate environment. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why am I
harping on about these well known and understood learning theories? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This Chinese Proverb I believe summarisies the myriad of online learning
experiences currently existing out there in cyberspace. It is assumed by many
that it is simple to create an online learning experience. You just put text on
screen, upload PDFs or PPT slides and let people find the information and absorb
it via osmosis (behaviourist). However a more practical approach is to create online
learning experiences that are non-linear, dynamic and interactive (with content and peers), scaffolded and to an extent, learner controlled, to give them the opportunity to engage
with the content (congnitivst /constructivist). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />W</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">henever creating or migrating any content to an online setting, I
believe that some of the following questions should be asked:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What do you want to ultimately achieve? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What are the essential foundations of any course design? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Would you agree that it is important to design a learning
experience, observing best suited instructional theories? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why begin with the latest and greatest, interactive learning
technologies if they will not do what you want them to achieve in your
online learning experience?</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Should you be mindful of which learning technologies that you want to use when creating the content or vice versa?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
other questions might educators ask themselves prior to creating or migrating content
to an online setting? I’d love to hear your thoughts as this by no means is an
exhaustive list. </span>Michelle Pedlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654216614534010290noreply@blogger.com2