learning technologies2008 mooloolaba
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Presented to Mooloolaba, AustraliaTRANSCRIPT
Analyzing the obvious: Technological and social connections
George SiemensNovember 6, 2008
Learning Technologies 2008
“Schools we have today were designed around commonsense assumptions that had never been scientifically tested”
R. Keith Sawyer
The primacy of the connection
Symmetry
What is knowledge?
What is learning?
In what way is learning networked?
1. Neural,2. Conceptual,
3. Social/external
What is understanding?
Connections are to learning as atoms are to the physical world
Huh?
To understand how/why connections form...
And the patterns they exhibit...
Is to understanding learning
Learning opportunities are determined by how we interact with knowledge
and others
What happens when the tools of control shift from educator to learner?
Technology as mediative and enabling
Our views of knowledge and learning dictate the shape of
our institutions
What is a learning network?
What characteristics do they exhibit?
How do they differ from
social networks?
Intentionality and focus
How do we foster deep understanding through networks?
Sustained participation in varying contexts
Klein, Sources of Power
Our language for network learning is non-existent
Sociologists/mathematicians have theirs
Weak tiesStrong tiesPower lawsCohesionDensityDegrees of separationCascadesEtc.
We need language to describe learning as connectedness
Quality of connection
Connection attributes in relation to learning
Expertise vs. Novice
Social connections in support of learning
Enormous research potential
Sensemaking
WayfindingDarken
Are our institutions of learning designed to interact with information
this way?
Effective implementation
Openness
Learner control
Belonging & Trust
Culture of sharing
Ecology
Websites and Newsletters
www.elearnspace.orgwww.knowingknowledge.com
www.connectivism.cahttp://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wordpress/